Motor driver diodes

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Hi all ,

I' m going to buy a Magician chassis (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10825), and to drive its motors , I will buy a Motor Driver, the 1A Dual TB6612FNG from Sparkfun (SparkFun Motor Driver - Dual TB6612FNG (1A) - ROB-14451 - SparkFun Electronics). So , before I buy them , does anyone know if that particular driver has protective diodes to protect for back emf?

Thanks

2

The datasheet for the chip on that sparkfun driver indicates it has built-in diodes (as far as I can tell, its very Japanese).

3

I just built up the same kit. It's very basic but it works. If you can spare the space, put the 4x'AA' battery holder on the top of the chassis along with the arduino board, otherwise you'll have to remove the top plate to change the batteries.

I noticed that when driving the Arduino with a nice strong wall adapter connected to the Arduino power jack, the motors ran quite well. However, when using the onboard battery pack supplied with the chassis, the whole contraption ran a bit more sluggishly. It's obvious that the motors + Arduino + motor shield is a bit too much for the standard batteries. This unit would definitely benefit from a LiPo battery in place of the stock arrangement.

4

Thanks MarkT and TwelveBarBrews for your replies.

Well ,TwelveBarBrews, this motor driver breakout board has an external voltage pin, where I will connect the included battery pack or a LiPo battery , as you suggested. Also ,the arduino will be powered from a 9v battery.

Thank you