In other posts across the forum I have read that in order to control the TB6612FNG Dual Motor Driver Carrier board all you need to do is set PWMA and STBY high (which in my case is 3.3v) and then set AIN1 and AIN2 a combination of high and low to get the motor to spin in any one direction full foward and reverse. However I have tried to do this and have recieved no response from the motor… any suggestions?
One more question: In order to parallel the motor outputs for continuous 2A current would all I have to do is wire AO1 and BO1 together, AO2 and BO2 together, and then send identical signals to the PWM and 2 input pins?
The connections you describe sound correct. Can you verify with a multimeter that you have the proper voltages on the inputs (e.g. high for PWMA, STBY, and AIN1; low for AIN2)? Are you also connecting logic power (VCC) and motor power (VMOT)?
When using the driver outputs in parallel, I suggest you wire PWMA to PWMB and use one signal to control the speed (when you mention “identical signals” it makes me worried that you might be trying to generate two synchronized signals, which could lead to trouble if you mess it up). Other than that, yes, you should wire AIN1 to BIN1, AIN2 to BIN2, AO1 to BO1, and AO2 to BO2.
Do you have common grounds (i.e. grounds connected from your VCC source, VMOT source, and control signal source)? Can you disconnect the motor and measure the voltage on A01 and A02 with your meter? Does anything change if you use the B side of the driver? It would help if you could post a picture of your setup.
Using TB6612FNG to drive 2 motors, I usually control my motors’ speed by sending PWM signals to PWMA and PWMB pins, and set their direction through logic signals at AIN and BIN pins.
Then later I discovered that OrangutanMotors.cpp control speed & direction by sending PWM signals to AIN and BIN directly, while constantly driving PWMA & PWMB high.
With some motor drivers, the direction pins have different switching characteristics than the PWM pins, so it’s good to first check the datasheet to see if this is the case. With the TB6612, it works fine to PWM the direction pins directly. The main benefit is that you only need four I/O lines to control two motors instead of six, but the drawback is that the control is more difficult as you need to manage four PWM outputs instead of two.
