Simple robot - wiring separate power supply for drive

[Nerdsville]

Hi,

After working through my Experimenters kit I'm about to build my first robot. I'm pretty confident I can write the control sketches, but would like to use a separate power supply for the motors so they don't drain the supply for the Eleven control board.

I just have simple motors (not servos) with a black and red wire to each. How do I control these through the eleven board? All the projects I've made so far control devices that are powered by the board - and now I'm confused because this is different

Cheers,
Martin

[andrew]

Use our new HBRIDGE: shield, it's perfect for driving two DC motors with an external power supply:
http://www.freetronics.com/collections/ ... ver-shield

[Nerdsville]

Thanks John,
I bought an HBridge shield from Jaycar and tried it as described on the product page of your website (for controlling a single DC motor) but nothing happens. I've tried the following...

1. Directly connecting battery pack to motor - the motor works!
2. With my multimeter: I have 5v at motor power in terminals...
3. I have 0v at OUT A...
4. Pins D4, D7 and D6 all behave as they should do according to the sketch - both at the shield input terminals and the channel A jumpers.

I even went back to Jaycar and the nice folk there let me try my setup with another Hbridge shield - still zero output.

I'll email your support with photos of my setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Martin

[andrew]

replied via email.

[Nerdsville]

Thanks John,
I hadn't noticed the minimum voltage. 'Tried a 6x AA battery power pack and it works a treat.
Cheers,
Martin

[andrew]

Thanks John,
I hadn't noticed the minimum voltage. 'Tried a 6x AA battery power pack and it works a treat.
Cheers,
Martin

Great news, have fun.