SwarmDrive is an ESP32 motor driver board for brushless motors (Crowdfunding)

Netherlands based NickStick BV has developed a motor driver board powered by an ESP32 dual-core WiFI and Bluetooth module and capable of controlling brushless DC motors.

The SwarmDrive board targets users who want to start experimenting with motor control, and learn about commutation strategies, PID for balance plateau or balance robots, cartesian gantries and spatial navigation, drive by wire and wireless, swarm intelligence experiments, etc.

SwarmDrive specifications:

• Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-WROOM-32D module with ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz, 4 Mbit flash
• Connectivity
  • 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 150 Mbps
  • Bluetooth v 4.2 BR/EDR and BLE
• Motor Control
  • L6234 triple half-bridge motor driver, 5 A peak current
  • 3-pin terminal block for motor output
  • 3x enable pins are broken out to a bridging connector
• Programming and debugging – Micro USB serial port via USB to UART bridge,
• Misc – Boot and reset push-buttons
• Power Supply
  • Supply Voltage – 7-13 V via screw terminal or pin headers
  • Power output pins – 5 V, 3.3 V, and GND
• Dimensions – TBD

The developer (majodi) provides firmware written using the ESP-IDF framework, but it can also be used with the Arduino IDE or PlatformIO in a mixed ESP-IDF/Arduino setup. The source code can be found on Github together with documentation, BLDC sample code, as well as schematics and PCB layout both in PDF format.

SwarmDrive ESP32 motor driver board has recently launched on Crowd Supply with a $2,500 funding target. The board is offered for $75, and a bit less per unit in bundles of up to 5 boards. Shipping is free to the US and adds  $10 to $17 to the rest of world. Backers should expect their boards to ship at the beginning of February 2021.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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