# Drive System

## Driving Motors (CubeMars)

Each of the 6 driving motors requires power and data (CAN and UART) routed from inside the chassis of the rover.

### Power

Power is delivered over a black (–) and a red (+) wire. These wires run through the interior of the aluminum extrusions and terminate in a female XT-60 connector at each of the wheels.

Each motor connects to this system via a short power cable with:

- **Male XT-30**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> on one end — plugs into the motor</span>
- **Male XT-60**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the other end — plugs into the rover's female XT-60 connector</span>

### Data

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Data is carried over Ethernet cables and connectors, wired to the </span>**T568B**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> standard.</span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Each wheel has one Ethernet-in and one Ethernet-out connector, </span>**except**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> the back wheels, which have an Ethernet-in and a terminator (a 120Ω resistor) in place of Ethernet-out.</span>

**Motor numbering:**

<table id="bkmrk-positionmotor-idfron"><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Position

</th><th>Motor ID

</th></tr><tr><td>Front wheels

</td><td>M1

</td></tr><tr><td>Middle wheels

</td><td>M2

</td></tr><tr><td>Back wheels

</td><td>M3

</td></tr></tbody></table>

**Cable layout (per side, 3 cables total):**

<table id="bkmrk-cableruncable-1chass"><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Cable

</th><th>Run

</th></tr><tr><td>Cable 1

</td><td>Chassis → Front wheel

</td></tr><tr><td>Cable 2

</td><td>Front wheel → Middle wheel

</td></tr><tr><td>Cable 3

</td><td>Middle wheel → Back wheel

</td></tr></tbody></table>

[![image.png](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/scaled-1680-/WHgimage.png)](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/WHgimage.png)

#### Ethernet Connector Pinouts

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Each wheel has two female Ethernet connectors: one </span>**in**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, one </span>**out**. Pin assignments below follow T568B pairing (pins grouped by pair: 1–2, 3–6, 4–5, 7–8 in standard Ethernet), but here shown per the rover's female connectors labeling.

**M1 – In**

<table id="bkmrk-pin%2B%E2%80%931rxm1-out-1%E2%80%932m1"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Pin

</th><th>+

</th><th>–

</th></tr><tr><td>1

</td><td>RX

</td><td>M1 out 1–

</td></tr><tr><td>2

</td><td>M1 out 2+

</td><td>TX

</td></tr><tr><td>3

</td><td>M1 out 3+

</td><td>M1 out 3–

</td></tr><tr><td>4

</td><td>CAN HIGH 1

</td><td>CAN LOW 1

</td></tr></tbody></table>

**M1 – Out**

<table id="bkmrk-pin%2B%E2%80%931%E2%80%94m1-in-1%E2%80%932m1-i"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Pin

</th><th>+

</th><th>–

</th></tr><tr><td>1

</td><td>—

</td><td>M1 in 1–

</td></tr><tr><td>2

</td><td>M1 in 2+

</td><td>—

</td></tr><tr><td>3

</td><td>M1 in 3+

</td><td>M1 in 3–

</td></tr><tr><td>4

</td><td>CAN HIGH 2

</td><td>CAN LOW 2

</td></tr></tbody></table>

**M2 – In**

<table id="bkmrk-pin%2B%E2%80%931m2-out-1%2Bm2-ou"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Pin

</th><th>+

</th><th>–

</th></tr><tr><td>1

</td><td>M2 out 1+

</td><td>M2 out 1–

</td></tr><tr><td>2

</td><td>RX

</td><td>M2 out 2–

</td></tr><tr><td>3

</td><td>M2 out 3+

</td><td>TX

</td></tr><tr><td>4

</td><td>CAN HIGH 2

</td><td>CAN LOW 2

</td></tr></tbody></table>

**M2 – Out**

<table id="bkmrk-pin%2B%E2%80%931m2-in-1%2Bm2-in-"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Pin

</th><th>+

</th><th>–

</th></tr><tr><td>1

</td><td>M2 in 1+

</td><td>M2 in 1–

</td></tr><tr><td>2

</td><td>—

</td><td>M2 in 2–

</td></tr><tr><td>3

</td><td>M2 in 3+

</td><td>—

</td></tr><tr><td>4

</td><td>CAN HIGH 3

</td><td>CAN LOW 3

</td></tr></tbody></table>

**M3 – In**

<table id="bkmrk-pin%2B%E2%80%931%E2%80%94tx2%E2%80%94%E2%80%943rx%E2%80%944can"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><th>Pin

</th><th>+

</th><th>–

</th></tr><tr><td>1

</td><td>—

</td><td>TX

</td></tr><tr><td>2

</td><td>—

</td><td>—

</td></tr><tr><td>3

</td><td>RX

</td><td>—

</td></tr><tr><td>4

</td><td>CAN HIGH 3

</td><td>CAN LOW 3

</td></tr></tbody></table>

#### Motor-Side Connection

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The female Ethernet connector cables connect to the motors via </span>**GH connectors**.

<p class="callout warning">**Warning:**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> The GH-side connector should </span>**never**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> be disconnected from the motor. This connector sits inside the motor driver and is physically flimsy — one driver has already been bricked from being connected/disconnected too many times.</span></p>

## Steering motors

The steering motors are connected through 5-way wire (with one of the channels cut off) to the motor drivers.

[![image.png](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/scaled-1680-/54Gimage.png)](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/54Gimage.png)[![image.png](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/scaled-1680-/Mdaimage.png)](https://bookstack.roboteamtwente.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/Mdaimage.png)