Description
Features
- Dual channel, Bi-directional control motor driver
- Support motor voltage from 2.5 V to 9.5 V DC
- Maximum current up to 1.0 A continuous and 1.5 A peak (<5 seconds)
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5 V Output (200 mA) to power the controller.
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Inputs compatible with 1.8 V, 3.3 V and 5 V logic (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc).
- Solid state components provide faster response time and eliminate the wear and tear of mechanical relay
- Regenerative Braking
- Speed control PWM frequency up to 20 KHz (Actual output frequency is same as input frequency)
- Dimension: 43 mm (W) x 35 mm (L) x 14 mm (H)
The Problem Faced by Beginners in Driving DC Brushed Motor
Maker Drive is designed by taking into account feedback from users, especially 1st time users. If you are a beginner that needs a simple motor driver to drive DC brushed motor for building mobile robot or other purposes, you might come across some of these obstacles:
Burning your Motor Driver - Many low cost motor driver does not come with Reserve Polarity Protection and this might result in smoke coming out from the driver if you connect the power in wrong polarity. This gives you a burnt motor driver and of course the waste of money and your precious time.
Too Bulky for compact projects - Some motor drivers come with a big heat sink and take up too much space.
Hard to test and troubleshoot - With normal motor drivers, beginners face a common problem during building project - difficulty in testing and troubleshooting the circuit. Yes, even with a clear schematic or diagram, the circuit will not work right after you complete the connection. Most of the time, you will need to test or troubleshoot. Without easy to use input and output indicator, you will need to write a program to test the motor driver. And that increases the complexity of debugging as you do not know whether the problem is due to wire connection or coding in your program.
Separate Power for Low Voltage Motor - Many low cost motor drivers have an onboard 5 V linear voltage regulator, which is great to power your controller like Arduino. But this linear voltage regulator will not output 5 V if Vin is lower than 7 V. Yet, many small toy motors used in DIY projects are rated at lower than 7 V. These motors are suitable to be powered by two AA or AAA batteries (3 V or less) or single cell Li-ion 18650/Li-Po battery (3.7 V rated voltage). With that, you will need two separate power sources, one for the motors and another one to get stable 5 V output for controller such as Arduino board.
Maker Drive is designed to solve the above problems while adding some useful features:
Fool Proof - Maker Drive comes with Reverse Polarity Protection at Vin/Vmotor/Vbatt (Power for motor) terminal. With this protection it will greatly reduce the risk of damaging the motor driver
Compact Design - Maker Drive is designed to be compact, roughly the size of a passport photo, 43 mm (W) x 35 mm (L) x 14 mm (H)
4 Test Buttons (2 for each channel) - Easily test the motor or your mechanism without any controller or coding. Maker Drive comes with two manual test buttons for each channel. Pressing one of the buttons will drive the output full speed in a direction (if there is motor connected) on respective channel. While another button will drive the output in another direction. These buttons are useful to test the motor direction, connection and operation; even without controller. You can also use these buttons as manual activation button. No programming is needed to use these buttons.
4 Indicator LEDs (2 for each channel) - Easily test your coding and wire connections. With these indicator LEDs, you can check output voltage direction even without connecting the driver to your motor. And combining with the Manual Test Buttons, you can test the Maker Drive easily even without controller and motor connected. You can also easily identify where the error occurs for easy troubleshooting. Of course no programming is needed here either. These LEDs are quite useful for testing and troubleshooting.
Buck-boost regulator to produce 5 V output from input voltage as low as 2.5 V- Allows you to power a 5 V controller with 2 AA batteries. Maker Drive can produce output of 5 V with input voltage range, from 2.5 V up to 9.5 V. This 5 V output can supply 200 mA to an external circuit such as a controller (Arduino), saving the trouble of getting another power source for your controller. Now your project can be powered with a single power source. And with the wide input voltage range, you can power Maker Drive with two AA or AAA batteries (1.5 V x 2 = 3 V) or single cell Li-ion or Lipo batteries that have rated voltage of 3.7 V.
Although Maker Drive is not an Arduino Shield, it is compatible with a number of Arduino main boards:
in addition to that, it accepts 1.8 V, 3.3 V & 5 V logic (for control) and is compatible with controllers such as Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, ESP8266, ESP32, etc.
Requirements for the motor you use:
- DC Brush motor (Two Terminals)
- Operating voltage from 2.5 V to 9.5 V DC
- Rated Current <= 1.0 A
- Peak Current <= 1.5 A
Suggested Power Sources
- 2 x AA/AAA batteries (2 x 1.5 V = 3.0 V)
- 3 x AA/AAA batteries (3 x 1.5 V = 4.5 V)
- 4 x AA/AAA batteries (4 x 1.5 V = 6.0 V)
- 1 x Li-ion 18650 battery (1 x 3.7 V, 3.0 V to 4.2 V)
- 2 x Li-ion 18650 batteries (2 x 3.7 V = 7.4 V, 6.0 V to 8.4 V)
- 1 x Li-ion 14500 battery (1 x 3.7 V, 3.0 V to 4.2 V)
- 2 x Li-ion 14500 batteries (2 x 3.7 V = 7.4 V, 6.0 V to 8.4 V)
Documents
Datasheet
Arduino Sketch: Select PWM_PWM_DUAL under example
Fritzing files
