What is it?

The Taco Chicken line of control boards are multi-purpose, broad spectrum "controllers" based on an ESP32 MCU. Taco Chicken was designed for small scale automation of DC powered devices. With 2 motor controllers, 4 MOSFET Outputs capable of 10A/ea and multiple input choices Taco Chicken can fit almost any need. This particular iteration of Taco Chicken adds common industrial serial communication abilities in RS232 and RS485. This allows Taco Chicken to be integrated into existing industrial systems or to utilize common and durable sensors with robust communication protocols for noisy environments.

Why did you make it?

After spending time with different dev boards, relay modules and similar products I wanted to have an integrated, all in one solution that allowed me to easily automate different machines and devices with a single control board. I could not find anything on the market that met my needs so I made my own. On a recent project I needed to be able to communicate with an RS232 device (Vehicle Weigh Scale, pictures included) and so the Taco Chicken RS232/RS485 was born. This iteration also includes a more robust D-Sub 25 connector for the inputs and communications and spring loaded connectors for the high-current outputs,

What makes it special?

Aside from its compact form factor (100x100mm), Taco Chicken has the following features:

• Ability to communicate with RS232 and RS485 devices.

• High input voltage range (7-24VDC). This allows it to easily be used with existing industrial DC power supplies which are commonly 12-24VDC

• 4 x High current output capacity (10A per channel) MOSFET outputs, each output has it's own LED indicator for easy testing/troubleshooting/user notification. This allows for more precise control of loads such as PWM or driving extreme current relays in industrial settings.

• 2 x DRV8870 Motor Drivers (3.6A per motor driver or combined for motors up to 7A, can also be paired to drive a single stepper motor).

• 4 Analog Inputs with RC filter (0805 components for easy hand soldering to change filter values if needed).

• I2C broken out to D-Sub connector for additional sensors, add-on ADC modules or displays.

• I2C header with common OLED pinout in convenient location for ease of use as a user configurable data display.

• 2 Digital Inputs with hardware de-bouncing for limit switches, buttons, etc.

• 1 Digital Input with 4.7k pullup resistor for plug and play compatibility with Dallas One-Wire sensors (DS18B20 for example).

• CH340 USB-UART converter for easy programming without needing a programmer.

• Easily programmable in Arduino IDE or IDE of your choice.

• Robust connectors for reliable wiring.

• Sample code provided for RS485 ModbusRTU connection with SHT20 temperature and humidity sensor.