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.
To go with the new MA600 breakout board, mjbots.com is now stocking diametrically magnetized ring magnets:
For now, the only size is 32mm x 22mm x 4mm, but there may be more in the future. These are magnetized through the radius, not axially, so they are suited for use with off axis magnetic encoders. Check it out!
It’s another new product day here at mjbots! Introducing the mjpower-ss:
This provides many of the same functions as the power_dist r4.5b:
Pre-charge: High capacitance, low-impedance loads up to 4000uF will be safely turned on in a controlled manner.
Undervoltage and overcurrent protection: If the instantaneous current exceeds 100A, a soft circuit breaker is engaged.
Connector multiplexing: 1x XT90 input feeds 6x XT30 output connectors which are wired in parallel.
External switch: An external illuminated switch is supported, with the same connector and pinout as for the power_dist. A switch harness can be purchased separately.
I’m excited to announce the newest addition to the moteus line of BLDC controllers, the moteus-c1! The moteus-c1 is a smaller, lower power, lower cost version of the moteus-r4 and moteus-n1, but still packs a big punch.
The top of the line performance metrics for the entire moteus lineup now look like:
| moteus-c1 | moteus-r4 | moteus-n1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input Voltage | 10-51V | 10-44V | 10-54V |
| Peak Phase Current | 20A | 100A | 100A |
| Continuous Phase Current | 5A / 14A | 11A / 22A | 9A / 18A |
| Dimensions | 38mm x 38mm | 46mm x 53mm | 46mm x 46 mm |
| I/O | AUX1 D and E are present as through hole pads. AUX2 is identical to moteus-n1 | AUX1: SPI, Hall, ADC AUX2: I2C and UART 3.3V only | AUX1 and AUX2 support SPI, UART, Quadrature, Hall, and I2C. 5.5V and 3.3V provided on each connector. I2C pullups are configurable on each connector. |
| RS422 | None | None | Built-in transceiver for RS422 based encoders |
| CAN fault tolerance | 58V | 12V | 58V |
| Price | $69 | $79 | $149 |
The upshot is that for low current motors where RS422 is not required, it is nearly as capable as the moteus-n1 for less than half the price!
It continues to be the spring of new products at mjbots (see the mjcanfd-usb-1x from earlier), and today I have some basics that are newly added to the store to make building machines just a bit simpler.
First are two tiny boards to make daisy chaining power and CAN-FD connections easier for boards that don’t have built-in daisy chain connectors like the moteus-n1. First is a junction board for PH3 cables:
And the second is a similar junction board for XT30 cables:
While it may not be technically spring outside, it is spring for product announcements here at mjbots, and I’m excited to announce the next evolution of CAN-FD adapter hardware we’re offering, the mjcanfd-usb-1x:
The major changes from the fdcanusb:
USB-C instead of USB micro
Smaller form factor - 30x18mm
PH3 CAN-FD connector instead of DB9
Less expensive, only $39
This makes the mjcanfd-usb-1x better suited for in-application deployments and just all around better as a development tool. It can be mounted down more easily, uses the same connector and pinout as moteus, and is compatible with our existing PH3 cables.
I’m excited to announce a big price drop for the moteus-r4.11 controller for both single units and in volume!
| Quantity | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | $104 | $79 |
| 10-99 | $99 | $75 |
| 100-499 | $94 | $71 |
We’ve been scaling up production, which enables these reductions of about 25% across the board. moteus-r4 is now by far the most cost effective motor driver with integrated encoder in its class. Here’s a quick comparison with similar products:
| ODRIVE S1 | Tinymover R5.2 | moteus-r4.11 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voltage | 12-50.5V | 12-38V | 10-44V |
| Continuous phase current | 40A | Not specified | 22A |
| Peak current | 80A | 40A | 100A |
| Dimensions | 66mm x 50mm | 40mm x 36mm | 53mm x 46mm |
| Open source | Proprietary FW and HW | GPL FW, Proprietary HW | Apache 2.0 FW and HW |
| Price | $149 | $108 | $79 |
I personally am looking forward to all the new projects that these lower prices enable! Check it out below or join the mjbots Discord to chat and get some ideas for how you can use a moteus-r4.
This is a quick post to highlight two new nice to haves at mjbots.com that have been long requested.
First, is a pre-built JST PH3 CAN-FD cable, initially available in 30cm lengths. It can be used to daisy chain between controllers, or connect up a pi3hat. Use it as is, or cut it and strip the wires to easily build a JST PH3 to pigtail cable.
Second, is a pre-built CAN-FD termination resistor that can be directly plugged into a JST PH3 receptacle on the moteus controller. This uses split termination to achieve 5Mbps bandwidth over longer daisy chains than can be achieved with a simple one-resistor terminator.
This is a short and sweet post. The moteus-n1 as previously announced in beta form is now officially available at mjbots.com!
Here is yet another new product announcement! In the same line as the new pi3hat, here is a new minor revision of the power_dist, the r4.5b:
The changes are largely the same as for the new pi3hat:
The input voltage range is extended from 10-44V, to 10-54V.
The CAN-FD port has +-58V bus fault protection, up from +-12V.
Additionally, the measurement noise of the output current has been improved from 300mA to approximately 30mA.
