Hello,
I’m creating a line-following robot that’ll follow different path shapes, and rotate at a four-way intersection. I own an Arduino UNO and the Romi Chassis kit, and I’m trying to find a motor driver that’s compatible with both components.
I’m considering these two motor drivers:
Motor Driver and Power Distribution Board for Romi Chassis - Is it compatible with Arduino UNO?
DRV8835 Dual Motor Driver Shield for Arduino - Is it compatible with the Romi Chassis kit? Will I need an additional power distribution board to access the kit’s batteries?
Also the following questions:
- What’s the difference between these drivers, performance-wise?
- Any other motor drivers I should consider?
Thank you.
Hello.
Either of the boards you mentioned, the Motor Driver and Power Distribution Board for Romi Chassis or the DRV8835 Dual Motor Driver Shield for Arduino, could be good choices for that project. There will not be any significant difference in performance for something like this, so the choice will mostly come down to what you think will be easier to use.
The advantage of the Romi motor driver and power distribution board is that it simultaneously functions as a motor driver and a power distribution board that connects to all of the batteries in the Romi chassis. Its disadvantage is that you will need to manually wire it your Arduino.
Meanwhile, the advantage of the DRV8835 shield is you will be able to plug it directly into your Arduino, but you will need to make your own connections to power it and connect to the motors on the Romi chassis. If you go that route, you might consider also getting the Power Distribution Board for Romi Chassis to simplify some of that.
A third route you could take is to use the Romi 32U4 Control Board which includes the power distribution and motor driver circuits on the same board as an Arduino compatible ATmega32U4 microcontroller (the same controller used on the Arduino Leonardo). For this approach, you would not need the Arduino Uno.
- Patrick
