I bought this Pololu Dual High Current Motor Driver 9A 6V-16V
Spec sheet:
And I think I might have got a bit carried away buying something before i actually know how to use it. What i wanted to use it for was to drive my skid steer platform from the arduino (so forwards and reverse control on two motors, variable speed and of course stop)
Can some one please help me and let me know if this bit of kit is actually capable of doing what i want it to. And If not what would be required to get it to do it.
Also any links to other posts i may have overlooked on how to install and program it.
My motors i am driving are:
DC12V
? Output power: 3.4 Watt
? Maximum current: 1.1A
there is 4 all together 2 wired in parallel on each side of the platform. 4X4 skid steer.
These are very nice controllers and quite suitable for what you describe. They have much higher current handling than you likely need.
I have two of the slightly higher power ones (vnh2 ones) in my ROV and they do fine.
The connections are simple. I have their 5V logic power supply running off my Arduino Pro's regulator. After that all you need to feed them is PWM modulation and direction.
These parts have separate A and B inputs, not a single bit direction. Since in my application I do not need the A and B inputs separately controlled, I used a hex inverter to wire B = not A and save myself an Arduino output pin.
Dimension Engineering Sabertooth is a range of drivers of different current capabilities, up to 50A. They are all more expensive than the Pololu board. The smallest and cheapest Sabertooth has a lesser current capability than the Pololu VNH3SP3 board.
The Sabertooth design has much more flexibility about how it is controlled than the VNH3SP3. Where the VNH3SP3 just has raw control of the A and B control inputs, the Sabertooth allows analogue voltage, serial packet, digital-proportional and other complex control signals. It can generate PWM internally as well, which the VNH3SP3 can't.