Connecting an Electric Motor to Computer

Posted by on June 16, 2008, 5:38 pm

Does anyone know of a simple way I can incorporate a motor(s) to a
computer that has a variable rate of spin? How can I easily
incorporate it with a program written in something like C or C++?
Thanks.

Posted by John Nagle on June 16, 2008, 10:24 pm

AD.MCMXCII@gmail.com wrote:

> Does anyone know of a simple way I can incorporate a motor(s) to a
> computer that has a variable rate of spin? How can I easily
> incorporate it with a program written in something like C or C++?
> Thanks.

How big a motor do you need to drive? There are plenty of
motor controllers available, but they have to be sized to
the motor. The key numbers are maximum motor amps and
motor voltage.

John Nagle

Posted by on June 16, 2008, 10:25 pm

I don't have a ton of experience in electronics, so I don't know the
specs of my motor in terms voltage and amplitude... But I would like
to have a motor that can provide probably every force from about 0-5
pounds... it doesn't need to be that strong. Also, I need to be able
to connect 2 motors simultaneously, or have the single motor able to
reverse its direction if it needs to. I hope you can find something
like that. Thanks.

Posted by Ben Bradley on June 18, 2008, 12:41 am

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:25:16 -0700 (PDT), AD.MCMXCII@gmail.com wrote:

>I don't have a ton of experience in electronics, so I don't know the
>specs of my motor in terms voltage and amplitude... But I would like
>to have a motor that can provide probably every force from about 0-5
>pounds... it doesn't need to be that strong. Also, I need to be able
>to connect 2 motors simultaneously, or have the single motor able to
>reverse its direction if it needs to. I hope you can find something
>like that. Thanks.

Reversible motors are generally available in all sizes and power
ranges without substantial penalty in size, cost, efficiency, etc.
over other motor types, and so a single reversible motor is just about
always preferable to using two motors.
The "force of 5 pounds" helps a little, but doesn't tell the whole
story. You could run a small slot-car motor on an AA battery and gear
it down enough to lift 5 lbs, but it could take it a minute to lift it
one foot. How fast would you want this 5 pounds lifted/moved? This
would help give a size to the motor and find the appropriate driving
electronics.

Posted by John Nagle on June 18, 2008, 1:51 am

AD.MCMXCII@gmail.com wrote:

> I don't have a ton of experience in electronics, so I don't know the
> specs of my motor in terms voltage and amplitude... But I would like
> to have a motor that can provide probably every force from about 0-5
> pounds... it doesn't need to be that strong. Also, I need to be able
> to connect 2 motors simultaneously, or have the single motor able to
> reverse its direction if it needs to. I hope you can find something
> like that. Thanks.

See "http://www.roboteq.com" for some motor controllers. There
are cheaper solutions, but if all you need is bidirectional motor speed
control from a serial port, they have that. Their
stuff is also hard to blow out if you make a mistake and is well
protected against overloads. Their controllers start at $145.

If you need to control motor position, not just speed, things
get more complicated. But you said "speed", so I won't go into
that.

John Nagle

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