Low voltage motor controller IC?

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Anyone know of a ready available IC for controlling toy dc motors?

I've been playing around with hacking my kids motorized toys using a variation on a goduino (breadboard arduino with L293D motor controller). I usually power the ATMega chip with 4 AA batteries. I want to keep the power to the motor separate from the power to the ATMega (otherwise sensors go crazy when the motors start up), so that means another 4 AA batteries for the motor. That's too much weight so I was looking for a motor controller IC to replace the L293D with that wouldn't require as much voltage.

I ran across a chip on a toy tank called the MX117 by Sinotech (http://www.mixic.com.cn/data/MX117_EN.pdf). It ran both of the tank's dc motors with 3 AAA batteries. That would be perfect but I can't figure out how to buy one myself.

2

You need to go for a MOSFET H-bridge, for low currents these perform
better than a darlington H-bridge. Typically the voltage loss is below 1V
at 1A.

Farnell have a lot of possibilities, but these chips are nearly all surface-mount.

The BD6211 claims to do upto 1A at upto 7V and is SOIC 8 which isn't impossible
to solder onto a breakout-board.

But without knowing where in the world you are its hard to recommend an
electronics supplier.

3

Awesome, thanks MarkT.

My soldering skills are the stink, so soldering the BD6211 would probably be a disaster.
But your tips helped me google this pre-made breakout board based on TI's DRV8835.

I'm gonna give that one a shot.