I would like to power 6 (12V) motors with an Arduino UNO and (a) motor driver module(s). I want to build a rover with a rocker-bogie suspension as there are many youtube video's to find of. What i am not getting is how they power up the 6 motors for these projects. The front end of the rover (bogie) has 2 motors on each side (L+R), back end (rocker) one on each side. The two motors on each front side work together. I need the motors to go forwards, backwards, stop and control speed. I suppose it's not possible to control all the motors with one motor driver? If not i was thinking using the SparkFun Motor Driver - Dual TB6612FNG (as it is much more efficient than the typical L298N driver) , but then i need 3 of them, and in that case i am afraid there are not enough pins on the Arduino to control the motor driver board(s)? correct? another way is to use the arduino motor shield (4 motors) in combo with the TB6612FNG, but maybe that does't solve the pin problem? Many thanks in advance, shining your lights on this... Eager to learn from you girls/guys!
The Arduino Uno is not a power supply and cannot power any motors.
To figure out what motor power supply and motor drivers are needed, the first step is pick motors that can actually move your robot as required. The motor data sheet will provide the motor torque and speed, as well as the recommended operating voltage and current draw.
My guess is that the three motors on each side can share a driver. Just wire the motors in parallel and make sure your driver is capable of three times the stall current. A motor driver will typically require between 2 and four output pins so the UNO should have no problem with two drivers.
Alternatively, you can use a separate driver for each motor and wire their control signals in parallel so you still only need 2 to 4 pins per side.
You have a long learning curve in front of you! Begin with a single motor and a controller and a method to measure the RPM of the motor. You cannot control speed unless you can measure the actual speed.
Once you get that all under control, you can add another motor and learn to control two independent motors. Then more motors and the same thing.
Thanks for your feedback. I am aware of the learning curve
I didn't express myself very good i think (english is not my mother tongue language). It's not my intention to control the speed exactly. I meant it should be able to drive at different speeds (control with PWM).
Step one: Arduino is a controller, never a power suppy.
The power to the motors begins at the to-be-discovered power supply. The P.S. supplies driving power to the motor driver board(s). The motor driver board(s) also receive commands from the Arduino in the form of direction (a pin is set high or low) and speed (the Arduino pins send PWM for your selected duty cycle to the motor driver boards). The motor driver board then passes movement power from the power supply to the motors. To go forward, you tell the Arduino direction pin to tell the motor driver board(s) to go forward, and increase the speed by increasing the PWM duty cycle on each motor board. To turn, you send the driver boards for the motors on one side forward and motor driver boards on the other side backward. To reverse, you send all motors backwards with the direction pin.
Rather than "getting it just right" before you start, take a look projects that fit your idea, then find the technical specifications of those parts... How heavy is your vehicle? If you want six motors, how "big" must each motor be to move the vehicle (reliably)? How much power will each motor-driver-board need to drive the motors? How much power will all motors need at top speed and torque?
Thanks for your feedback! I was aware the arduino itself is not a power supply, but reading my message again i understand how that came accross
I should have mentioned that i already thought out the technical specifications of the motors i need for this project. I used the 'drive motor sizing tool' for this. Anyone familiar using this? Comments?
I want to use one of the dual channel medium power motor drivers i found on this website, and i think the suggestion given by 'johnwasser' is a good one: to use 2 dual channel drivers, each powering 3 motors, of which the 2 front ones working together, are connected in parallel... Thanks again for your time!
