Help choosing the proper motor driver/controller

Support Motor controllers/drivers and motors
1

I am trying to gather part information for a simple skid-steer type robot I want to build. However, i am not sure how to properly choose a motor controller that will do the job. I want the two DC motors to be able to work independently from the other. That means I need to have at least 2 PWM inputs, correct? Basically, i have my eye on two of these motors linked:

pololu.com/catalog/product/2273

Any advice on choosing an inexpensive, but effective motor controller would help.

Thanks

2

Hello.

Can you elaborate on the type of interface you are looking for? We have motor drivers you could use that take low-level control signals (PWM and direction), and we also have more advanced motor controllers that offer higher-level interfaces, such as serial, USB, RC, or analog voltages.

The related products column on the right side of the page shows some motor controllers we recommend for using with those motors, but I could give you some more targeted suggestions if you have more specific things you want.

- Ben

3

The MC I will be using is an Arduino Mega 2560. Wanting to interface using the outputs for PWM signals to control the DC motors. Here is the information for my MC if any questions: arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMega2560

Thanks

4

I recommend you use our dual VNH2SP30 or VNH3SP30 motor driver carriers. The VNH2SP30 version is better (it can handle higher continuous current, offers current sense feedback, and supports ultrasonic PWM frequencies for quieter motor operation), but those features might not be very useful to you (e.g. as far as I know, the Arduino’s stock analogWrite() functions do not support generation of 20 kHz PWMs, and both driver versions have plenty of power for those motors).

If you want more functionality, you could use a pair of our 18v7 Simple Motor Controllers and control them with serial commands from your Arduino. This would let you test and debug motor control using USB, and the SMCs offer advanced features like acceleration limiting. It also is very easy to turn your robot into a manually-controlled RC vehicle if you use SMCs as your motor controllers.

- Ben