I am kinda new to robotics, I recently bought a Arduino uno and I am trying to hookup a DC engine (6V). I have a 2a dual motor controller (L298N: Dual high-power H-bridge). I managed to connect everything and make the engine run. But when I run the engine, the motor controller makes an annoying beep like sound, I figured it was a warning of some sort, so I turned everything off. I also notices that the engine didn't seem to be running smoothly, and when I measured the volts on both hookup-pins of the engine, I got something around 18V (but I might have misused the multimeter).
I am a little anxious to retest everything, I would hate to fry something. So I hope someone here could tell me if my setup is correct.
I made a drawing of my setup (with paint:D). I also have two buttons who control the speed and the direction, I didn't draw those.
I almost forgot to mention the jumper: there is a jumper on the motorcontroller (vd=vs) it's something about logic or engine power. I presume if the jumper is 'on' it uses power from the logic system for the engine or something. Anyway, without the jumper it doesn't do anything at all.
It looks like you are powering everthing from the Arduino +5v supply. This is not a good idea because the current required by the motors will generally be greater than the Arduino can comfortably supply. If you look at the manual for your H-bridge board, you will find that one of Vd and Vs is for the logic and should be 5v. Connect that one to the Arduino +5v pin. Remove the jumper and connect the other power line (the one for the motors) to the +ve terminal of a battery or wall wart, -ve terminal to GND. You will need about 3 more volts from this supply than the voltage that the motor needs. Also it should be at least 7.5v.
I can't see anything on the H-bridge board that can make a noise, so I suspect that it was the motor or something else making the noise.
Thanks for your help!!
With this info I should be able to fix things.
I was just wondering: why do I need more volts than the engine needs, is that lost in transportation or something? And is that always around 3V or is that like 50%?
UndeaDS:
I was just wondering: why do I need more volts than the engine needs, is that lost in transportation or something? And is that always around 3V or is that like 50%?
According to the data sheet, with 1A motor current the L298N drops 1.8v minimum, 3.2v maximum. At 2A motor current it drops 4.9V maximum. This is on top of any voltage dropped in the sensing resistors, if that board uses them. The voltage drop depends on motor current but not directly on motor voltage.
