Circuit Project Electronic

Physical motion of some form helps differentiate a robot from a computer. It would be nice if a motor could be attached directly to a chip that controlled the movement. But, most chips can’t pass enough current or voltage to spin a motor. Also, motors tend to be electrically noisy (spikes) and can slam power [...]

This circuit drives small DC motors up to about 100 watts or 5 amps or 40 volts, whichever comes first. Using bigger parts could make it more powerful. Using a real H-bridge IC makes sense for this size of motor, but hobbyists love to do it themselves, and I thought it was about time to [...]

Probably the simplest, reversible drive circuit is the H-Bridge. Some BEAMbots use H-bridge motor drivers; many more use an H-bridge variant of some sort. Here’s a simple conceptual schematic: Image A basic H-Bridge has 4 switches, relays, transistors, or other means of completing a circuit to drive a motor. In the above diagram, the switches [...]