Description
This powerful motor controller makes basic control of a brushed DC motor easy, with quick configuration over USB using our free software. It supports five control interfaces: USB, TTL serial, I²C, analog voltage (potentiometer), and hobby radio control (RC). This version offers a wide 6.5 V to 30 V operating range and can deliver continuous output currents up to 15 A without a heat sink. Male headers and terminal blocks are included but not soldered, allowing for custom installations.
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.
Details for item #1363
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.
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A version is also available that requires no soldering to use as the terminal blocks and main header pins are already installed.
Included hardware
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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
Note: A USB A to Micro-B cable (not included) is required to connect this controller to a computer.
Additional features of the SMC G2 family
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This video demonstrates the versatility of the Simple Motor Controller by showing how it can be controlled directly from the analog output of a Sharp analog distance sensor—there is no intermediate control board and no programming involved. The unit in the video is one of our original SMCs, but the newer SMC G2s have the same capabilities.
Comparison to the original Simple Motor Controllers
The SMC G2 family features a number of improvements compared to our original Simple Motor Controllers with green PCBs:
The SMC G2 controllers have the same pin arrangements as the original SMCs, so they should be usable as drop-in replacements in typical applications, though note that the minimum operating voltage is a little higher for the G2 versions (6.5 V vs 5.5 V for the originals). The SMC G2 serial protocol is compatible with (and generally a superset of) the original SMC serial protocol, so in most cases, serial interface software running on a microcontroller or computer will not need to be modified to work with a SMC G2.
Dimensions
Size: | 2.1″ × 1.1″ × 0.42″1 |
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General specifications
Motor channels: | 1 |
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Control interface: | USB; non-inverted TTL serial; I²C; RC servo pulses; analog voltage2 |
Minimum operating voltage: | 6.5 V |
Maximum operating voltage: | 30 V3 |
Continuous output current per channel: | 15 A4 |
Maximum PWM frequency: | 22.5 kHz |
Maximum logic voltage: | 3.3 V5 |
Reverse voltage protection?: | Y |
Version: | G2 18v15 (30 V max, 15 A max continuous) |
Connectors soldered?: | N |
Notes:
1. Without included hardware.
2. Autodetects baud rates between 1200 and 500,000 bps, or can be set to any fixed baud rate in this range.
3. Absolute maximum; higher voltages can permanently destroy the motor driver. Recommended maximum is approximately 24 V, which leaves a safety margin for ripple voltage on the supply line. Not recommended for use with 24V batteries.
4. Typical results at room temperature running at 90% duty cycle.
5. All digital inputs are 5V tolerant.