SparkFun
SparkFun Wireless Motor Driver Shield
The SparkFun Wireless Motor Driver Shield is designed to make connecting motors, sensors and other components to your Arduino-based project as fast and easy ...
The SparkFun Wireless Motor Driver Shield is designed to make connecting motors, sensors and other components to your Arduino-based project as fast and easy as possible. The heart of the Wireless Motor Driver Shield is the Toshiba TB6612FNG H-Bridge Motor Driver, which allows the shield to control two DC motors at once, both CW and CCW, and to brake electronically. The TB6612FNG H-Bridge is rated up to 1.2A per channel at 13V, which means it will drive a fair variety of hobby motors ranging in power. Each of the GPIO pins is broken out on a “servo-style” header field with PWR and GND to allow you to easily connect devices using a 3-pin servo cable.
Using the onboard slide switches, the motor power and servo power rail can be connected to the Arduino’s regulated voltage, VIN, or a completely separate power supply attached to the shield’s barrel jack. This feature makes the SparkFun Wireless Motor Driver Shield ideal if you are connecting multiple servos and need more than 5V to your robotics project!
This shield also includes an I2C pin-out and a built-in XBee socket, making it perfect for setting up an XBee-based remote control. Simply plug an XBee module into the socket on the shield, and you have the control system for a simple remote control rover or small autonomous robot!
GET STARTED WITH THE WIRELESS MOTOR DRIVER SHIELD GUIDE
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- GPIO
- General-purpose input/output pins are microcontroller pins you can set in software to read signals, switch devices on and off, or connect to peripherals. The number of GPIO pins matters because it limits how many buttons, LEDs, sensors, and other parts you can wire directly to the board.
- 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.
- servo
- A servo is a motor with built-in position control, usually told to move to a specific angle by a control signal. It matters when you need repeatable movement, such as steering, arms, flaps, or linkages, rather than continuous spinning.
- 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
Robotics & Motion
Wireless Motor Driver Shield Schematic
Schematic · 102.3 KB · Click any page to view full size
TB6612FNG Motor Driver Datasheet
Datasheet · 202.6 KB · Click any page to view full size
Supplier page — sparkfun.com
Supplier Description · 825.5 KB · Click any page to view full size
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