moteus-x1
I’m excited to announce the release of the newest moteus motor controller, the moteus-x1!
The biggest differences between the moteus-x1 and other moteus controllers is improved output phase current capacity. The x1 is rated for 25A continuous output phase current with no cooling and 60A continuous with fan based cooling. The other big improvement are 12V fan output pads with PWM support. Supporting high power cooling helps the x1 to achieve its higher output current rating.
The most relevant specification differences are listed here in table form, all measured with a 24V supply with the default PWM frequency:
| moteus-x1 | moteus-n1 | moteus-r4 | moteus-c1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase current | 25A / 60A | 9A / 18A | 11A / 22A | 5A / 14A |
| Peak phase current | 120A | 100A | 100A | 20A |
| Input voltage | 10-54V | 10-54V | 8-44V | 10-51V |
| Peak power | 1.3kW | 2kW | 900W | 250W |
| Dimensions | 56mm x 56mm | 46mm x 46mm | 46mm x 53mm | 38mm x 38mm |
| 12V Fan | Yes | No | No | No |
| CAN Fault | 58V | 58V | 12V | 58V |
| I/O | AUX1, AUX2, RS422, 5V, 3V | AUX1, AUX2, RS422, 5V, 3V | AUX2 (2 pins), 3V | AUX2, 5V, 3V |
| Daisy chain | CAN | No | Power, CAN | No |
| Board mountable | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Price | $169 | $149 | $59 | $69 |
Caveats
One caveat with the moteus-x1, is that part of its higher current rating is due to the fact that it is rated to operate a higher board temperature, up to 100C. That can cause two potential problems. The first, is that the sense magnets mjbots has been including with controllers and selling are only rated to 70C. Having a 100C controller in immediate proximate to such a magnet is a recipe for failure. Thus we now carry a 140C rated magnet with slightly different dimensions that is included with all moteus-x1 boards and developer kits.
Second, that increased temperature can have problems when used in installations built from 3D printed thermoplastic. Common structural polymers like PETG (one should basically never use PLA for a mechanical structure like holding a motor controller), are only rated to around 60 or 65C. In those applications, it will be necessary to configure the moteus-x1 to thermally limit at a lower temperature by setting for example:
servo.fault_temperature = 65
Finally, an astute observer will note that the peak power rating of the moteus-x1 is only 1.3kW, which is less than the moteus-n1. If you read this recent post: “Moaar power”, you will remember that for moteus, the peak power is limited by the bulk capacitance. The moteus-x1 and the moteus-n1 actually have approximately the same bulk capacitance, however the moteus-x1 by default uses a lower PWM frequency. That default PWM frequency was selected to better balance the output phase current capability with the peak power that most users need. You can still get 2kW peak power by configuring the PWM frequency to 30kHz at the expense of continuous output phase current capability.
Accessories
Concurrently with the moteus-x1, we have the same set of accessories that you have come to expect from a moteus controller. That includes a developer kit:
A servo bracket, this time with 5 different motor bolt patterns to mate out of the box with a wide variety of motors:
And finally, a heat spreader which also comes with appropriate thermal tape:
Demos?
Normally, for releases like this I have a demo video put together. Don’t worry, that is coming eventually, but for various reasons it is going to be delayed enough that I didn’t want to keep these out of your hands!
FOMO?
Don’t worry, you can get it today at mjbots.com!