Arduino Micro with Talon SR

[Rman1923]

Hey all, (This is not for our robot but for a personal project)

So I am trying to connect a Talon SR to an Arduino Micro (With the Leonardo Processor) to power a Mini-Cim. I think I have all the electrical down but I'm not sure how to connect the PWM from the talon to the Arduino. My guess is that I cut the pos and neg wires on the PWM and just connect the white wire (since I already have 12 volts going through the talon). If this isn't how to do it, where should I connect the pos and neg terminal to on the Arduino (or in my circuit)?

Thanks!

[Jacob Bendicksen]

You do want to connect the positive and negative to the Arduino - negative to a ground pin, positive to (I believe) a 5V pin.

[Rman1923]

Originally Posted by Jacob Bendicksen

You do want to connect the positive and negative to the Arduino - negative to a ground pin, positive to (I believe) a 5V pin.

Cool, Thanks!
And I'm guessing the White Wire goes to a PWM pin right?

I found this image like ten minutes ago

[teslalab2]

you don't need the red wire, its not connected to anything inside the talon

[asid61]

Connect PWM output od Arduino to PWM input of Talon, and connect the twos' grounds.
Not sure about the power wires.

[timytamy]

There are a myriad of other threads out there that go into detail about connecting motor controllers to Arduinos.

But to get you started, read up on servo PWM, it's not the same thing as the pseudo analogue PWM you get from the PWM pins (with analogueWrite()). You'll probably need the Arduino Servo library to create the appropriate signals for the Talon.

[teslalab2]

When you are writing the pwm signal make sure neutral = 47, 74 = full forward, 20 = full reverse. These are the correct values the controllers expect, otherwise you will have to re-calibrate the controllers for them to work properly.

[Rman1923]

Thanks All, I figured it out, you have to connect the red to the VCC (5V or 3.3V depending on the board) black to ground and then the white one to a PWM pin. I used the Servo library and read the vals from a potentiameter and fed them to the talon during calibration. Now if i could get the underglow working...

[AdamHeard]

I'd skip the servo function and instead use servo.writeMicroseconds.

Cleaner control numerically.

1000 is rev, 1500 neutral, 2000 forward.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'd skip the servo function and instead use servo.writeMicroseconds.

Cleaner control numerically.

1000 is rev, 1500 neutral, 2000 forward.

These are nitpicks ... (everyone's a critic )

Servo.writeMicroseconds() is a function in the Servo library, and not a substitute for that library.

And, I think the Talon has a max/min pulse range larger than 1500+/-500.

Read the Talon's fine manuals (easily found using a Google search) to see wiring and pulse range information.

FYI: I'm using an Edison Arduino in a project, and having pretty good luck so far. I have worked around the one WiFi bug that was giving me trouble, and I don't have any other show-stoppers on the horizon (yet). At about $100, it gives you built-in WiFi, and a lot of computing bang for your buck, in situations where Arduino-style I/O is useful. Consider using one in your next project....

Blake

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I'd skip the servo function and instead use servo.writeMicroseconds.

I don't agree here at all. If you have a working, well tested abstraction that does exactly what you want it to do but can be easily adjusted if the parameters are just a bit off, and you have enough resources to implement it, why would you work around it?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

I don't agree here at all. If you have a working, well tested abstraction that does exactly what you want it to do but can be easily adjusted if the parameters are just a bit off, and you have enough resources to implement it, why would you work around it?

You're missing what I'm saying. servo.write() takes 0 to 180 degrees as an input and controls a "Servo". servo.writeMicroseconds() explicitly takes the pulse you would like to generate, which for a talon is 1000-2000 w/ 1500 at center. This leaves you a nice +/- 500 integer swing for clean math.

[teslalab2]

Originally Posted by Rman1923

Thanks All, I figured it out, you have to connect the red to the VCC (5V or 3.3V depending on the board) black to ground and then the white one to a PWM pin. I used the Servo library and read the vals from a potentiameter and fed them to the talon during calibration. Now if i could get the underglow working...

you don't believe me when I say power is not connected to anything? just trying to save trouble, it really only needs signal and ground. red serves no purpose and is no internally hooked up to anything inside that talon

[Rman1923]

Originally Posted by teslalab2

you don't believe me when I say power is not connected to anything? just trying to save trouble, it really only needs signal and ground. red serves no purpose and is no internally hooked up to anything inside that talon

Actually, I had it set up without red, but then the talon didn't work. The PWM powers as well as controls the talon. The talon is not (and can't be) powered by the input voltage. It confused me at first as well lol.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Rman1923

Actually, I had it set up without red, but then the talon didn't work. The PWM powers as well as controls the talon. The talon is not (and can't be) powered by the input voltage. It confused me at first as well lol.

Unless your Talon differs from every one I have ever seen, you are mistaken. The center pin on the Talon's PWM connector is not connected to anything inside it. The Talons (and Victors, and Jaguars) are indeed powered by the same input voltage that is routed (and regulated) to the motor outputs.