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12v dc Motor Driver Project - Pololu Components

Robotics and electronics discussion Electronics
#1

Hi everyone
I want to have a project as follows and need some advice as what components would suit. I am in the beginner category!

A basic project to control a motor speed by slide potentiometer, and directions by 2 buttons. Up to 12 volt dc variable, max 1 amp current.
Size is a requirement up to about 1 inch square, can use larger format for testing etc.
Motor to have own 12 volt battery source. Once tested etc. Micro etc to have own supply as well, once tested etc.
Once tested I will need a version that can be controlled wirelessly. That is using a phone (Roboremo App?) wif-fi or ble, or r/c. For a tracked model vehicle inside a room about 10-15 m range. For r/c would I need a transmitter ?
Currently I have a ESP01-F and a Pololu BD65496MUV Motor Driver, have not put together yet. But looking at Pololu site there seems to be a number of motor controller options that may suit. The simpler the better, control of 1 motor only required.

What Pololu micro recommendations do you have ? What ever you recommend, are there any similar codes and projects I can look at ?

I live in New Zealand, Palmerston North, if any Kiwis on this forum.

Thanks
Charles Harris

#2

Hello, Charles.

We do not have any products that are specifically designed to control a motor like how you described, so you will probably need to use a combination of a few products and to program a microcontroller to make them behave like you want. Unfortunately, we do not have any resources like code or example projects to direct you towards, and it is beyond the scope of our support to provide that level of support, but I can point out a few of our products that might be useful.

Your microcontroller’s size constrain is pretty tight, so you might consider our A-Star 32U4 Micro or our P-Star 25K50 Micro, but keep in mind that even these controllers technically exceed one inch in length because the USB connector overhangs the PCB. Also, since you characterized yourself as a beginner, I more strongly recommend the A-Star since you can use the Ardunio IDE to program it, which has a lot of resources available.

Our BD65496MUV carrier seems like a good choice for the supply voltage and current requirements you provided.

If you decide to go with a RC (radio control) control setup, then you would need a transmitter and a receiver. We do not have any specific suggestions for those. I am not familiar with the ESP-01F, but from some quick searches it appears that it supports several types of communication protocols, like UART serial and I2C, which you could potentially use to make it work with your microcontroller, so using that could probably be an okay approach too. Alternatively, if you want to use Bluetooth, you might consider our BlueSMiRF Silver - Bluetooth Modem.

- Patrick

#3

Thanks Patrick. I will have a look at the options suggested.

Charles