Included on the E-blocks2 Actuators board is a DC motor with analog and digital feedback, a servo motor, a stepper motor, and the circuitry to drive the motors.
The DC motor is driven using a standard H-Bridge driver IC. It can be driven using simple digital on/off right through to analogue pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. By monitoring the feedback, a closed-loop control system can be made to control the speed of the motor. A second H-Bridge driver IC is used to drive the four coils of the stepper motor, allowing for full-step and half-step operation. The stepper motor features an internal gearbox to provide a high torque level and precise angle control. The servo motor is a standard R/C servo motor with a supplied actuator arm.
The board features a DC socket to power the various drivers from a secondary power supply.
If using this board with First Generation upstream E-blocks, then you will need an BL0113 connector board.
The E-blocks upstream to E-blocks2 downstream connector (BL0113) is useful if you already have a 1st Generation E-blocks programmer board that you want to use with the new E-blocks2 peripheral boards.
The E-blocks2 Keypad board (BL0138) is a useful tool as it allows you to enter numeric and textual data into the embedded system. The switches are all push to make type and read by controlling the logic level of the columns and reading back the state of the rows.
The E-blocks2 Alphanumeric LCD Board (BL0169) provides a 20 x 4 character alphanumeric display compatible with the standard HD44780 type displays.
