Adafruit
Adafruit TB6612 1.2A DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board
The Adafruit TB6612 Breakout is a compact dual H-bridge motor driver that can spin two DC motors bidirectionally, step one bipolar or unipolar stepper, or fi...
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The Adafruit TB6612 Breakout is a compact dual H-bridge motor driver that can spin two DC motors bidirectionally, step one bipolar or unipolar stepper, or fire two solenoids — all at up to 1.2A continuous per channel (3A peak). It's the same driver chip used in the Adafruit Motor Shield and Motor HAT, now in a breadboard-friendly breakout format.
The board includes a polarity protection FET on the motor voltage input, a pull-up on the standby/enable pin, and built-in kickback diodes — so you don't need external flyback protection for inductive loads.
Key Features
- TB6612 Dual H-Bridge – Two full H-bridges (four half H-bridges)
- 1.2A Continuous / 3A Peak – Per channel
- PWM Speed Control – One PWM input per driver for variable speed
- Motor Voltage – 4.5–13.5V (separate from logic)
- Logic Voltage – 2.7–5V
- Built-In Kickback Diodes – No external flyback protection needed
- Polarity Protection – FET on motor voltage input
- Breadboard-Friendly – Includes header strip
Can Drive
- 2× DC motors (bidirectional)
- 1× Bipolar or unipolar stepper motor
- 2–4× Solenoids (two active at a time on opposite bridges)
Ideal For
- Robotics and motor control projects
- Breadboard prototyping with motors
- Solenoid and valve control
- Stepper motor positioning
Package Contents
- 1× TB6612 motor driver breakout (assembled and tested)
- 1× Header strip
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- breakout
- A breakout board carries a small or fine-pitched component and brings its connections out to standard, breadboard- and header-friendly pins. Describing a part as a breakout means it can be wired into a project without soldering directly to the component's tiny contacts.
- DC
- DC means direct current, where electricity flows in one constant direction, as supplied by batteries, USB ports and many plug-pack power supplies. When a product specifies DC, it runs from a DC supply rather than mains AC, so you need to provide the correct voltage and polarity.
- flyback protection
- A protection method used with coils such as relays, solenoids, and motors to absorb the voltage spike created when the coil is switched off. Adding a diode for flyback protection helps prevent damage to transistors, microcontrollers, or other control electronics.
- Headers
- Rows of connector contacts on a fixed pitch (commonly 2.54 mm) used to link a board to a breadboard, jumper wires, or another board. They come as male pin headers and female socket headers; when a module ships with pre-soldered headers it can be used straight away, whereas bare pads require soldering the pins yourself.
- motor driver
- An electronic circuit that lets a low-power controller switch and control a motor that needs more current than the controller pins can safely provide. Checking motor driver support matters because pumps and motors usually cannot be connected directly to a microcontroller output.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
- Shield
- An add-on board that plugs into a main controller board to give it extra features such as sensing, motor control or communication. Knowing a product supports shields helps you judge whether it can connect neatly into an existing maker-board setup.
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Brands
Prototyping & Wiring
Robotics & Motion
adafruit tb6612 h bridge dc stepper motor driver breakout
Driver · 1.6 MB · Click any page to view full size
Resources & Downloads
Guides, code examples, and more
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
