Hello
I am trying to build a simple model where I used 4-6 electromagnets to move an object. I need to be able to turn the electromagnets on and off individually. My understanding is that I can use the Grove Electromagnet coupled with an Arduino board to accomplish this. However, I still have the following doubts:
Is there a specific Arduino board I need to use? I have the Sparkfun Redboard - does it have the right header on it?
How many of the control boards will I need if I want to control 6 electromagnets? Or am I better off getting the Seeeduino Lotus or the Seeeduino Light board, which appears to have 6 PWM digital ports.
Any other suggestion are highly welcome.
Thanks
-Gaurav
Grove Electromagnet is designed to be controlled by Digital port pins. The power consumption of Grove Electromagnet is 400mA and this would limit the number of such Grove can be connected to Arduino or Seeeduino boards.
Use proper power supply & Check the capacity of the regulator that is used in main board. Most of them could supply 1000mA. This limits two Electromagnets.
You could use any board as long as Grove port is available (by way of Grove Shield or inbuilt Grove connectors)
Thank you for your response. I was able to get the Grove electromagnet working with the Seeeduino board. Fairly seamless. However, the output from the digital pins is only 40mA, but he Grove electromagnet working current is 400mA - so the magnetic strength will be much lower if I connect it to the grove connectors.
Any suggestions on how to get the Grove electromagnet to full strength? The Grove Relay board only appears to be limited to 100 mA.
Thanks once again.
-Gaurav
The specification is listed here. Please refer the schematic – the electromagnet is switched on / off by a MOSFET. This takes care of power requirements to drive the electromagnet.
