Using a MDDRC10 driver with a Raspberry Pi Pico

Question

I want to use a MDDRC10 motor driver with a Raspberry Pi Pico. But I can't get it to work from the manual. As I understand it from page 3, anything over 1.5 V will activate the channel and then I can use PWM signals to control the speed. Is that correct?

I tried to use a signal via:

motor = PWM(16, freq= 50, duty_u16= 65535)

or

motor = Pin(16, Pin.OUT)

and neither moved the motor. I double-checked that the wires are all connected properly.

Am I misunderstanding something in the documentation?

• jonathanjo: "I double-checked that the wires are all connected properly." You might show what you have done, and we can help check it too. Very frequently we've wired something up what we think is properly, but we've misunderstood something or made another mistake. A photo and a diagram really help us help you.
• jsotola: maybe DC input is considered a failed signal ... PWM is necessary

Answer 1

Look at the specification of Radio Control pulses and read the data sheet of your board. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servo_control The board is controlled by radio control servo RC style narrow pulses 1-2 mS wide at a 50 Hz rate .
So it is PWM but only over a narrow range - 1.5 mS pulse width is zero speed 2 mS is full speed one way, 1 mS is full speed the other way.

Answer 2

As I understand it from page 3 anything over 1.5V will activate the channel and then I can use PWM signals to control the speed, is that correct?

Not if you don't have a main power supply of at least 7 volts (as per page 1 of the manual): -

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• user3553471: I should have mentioned, I do have a power supply with 12V...