I've done some searching and read a bit but I'm still not confident with what to do in my situation controlling this motor.
I'm using an arduino UNO for a project for school so I'm completely new to this. I have this motor:
For background, I need to control the motor going both directions and at one speed. It'll be hooked up to a photoelectric sensor that triggers the directions.
The load is rated at 60W so therefore the draw should be 4.4~ A. Obviously the arduino can't do this so I was thinking of using a driver. The driver that came with my kit I BELIEVE was the L293DNE. Looking at the data sheet it's rated up to 1A per channel so that isn't enough. Talking to my dad(who's an electrician) gave the idea of using a contactor since the motor draws up to 4.4A.
So I guess my question is, should I just go look for a higher rated driver? Or go the contactor route? Kinda running low on time here and really wanted to get this wired up this weekend so I could field test the application.
The motor driver needs to be able to supply quite a bit more than the average current (close to the stall current) in order to start the motor. If you don't know the stall current, you can estimate it by measuring the winding resistance in ohms and dividing that into 12 volts. Pololu sells some suitable drivers, e.g. this one supplies 9 amperes continuously, 30 amps peak: Pololu - VNH3SP30 Motor Driver Carrier MD01B
Also that motor has a 60W mechanical rating - due to losses in the motor the
electrical power will be higher, perhaps 80 or 100W. Thus expect 7 to 8A for
60W mechanical out.
Stall current is not indicated, and for a massive reduction gear set like this it
probably cannot be measured without breaking the thing. Something like a 15A
to 20A controller is probably the sort of thing that will drive it properly.
However if you don't need all of that 60W mechanical a lower current driver may
be fine. 60W is a lot of power (enough to be respectful of, 11.5 N-m is significant
torque.
Expect the motor not to move without at least an amp, due to friction, BTW.
A useful measurement is the no-load current (I'm guessing it might be 1A or so,
but this you can actually easily measure with a 12V battery and a multimeter).