TB6612FNG Dual Motor Driver Carrier
TheTB6612FNG(308k pdf) is a great dual motor driver that is perfect for interfacing two small DC motors such as ourmicro metal gearmotorsto a microcontroller, and it can also be used to control a singlebipolar stepper motor. The MOSFET-based H-bridges are much more efficient than the BJT-based H-bridges used in older drivers such as theL298Nand Sanyo’sLB1836M, which allows more current to be delivered to the motors and less to be drawn from the logic supply (the LB1836 still has the TB6612 beat for really low-voltage applications). Our little breakout board gives you direct access to all of the features of the TB6612FNG and adds power supply capacitors and reverse battery protection on the motor supply (note: there is no reverse protection on the Vcc connection).
In a typical application, power connections are made on one side of the board and control connections are made on the other. All of the control inputs are internally pulled low. Each of the two motor channels has two direction control pins and a speed control pin that accepts a PWM input with a frequency of up to 100kHz. TheSTBYpin must be driven high to take the driver out of standby mode.
The distance between the header rows on the PCB is 0.1" smaller than a standard 0.6" DIP package (e.g. theBaby Orangutan), but the pin spacing allows it to conveniently fit in 0.1" breadboards and perfboards.
For a more advanced motor controller based on this driver, please consider theqik 2s9v1dual serial motor controller. For a robot controller based on this driver, please consider the Baby Orangutan,Orangutan SV-328,Orangutan SVP-1284, and3pi robot, which connect the TB6612 to a user-programmable AVR microcontroller. For a similar motor driver that is easy to use with Arduinos, consider ourDRV8835 dual motor driver shield, and for a similar motor driver with a much higher maximum operating voltage, consider ourA4990 dual motor driver carrier.
Features and specifications
Real-world power dissipation considerations
The TB6612 motor driver used on the carrier board has a peak current rating of 3A per channel. The peak ratings are for quick transients (e.g. when a motor is first turned on), and the continuous rating of 1A is dependent on various conditions, such as the ambient temperature. The actual current you can deliver will depend on how well you can keep the motor driver cool. The carrier’s printed circuit board is designed to draw heat out of the motor driver chip, but performance can be improved by adding a heat sink.
This product can gethotenough to burn you long before the chip overheats. Take care when handling this product and other components connected to it.
Included hardware
A 1×16-pin breakaway0.1″ male header stripis included with the TB6612FNG motor driver carrier. This strip can optionally be soldered to the carrier board so that it can be used with perfboards,solderless breadboards, or0.1″ female connectors. (The headers might ship as two 1×8 pieces or as a single 1×16 piece that can be broken in half.)