I will be using the Dual MAX14870 Motor Driver to make a robot line follower car, my question is does the voltage drop in this driver? my motor is 6v max and battery will be 7.4v if the driver does drop voltage, how many? if not how can i use a voltage regulator? and which one would you recommend? also how should it be connected? i will be using PWM. and arduino UNO
Hello.
The driver will output a duty-cycle controlled PWM from 0V to VIN. You could limit the maximum duty cycle in your software so the voltage to the motor effectively stays below 6V. However, adding a regulator can be helpful for a line following robot since it can stop the performance from changing when your nominal battery voltage is draining.
You might be able to use one of our step-down voltage regulators. Which particular regulator would be appropriate for your system depends on the total current draw, which will likely be mostly from your motors. For example, you should probably choose a regulator that can handle the combined stall current of your motors (ideally with a little room left for whatever else you are powering). If you can tell me more about your system (e.g. what motors you are using and what other components will be powered from the regulator), I might be able to make a more specific suggestion.
Brandon
Thanks for the reply Brandon,
But i need to know if i use a voltage regulator, how it should be connected, my battery is 7.4 and i need 6v to my motors 1.6A. where is it best to connect the voltage regulator? and is it possible to use just one for two motors?
Hello,
You might consider our 6V, 2.5A Step-Down Voltage Regulator D24V22F6. You can connect the VIN and GND of the regulator to your battery and the VOUT and GND to your motor driver’s VIN and GND pins. That way the one regulator will be used to power the whole robot (including both motors).
-Derrill
This is good, however, i still want to feed my Arduino UNO at least 7v and in this case it will get 6v which is not optimal, is there any other way to consider or come around this?
Unfortunately, we do not have a regulator option for that input voltage and about a 7V output. You might consider powering your Arduino directly from your battery pack and not use the AVIN=VM jumper.
-Derrill
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