Motor Tests

 Over the past week I have been researching a sourcing motors. I found a motor driver that suited my purpose. It utilities the A4988 motor driver and acts as a shield for the Arduino. The A4988 chips allow you to limit current to the motor that is attached to it so I can use all four of my motors which will need several different limits of amperage.

I assembled my skeleton and secured it upright on a work bench. This was only the third time I had seen it suspended in it's upright position. I attached tension spring to the frame to help it stay it it's upright position. Though as you can see below the tension spring are not quite strong enough to hold it up. The purpose of these is to reduce stress on the actuators when pushing the body upward.

I used basic Arduino code and an old motor to test the shield. I was able to ascertain how the current regulator worked and if the unit was at all faulty.

After assuring the safety of the unit I moved on to test my larger Nema 23 stepper motors at higher amplitudes.  I tested these with my basic Arduino code and with the XBee wireless control. Both operated correctly.

Even though these tests were a success I have decided to exchange the Nema 23 motors for geared Nema 17 motors. These geared motors are rated at a much lower amplitude and will allow for better use with a battery. This is another unfortunate set back but one that is necessary. Once the motors have been set and decided upon I can move onto the custom controller.

I am making good time and have currently kept up to date with my progress goals.