Change of plan
After the failure and destruction of my third motor controller, I decided to go in another direction. I purchased a VESC(open source BLDC controller) off of amazon and was able to get the hub motor spinning both directions.
It took me a while to figure out how to communicate to the VESC but I was able to create a python program that could set the speed of the wheel and monitor the speed and other stats.
The next phase was to connect the wii-mote code that I wrote last summer with this new python library. I was able to control one of the wheels with the wii-mote so this is a huge step on the way to getting the rover mobile.(See video below)
I have purchased the second controller and just need to wire up the second wheel and update the code to control both wheels at the same time. I might hook up a kind of redneck e-stop.(extension cord to a batteryless laptop) Because that last thing I need is the rover to drive away and flipover destroying all the electonics. This is the last step in the PoC hardware phase once this is verified then I can move on to working on the SLAM and automated software phase.