Powering multiple motor drivers from same DC battery

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1

Hi,

I just received my “Pololu High-Power Motor Driver 18v15” so please pardon me for asking the following noob questions.

  1. If I connect two 18v15 drives from the same DC battery, then can it be that one DC motor driver creates fluctuations in voltages for the other and vice-versa? If so, then do I need to do anything else other than installing the capacitors that come along with the motor driver.

  2. If one motor starts coasting (thus generating EMF), then will it cause any issues to the other motor driver especially since the 18v15 are not reverse polarity protected.

Regards,

2

Hello.

It’s fine (and normal) to connect multiple motor drivers to the same battery. The power capacitors that come with the drivers along with the battery itself should help smooth out voltage fluctuations.

Based on the phrasing of your second question, it doesn’t sound like you really understand how back EMF works, but whatever battery you have connected should hold the driver input voltage mostly constant.

- Ben