Product description
The Simple Motor Controllers are versatile, general-purpose single-channel motor controllers for brushed, DC motors. Wide operating voltage ranges and the ability to deliver up to several hundred watts in a small form factor make these controllers suitable for many motor control applications. With a variety of supported interfaces-USB for direct connection to a computer, TTL serial and I²C for use with embedded systems, RC hobby servo pulses for use as an RC-controlled electronic speed control (ESC), and analog voltages for use with a potentiometer or analog joystick-and a wide array of configurable settings, these motor controllers make it easy to add basic control of brushed DC motors to a variety of projects. A free configuration utility for Windows simplifies initial setup of the device and allows for in-system testing and monitoring of the controller via USB.
The SMC G2 18v15 operates from 6.5 V to 30 V and can deliver a continuous output current of 15 A without a heat sink. Note that 30 V is the absolute maximum for this controller; the maximum recommended operating voltage is 24 V, and the maximum recommended nominal battery voltage is 18 V. For applications using higher voltages (such as 24 V batteries), we recommend the higher-voltage SMC G2 24v12 or SMC G2 24v19.
If you need to identify which version you have, you can just plug it into a computer through USB and the SMC software will tell you. For quick visual identification without a computer, you can distinguish this version from the identically sized SMC G2 24v12 by the number 150 on top of the tall silver electrolytic capacitors.
This version has header pins and terminal blocks included but not soldered, so soldering is required to use it.
The SMC ships with a 0.1? breakaway male header strip and two 2-pin 5mm terminal blocks. You can solder the terminal blocks to the four large through-holes to make your motor and motor power connections (see our short video on terminal block installation), or you can solder a couple of 2-pin pieces of the 0.1? header strip into the smaller through-holes above and below these larger holes.
Pieces from the 0.1? header strip can be soldered into the small holes on the logic connection side of the board to enable use with solderless breadboards, perfboards, or 0.1? connectors. For the most compact installation, you can just solder wires directly to the holes.
Key features of the SMC G2 family
Simple bidirectional control of one brushed DC motor
Five communication or control options:
USB interface for direct connection to a PC
Logic-level (TTL) serial interface for use with a microcontroller
I²C interface for use with a microcontroller
Hobby radio control (RC) pulse width interface for direct connection to an RC receiver or RC servo controller
0 V to 3.3 V analog voltage interface for direct connection to potentiometers and analog joysticks
Simple configuration and calibration over USB with a free configuration program for Windows
Reverse-voltage protection
Hardware current limiting with a configurable threshold
Current sensing
Additional features of the SMC G2 family
Adjustable maximum acceleration and deceleration to limit electrical and mechanical stress on the system
Adjustable starting speed and maximum speed
Option to brake or coast when speed is zero
Optional safety controls to avoid unexpectedly powering the motor
Input calibration (learning) and adjustable scaling degree for analog and RC signals
Under-voltage shutoff with hysteresis for use with batteries vulnerable to over-discharging (e.g. LiPo cells)
Adjustable over-temperature threshold and response
Adjustable PWM frequency from 1.13 kHz to 22.5 kHz (maximum frequency is ultrasonic, eliminating switching-induced audible motor shaft vibration)
Error LED linked to a digital ERR output, and connecting the error outputs of multiple controllers together optionally causes all connected controllers to shut down when any one of them experiences an error
Field-upgradeable firmware
Features of the serial, I²C, and USB interfaces:
Optional CRC error detection to eliminate communication errors caused by noise or software faults
Optional command timeout (shut off motors if communication ceases)
Serial features:
Controllable from a computer via serial commands sent to the device's USB virtual serial (COM) port, or via TTL serial through the device's RX/TX pins
TTL serial uses 0 V and 3.3 V on TX, accepts 0 V to 5 V on RX
Supports automatic baud rate detection from 1200 bps to 500 kbps, or can be configured to run at a fixed baud rate
Supports standard compact and Pololu protocols as well as the Scott Edwards Mini SSC protocol and an ASCII protocol for simple serial control from a terminal program
Optional serial response delay for communicating with half-duplex controllers such as the Basic Stamp
Controllers can be easily chained together and to other Pololu serial motor and servo controllers to control hundreds of motors using a single serial line
I²C features:
Compatible with I²C bus voltage levels from 1.8 V to 5 V
USB features:
Full-speed USB interface (12 Mbps)
Example code in C#, Visual Basic .NET, and Visual C++ is available in the Pololu USB Software Development Kit
RC features:
1/4 µs pulse measurement resolution
Works with RC pulse frequencies from 10 to 333 Hz
Configurable parameters for determining what constitutes an acceptable RC signal
Two RC channels allow for single-stick (mixed) motor control, making it easy to use two simple motor controllers in tandem on an RC-controlled differential-drive robot
RC channels can be used in any mode as limit or kill switches (e.g. use an RC receiver to trigger a kill switch on your autonomous robot)
Battery elimination circuit (BEC) jumper can power the RC receiver with 5 V or 3.3 V
Analog features:
0.8 mV (12-bit) measurement resolution
Works with 0 to 3.3 V inputs
Optional potentiometer/joystick disconnect detection
Two analog channels allow for single-stick (mixed) motor control, making it easy to use two simple motor controllers in tandem on a joystick-controlled differential-drive robot
Analog channels can be used in any mode as limit or kill switches
The SMC G2 18v15 operates from 6.5 V to 30 V and can deliver a continuous output current of 15 A without a heat sink. Note that 30 V is the absolute maximum for this controller; the maximum recommended operating voltage is 24 V, and the maximum recommended nominal battery voltage is 18 V. For applications using higher voltages (such as 24 V batteries), we recommend the higher-voltage SMC G2 24v12 or SMC G2 24v19.
If you need to identify which version you have, you can just plug it into a computer through USB and the SMC software will tell you. For quick visual identification without a computer, you can distinguish this version from the identically sized SMC G2 24v12 by the number 150 on top of the tall silver electrolytic capacitors.
This version has header pins and terminal blocks included but not soldered, so soldering is required to use it.
The SMC ships with a 0.1? breakaway male header strip and two 2-pin 5mm terminal blocks. You can solder the terminal blocks to the four large through-holes to make your motor and motor power connections (see our short video on terminal block installation), or you can solder a couple of 2-pin pieces of the 0.1? header strip into the smaller through-holes above and below these larger holes.
Pieces from the 0.1? header strip can be soldered into the small holes on the logic connection side of the board to enable use with solderless breadboards, perfboards, or 0.1? connectors. For the most compact installation, you can just solder wires directly to the holes.
Key features of the SMC G2 family
Simple bidirectional control of one brushed DC motor
Five communication or control options:
USB interface for direct connection to a PC
Logic-level (TTL) serial interface for use with a microcontroller
I²C interface for use with a microcontroller
Hobby radio control (RC) pulse width interface for direct connection to an RC receiver or RC servo controller
0 V to 3.3 V analog voltage interface for direct connection to potentiometers and analog joysticks
Simple configuration and calibration over USB with a free configuration program for Windows
Reverse-voltage protection
Hardware current limiting with a configurable threshold
Current sensing
Additional features of the SMC G2 family
Adjustable maximum acceleration and deceleration to limit electrical and mechanical stress on the system
Adjustable starting speed and maximum speed
Option to brake or coast when speed is zero
Optional safety controls to avoid unexpectedly powering the motor
Input calibration (learning) and adjustable scaling degree for analog and RC signals
Under-voltage shutoff with hysteresis for use with batteries vulnerable to over-discharging (e.g. LiPo cells)
Adjustable over-temperature threshold and response
Adjustable PWM frequency from 1.13 kHz to 22.5 kHz (maximum frequency is ultrasonic, eliminating switching-induced audible motor shaft vibration)
Error LED linked to a digital ERR output, and connecting the error outputs of multiple controllers together optionally causes all connected controllers to shut down when any one of them experiences an error
Field-upgradeable firmware
Features of the serial, I²C, and USB interfaces:
Optional CRC error detection to eliminate communication errors caused by noise or software faults
Optional command timeout (shut off motors if communication ceases)
Serial features:
Controllable from a computer via serial commands sent to the device's USB virtual serial (COM) port, or via TTL serial through the device's RX/TX pins
TTL serial uses 0 V and 3.3 V on TX, accepts 0 V to 5 V on RX
Supports automatic baud rate detection from 1200 bps to 500 kbps, or can be configured to run at a fixed baud rate
Supports standard compact and Pololu protocols as well as the Scott Edwards Mini SSC protocol and an ASCII protocol for simple serial control from a terminal program
Optional serial response delay for communicating with half-duplex controllers such as the Basic Stamp
Controllers can be easily chained together and to other Pololu serial motor and servo controllers to control hundreds of motors using a single serial line
I²C features:
Compatible with I²C bus voltage levels from 1.8 V to 5 V
USB features:
Full-speed USB interface (12 Mbps)
Example code in C#, Visual Basic .NET, and Visual C++ is available in the Pololu USB Software Development Kit
RC features:
1/4 µs pulse measurement resolution
Works with RC pulse frequencies from 10 to 333 Hz
Configurable parameters for determining what constitutes an acceptable RC signal
Two RC channels allow for single-stick (mixed) motor control, making it easy to use two simple motor controllers in tandem on an RC-controlled differential-drive robot
RC channels can be used in any mode as limit or kill switches (e.g. use an RC receiver to trigger a kill switch on your autonomous robot)
Battery elimination circuit (BEC) jumper can power the RC receiver with 5 V or 3.3 V
Analog features:
0.8 mV (12-bit) measurement resolution
Works with 0 to 3.3 V inputs
Optional potentiometer/joystick disconnect detection
Two analog channels allow for single-stick (mixed) motor control, making it easy to use two simple motor controllers in tandem on a joystick-controlled differential-drive robot
Analog channels can be used in any mode as limit or kill switches
