Driving 8 motors with off the shelf hardware

Hardware Nano Family Classic Nano
1

I'm working on a device that will eventually be assembled by non-technical people. I need to drive 8 motors, under 500mA, with a full H. Is there a no-solder solution, such as a shield?

2

Is that the stall current or the running current? When a motor starts up it draws for a very short time the stall current. You can measure this by measuring the motor's coil resistance with a meter and using ohms law to calculate what the current will be.

Not that I am aware of as shields with H-Bridge chips on them tend not to be stackable.

If you are afraid of soldering then I guess this hobby is not for you.

3

I can see why your name is Grumpy Mike! I'm a retired Electronic Engineer who can solder pretty well. I'm trying to make a project that SOMEONE ELSE can assemble. Perhaps a 4 stepper driver? Current really isn't an issue, max 100mA, I just like a nice margin. Stall isn't an issue. I'm looking at off the shelf modules from Amazon or Aliexpress, just trying to make this as easy to assemble as possible.

I'm not tied to the nano, pretty much any arduino-compatible device would be ok. Some off-the-shelf product that could be easily reourposed would be ideal.

4

OK, did you know when you post on a forum, all we know is what you tell us. We are not mind readers.

Well as a retired Electronic Engineer do you mean a four coil stepping motor, correctly known as a unipolar stepping motor? If so then why talk about a H-Bridge to drive this?

Or do you mean a bipolar stepping motor, that does need a H-Bridge but is not called a 4 stepper driver.

I think you would benefit from reading this How to get the best from this from this Forum before you proceed any further.
It tells you how best to describe a problem.

5

Well, I read the 'How to get the best from this forum' link, but I didn't see your name in there, so I'm hoping I can get answers from someone else who might know an answer. Looking for 8 full H's. Thanks!

6

You can buy motor drivers with screw terminals, but usually only for the motor leads.

It is hard to imagine why anyone would bother to design and produce a no-solder "shield" for 8 motors.

7

That's probably what I'll have to do.I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a better solution before I go down that road. Thanks.

8

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