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Controlling external motors and LED strips with Omega2+



  • Hello!

    I am quite new to designing electronics and coding, but do have a rudimentary understanding of both. I have a project that I want to use the Omega2+ for with quite specific requirements. The main constraint is having VERY little space available, hence using the Omega.

    The eventual solution will require the omega2 to perform the following actions

    • When powering on the system the user will connect to the Omega via WiFi
    • Once connected to the wifi by the user, the onion will eventually be controlled via a basic app which we are designing.
    • The Omega needs to interface with a piezomotor controlling a PMD401 (https://piezomotor.com/produkt/pmd401/) via SPI
    • It also need to control a Faulhaber 1512U003SR motor using the GPIOs
    • Connect to a string of LEDs (ideally a NeoPixel ring) to indicate visibly when each motor is being operated.

    Can you help me identify if the Omega can do this and what else is required besides the Omega. My understanding of the GPIOs is that they output 3.3V. Does that mean I could control a 3V motor by directly connecting them to GPIO or do they require external power?

    Also, really basic question. If you are using the Omega2 without any extra docks or boards, how does one power it?

    Once this is built this is the sort of forum that would be very interested to see it in action



  • Normally a MCU can withstand a maximum of 20mA on each GPIO and MT7688 chipset of Omega should have a similar specification. The motor you specified seems to have a 13.6 ohm phase resistance, thus you'll definitely need a bridge to control it.

    This topic explains how to power up the Omega without a dock: https://docs.onion.io/omega2-docs/hardware-prep-no-dock.html

    This project seems doable with Omega2, but my opinion should not be regarded as 100% true since I am working on my first project with Omega2 at the moment.



  • @Cristian-Bourceanu said in Controlling external motors and LED strips with Omega2+:

    Normally a MCU can withstand a maximum of 20mA on each GPIO and MT7688 chipset of Omega should have a similar specification.

    According to the MT7688 datasheet a GPIO can drive 4 mA.

    According to Onion's Omega2S datasheet:
    DC current through any digital I/O pin: 8 mA max.



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