Robot Power  Robot Power
   Home : Products : Scorpion Info
 Sections
Home
Products
Downloads
OSMC  Project

Where to Buy

 Subsections
Overview

Compare Small Controllers
Scorpion XL
Scorpion HX
Hydra

Sidewinder

Simple-H
OSMC
Dalf

Magnum775 Planetary Gearmotor
 Robot Power Products 

Scorpion HX Product Information 

  


The Robot Power Scorpion HX is a flexible high-performance 3 channel speed controller for 1 lb. (ant weight), 3 lb (beetle weigth) and larger robots. It is designed for ant and beetle weight combat robots, sumo robots, and other small robots such as firefighting robots, maze solvers and carpet rovers. A unique feature of the Scorpion is the integrated 3rd Auxiliary/Weapon channel which may be used for a weapon or sumo vacuum system, pneumatic solenoid, relay, or other unidirectional load.

In drive solutions the built-in mixing functions allow an all-in-one solution for small robots previously unavailable at any price.

Features

The Scorpion contains the following features:

  • Size: 1.6� x 1.6� x .5�
  • Weight: 22 grams with servo leads installed
  • Four R/C input leads for
    • Left and Right Drive - fully reversible H-bridge channels
    • Auxiliary/Weapon - higher power uni-directional only
    • Flip Control - reverses controls if robot is flipped over
  • 4.8V to 22V battery voltage (up to 36V with some component changes)
  • 2.5A continuous (6A peak) current on each Left and Right drive channels. May be combined into a single 6A continuous forward/reverse channel. This is a real 2.5A rating i.e. you can put 2.5A through the drive channels for a full match with higher peaks for a few seconds.
  • 12A continuous (35A peak) current on the Aux/Weapon channel. This can be used to drive a forward-only motor such as a spinning weapon or sumo vacuum system. (Must be de-rated for long-term partial throttle operation)
  • Full current limiting and over temp limiting on drive and Aux channels. This thing is nearly blow proof!
  • Drive chips mounted on the bottom of the board for easy attachement of heat sink if desired. Not generally necessary but it will extend the time you can run at above 2.5A per drive channel.
  • Flip input reverses motor direction when the robot is inverted. May be operated via an R/C channel or via a mechanical (gravity) or optical etc. switch.
  • 4 Indicator LEDs for Left/Right speed and direction and Aux speed. A status LED shows the R/C signal status and other information
  • Left/Right channel mixing is the default � may be disabled
  • Receiver battery eliminator circuit (BEC) standard � may be disabled. This can provide up to 100 mA of current at 5V to the RC receiver and other attached electronic circuits. (Must be de-rated for input voltage above 12V)
  • Safe start for Aux channel disables the robot at power up until the Aux channel is in the off position.
  • Failsafe shuts off motors and weapon if R/C signal is lost
  • FLASH-based microcontroller with upgradeable software via in-circuit programming header


Scorpion back side

Optional Features

The Scorpion software is designed to work with most R/C systems out of the box. The most common options are set up as the default so no complicated configuration, calibration, or programming is required.

The following configuration options are available in the Scorpion software (default options are underlined):

  • Mixing - Mix/Tank - by default the left and right channels are mixed. b>No external mixer unit is needed! This function allows one channel to be used as the "throttle" control and one as the "steering". This allows driving of differential drive robots in a natural and intuitive way. It also allows use of pistol grip style radios with differential drive robots. Placing a jumper across two pins disables the on-board mixing and allows tank style steering or transmitter mixing to be used.

  • Mirroring - This function allows you to use a single large motor per Scorpion or to use a dual slaved pair of motors with only one R/C input channel. When only the left or right channel is connected at startup both left and right motor drives mirror the single input channel. Thus, two Scorpions can be used with dual 5A motors or four 2.5A motors per robot without needing R/C Y-cables etc.

  • Flip - R/C/gravity - by default the flip function is controlled by an R/C channel. This allows easy control of the robot when running inverted or when driving backward in sumo or to present an alternate weapon to your opponent. The landing gear switch on an aircraft style radio or the 3rd channel on a pistol style are commonly used to activate this function. An alternative configuration is to use a binary signal to activate the motor flip function. In this configuration a switch is connected between the signal wire and the ground wire on the Flip R/C lead. When the switch is closed the flip function is activated.

  • Aux - safe start - when no R/C signal is present at startup the Aux output driver is disabled. If a signal is present the drive and Aux outputs are disabled until the Aux signal is in the off position. A blink pattern on the status LED shows when the Scorpion is waiting for the safe start.

  • BEC - BEC/External - the 5V regulator on the Scorpion is connected to the power wire on the servo leads by default. This allows the Scorpion to provide power to the R/C receiver and eliminates the need for an external R/C receiver battery. Cutting a trace on the PC board disables this function and allows a separate battery to power the R/C receiver. Soldering a jumper across the BEC pads restores this function.

While the primary input mode of the Scorpion is the R/C interface, a future version of the Scorpion software will support a TTL serial interface for interactive command from PCs and microcontrollers such as the BasicStamp and others.

A User Manual for the Scorpion with details on setup and operation of the controller is available from the downloads page.

Robot Power offers the Scorpion in fully assembled units ready to install and use. Check the Web store for details on prices and special offers.

Copyright © 2001-2019 Robot Power
152 Smokey Terrace Ln, Weatherford, TX 76085 voice: 360-515-0691
Problems? Contact the Webmaster