how to wire an antweight

this guide was written by andrew hibberd of team geek and posted here with his full consent, it’s very usefull with lots of interesting information (so get your tech hats on! )

The question of how do I wire up my robot gets asked all the time. This is a rather lengthy guide with pictures to try and answer the questions.

This guide is aimed at using 2 cell lipos, however it can be extended to 3 cells please do not try to run servos on 3 cells. Also I can’t be taken responsable if you want to run parts above there recomeded voltages and they break – its your choice!

The guide is split into 3 sections with pictures referenced below. Each section will have a simple sum to find out what you need, if your number doesn’t reference a picture then you are doing something odd or silly. For instance running motor drive on 5V when you have a 2 cell lipo. How difficult it will be to make each set up is shown in brakets, not including modifing drive servos (eg 1/5 is easy, 5/5 requires lots of soldering)

Section A is for pusher/ram bots
Section B covers servo and spinner weapons
Section C has additional information
I will try and include a Section D later for Pete W control boards

For voltage regulators please see this guide:
http://www.windisch.co.uk/robots/howto/voltage_regulator.htm

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Section A – Pusher/Ram robots

A little bit of maths for you to ask what you want in your robot

Start with 0:

Drive
Servo drive +0
Motor drive +1

What voltage do you want to run on
4.8V (4 cell NiMh/Nicad) / 5V regulated/ 6V (5 cell NiMh/Nicad) +0
7.4V (2 cell lipo) +2

What type of battery are you using
NiMh/Nicad +0
Lipo +4

Please see the following picture labeled A# for how to wire the robot

A0 – servo drive with NiMh (0/5)

A1 – Motor drive NiMh only need the extra wire if running on 4.8V(2/5)

A4 – Servo drive Lipo (2/5)

A6 – Servo drive on Lipo Voltage (3/5)

A7 – Motor drive on Lipo Voltage (1/5)

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Section B – Weapons

Use the sum to get to the picture that is right for you

Start with 0

Drive
Servo +0
Motor +1

What voltage will this run on
4.8V (4 cell NiMh/Nicad) / 5V regulated/ 6V (5 cell NiMh/Nicad) +0
7.4V (2 cell lipo) +2

What weapon
Servo +0
Motor +4

What voltage will this run on
4.8V (4 cell NiMh/Nicad) / 5V regulated/ 6V (5 cell NiMh/Nicad) +0
7.4V (2 cell lipo) +8

What type of battery will you be using
NiMh/Nicad +0
Lipo +16

Please see the following picture labeled B## for how to wire the robot

B0 – Servo drive and servo weapon (0/5)

B1 – Motor drive and servo weapon (3/5)

B4 – Servo drive brushed motor weapon (3/5)

B5 – Motor drive brushed weapon (4/5)

B16 – All 5V servos lipo battery (2/5)

B18 – Servo drive on 7.4V weapon servo on regulator (3/5)

B19 – Motor drive on 7.4V weapon servo on regulator (New anticide set up) (2/5)

B24 – Drive servos on regulator weapon servo on lipo (3/5)

B26 – All servos running on lipos (4/5)

B27 – Motor drive and servo weapon on lipos (3/5)

B28 – 5V servo drive lipo spinner (3/5)

B30 – lipo servo drive and spinner – do not try on 3 lipo (5/5)

B31 – motor drive and spinner (kwijebo set up) (4/5)

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Section C – Additional information

C0 – flip channel on sabertooth controller to reverse drive when upside down (0/5)

C1 – A battery charge point can be added so the batteries don’t need removing to charge them (2/5)

C2 – This is about as complicated as an antweight can get, when the BEC voltage regulator on a motor control board isn’t powerful enough a secondary one needs to be added. Also shown in the charge port.

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Any feedback is useful, or please suggest other set ups that aren’t covered. I hope this helps future builders.