I have a bunch of 6V DC motors that I'm happily running off of an Arduino Uno R3 board and its accompanying motor shield. I am able to change the motors' speed via the PWM pins and the direction via the DIR pins. I wrote some code that automatically changes the speed and the rotation direction at certain times of the day. I'm using a 9V power supply for this and I control the maximum output voltage at shield connectors A and B through PWM. So far no issues.
I now have a requirement to do the same with a 24V motor. My research tells me that I most probably need a motor driver. A similar topic on Arduino forum suggested this Pololu driver. The specifications seem to be correct (40V/13A max.) and I can see that the driver has both PWM and DIR connections. Please can someone confirm if this is a suitable driver for the application I have? I'm only asking because I'm an electronics noob and I tried to do my research before asking. I don't want to fry my board or the motor. Or if there is a better solution I would appreciate any pointers.
Well you always need a motor driver - you're using them for the 6V motors already too.
But you have provided only one fact about the motor in question, "24V". Not much one can say without a proper set of specs. of the motor.
When you talk about a piece of hardware in a question like this, please identify it in full - ideally a link to the datasheet for the motor, or at the very least a product page.
Fair point. The reason I haven't specified any details is simply because I do not know them, the procurement is yet to happen and I will have to work with what I'm given. Perhaps I should've clarified this.
The best I can do is to assume it is a "variable speed brushless DC motor" which is the only spec/description I could find for another similar product we got before.
As @MarkT says, a link to the motor. If You make it possible for us to identify Your current motor driver we can tell if it would do the job or if You need that driver You told about.
As I explained, I do not have any additional information on the motor apart from the info I already provided. I am not trying to make it difficult or awkward for anyone, it's just that I am unable to obtain the specs myself.
I asked the question because I hoped some sort of general advice or guidance can be given. I understand by now that no further advice can be given until the motor specs/details are provided.
Is there any plate on the motor, telling the manufacturers name, anything?
Send a photo of the motor and something to compare with, a match box, a cigarrett, ...... Shaft diameter....
No, you are not doing that. You are controlling the time the voltage is at 9 volts and the time it is at zero volts. In turn, that also limits the current pulses, which makes the motor turn, to the time the volts are at 9 volts.