Number of feasible PWM channels on a single Arduino Uno R3 or Leonardo?

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi all and my apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge.

I am trying to choose the correct Arduino board(s) for my application. I need to drive 5 DC motors with PWM at a frequency of 8 - 16 kHz each. Can this be handled with a single Arduino Uno R3 or Leonardo board? I am aware of the number of available PWM channels on each board, but am wondering if I will run into hardware limitations.

I am not sure how the clock and oscillator frequencies relate to PWM control, so some basic info on that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

2

This library will allow up to 20 pwm pins. It is called the softpwm library. Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting.

As far as frequency that is capable of, I am not sure.

Why do you have to have a range of 8 - 16 kHz? There might be a solution to make this easier.

3

Hi, cyclegadget, thanks for the reply.
I'm looking to control some DC motors and read somewhere that 8 kHz - 20 kHz is a good range to work with. I do not know the basis for this claim.

4

The idea of 8 kHz - 20 kHz being the good range for pwm on a dc motor has to do with precision in controlling the motor and they claim better commutator life.

In my opinion, you can get by with far slower pwm and have no problems when related to projects generally associated with Arduino.

If I was operating expensive equipment, or something that required high precision, I would want the higher frequency pwm control.