The Syren 10 motor driver is “the” standard motor driver for R2s dome motor and is supported by Padawan / Shadow / Shadow MD etc.
Overview:
Usually Syren 10 and the Sabertooth motor driver are connected in series and have a 2-wire connection to the Arduino / controller
The connections are (S1&S2 are daisy chained: Controller – Sabertooth -Syren10):
Astrocomms | Shadow MD | Padawan 360 | Padawan Shadow | |
S1 | Motor Signal | Serial2 – Tx2 (Pin16) | Serial2 – Tx2 (Pin16) | Serial2 – Tx2 (Pin16) |
S2 | not connected | not connected | Serial2 – Rx2 (Pin17) | Serial2 – Rx2 (Pin17) |
0V | GND | GND | GND | GND |
B+ | Battery positive |
B- | Battery negative |
M1 | Dome Motor positive |
M2 | Dome Motor negative |
1, 2 & 4 off
3, 5 & 6 on
Some problems that can occur:
Why is the dome rotating in the wrong direction?
If the dome rotates in the wrong direction, swap the cables that lead com Syren 10 to the motor.
Why is the dome motor not responding?
It is possible that the baud rate is set incorrectly in the sketch.
Try it with:
2400
9600
19200 (most likely)
38400
Why is my dome making strange movements with no input?
Put a 10k resistor between 0V and S1 (see picture above), that should help.
The dome rotates even though the stick is centered.
The sketches contain a dead zone variable – increase this number until the stick in the neutral position no longer moves the dome
Product Description from the manufacturers website:
The SyRen motor driver is one of the most versatile, efficient and easy to use motor drivers on the market. It is suitable for medium powered robots – up to 30lbs in combat or 100lbs for general purpose robotics.
Out of the box, the SyRen 10 can supply a single DC brushed motor with up to 10A continuously. Peak currents of 15A are achievable for a few seconds.
Overcurrent and thermal protection means you’ll never have to worry about killing the driver with accidental stalls or by hooking up too big a motor.
With just one SyRen driver you can control a motor with: analog voltage, radio control, serial and packetized serial. You can build many different robots of increasing complexity for years to come with a SyRen. Owning two SyRens allows you to build differential drive (tank style) robots because they can work in tandem with built in mixing.
The operating mode is set with the onboard DIP switches so there are no jumpers to lose. The SyRen features screw terminal connectors – making it possible for you to build a robot without even soldering.
SyRen is the first synchronous regenerative motor driver in its class. The regenerative topology means that your batteries get recharged whenever you command your robot to slow down or reverse. SyRen also allows you to make very fast stops and reverses – giving your robot a quick and nimble edge.
SyRen has a built in 5V BEC that can provide power to a microcontroller or R/C receiver. The lithium cutoff mode allows SyRen to operate safely with lithium ion and lithium polymer battery packs – the highest energy density batteries available.
SyRen’s transistors are switched at ultrasonic speeds (32kHz), meaning no one will be able to hear your robot ninja army approaching.
Use of our motor drivers with cheap AC adapters is not recommended. Use a battery or at least put a battery in parallel with a DC supply.