Hello, so I'm working with a team on building a little Rover. We have 2 12 V DC motors that we thought we'd power with 3 4V LiPo batteries in series through a L298N motor driver. (none of us are too smart when it comes to power...) It worked for a few minutes but then the batteries malfunctioned and no longer work. We just need to figure out what's another good way of powering our motors. Help would be massively appreciated.
It depends on your motors power consumption.
150 W 12-36V motor is all I could find. Is that enough?
Well 150W at 12V means 12.5A. An L298N is only good for about 2A. So I'd guess that's at least part of your problem. Then again the batteries may not be capable of those currents.
Exactly what batteries do you have? Link to them or a datasheet please. What are the symptoms that make you think the "batteries malfunctioned"?
Steve
You need to know the stall current of the motors, this is the amount the motor drivers will have
to tolerate. Stall currents can be 5 to 20 times the full load current, so this is a big deal.
Careful ramping of PWM levels will help reduce maximum current draw.
For these kind of currents a decent high current MOSFET H-bridge is required, the L298 is
way way too weak for this.