The TB6612FNG from Pololu is a great dual motor driver that is perfect for interfacing small DC motors such as the micro metal gearmotors to a microcontroller. The MOSFET-based H-bridges are much more efficient than the BJT-based H-bridges used in older drivers, which allows more current to be delivered to the motors and less to be drawn from the logic supply.
Our little breakout board gives you direct access to all of the features of the TB6612FNG and adds power supply capacitors and reverse battery protection on the motor supply
(note: there is no reverse protection on the Vcc connection).
In a typical application, power connections are made on one side of the board and control connections are made on the other. All of the control inputs are internally pulled low. Each of the two motor channels has two direction control pins and a speed control pin that accepts a PWM input with a frequency of up to 100 kHz. The STBY pin must be driven high to take the driver out of standby mode.
The TB6612 motor driver used on the carrier board has a peak current rating of 3 A per channel. The peak ratings are for quick transients (e.g. when a motor is first turned on), and the continuous rating of 1 A is dependent on various conditions, such as the ambient temperature. The actual current you can deliver will depend on how well you can keep the motor driver cool. The carrier’s printed circuit board is designed to draw heat out of the motor driver chip, but performance can be improved by adding a heat sink.
Features:
- 2 motor channels
- 4.5-13.5VDC operating voltage
- 1A continuous output current
- 3A peak output current
- 2A continuous paralleled output current
- 100kHz maximum PWM frequency
- 2.7-5.5VDC logic voltage
Dimensions: 0.6x0.8"
