Arduino Based Motor Driver PCB Module Useful in Robotics

An Arduino-based motor driver to drive different kinds of multiple motors at a time.

Why Arduino Motor Driver?

In small robotics projects like Robotic Arm, line-following robots, and moving cars. To drive cars, small hobby motors are used to control the directions. These small motors need specific instructions to move in a particular direction which are given by some microcontrollers; usually, Arduino UNO is preferred which is the simplest microcontroller to use in robotics projects. Hobby motors require typically 100-200mA current but the Arduino UNO can only provide up to 40mA current. To enhance the current level, a motor driver L293D is used which can be connected with the MCU to drive and run the motors at a high current level.

In this PCB module, you do not need to attach a separate Arduino to drive the motor. The MCU, motor driver and the supporting circuit to drive the robotic car are attached on one board. With this board, you can drive 4 DC, 1 Stepper, and 2 Servo motors at a time. Attach the car, code MCU according to your requirement, and enjoy driving your robotic car using a single board!

Supplies

Hardware Components:

Software tools:

Inventhub
Altium Designer

Working Description

This Arduino motor driver board can work on both 12V or 5V power supplies. It has 2 L293D Motor driver ICs, 1 Shift register IC, and an ATMEGA328P MCU. Following are the major components with their explanation:

L293D Motor Driver

It is a motor driver IC used to drive the motors in multiple directions efficiently. It has 16 pins that can control 2 DC motors simultaneously. It can control both small and big motors. The working principle of L293D IC is based on H-bridge. H-bridge allows the voltages to flow in either direction. The voltage needs to change its direction for being able to rotate the motor in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction. Inside the L293D IC, there are two H-bridge circuits that help the driver two control two motors at a time. It can provide a maximum current of 600mA per channel. The maximum voltage ranges from 5V up to 36V.

74HC595 Shift Register

It is an 8 bit Serial in parallel-out shift register used in communication with the microcontroller. It can receive data serially. It can be used to control 5V loads through a 3.3V microcontroller. It has a range of operating voltages from 2V to 6V. It has 3 pins connected with the MCU data, latch, and clock pin to communicate with the MCU.

Schematic

I have implemented the design on Altium Designer. After designing the symbols and footprints of the circuit on the schematic and PCB library, I have created the schematic design on a schematic sheet.

I have uploaded the schematic file online on Inventhub from where the user and manufacturers can download my design files and implement my design.

PCB

For the fabrication, I converted my design from the schematic file to the PCB file. In the PCB file, I can make connections, route them, write the specifications of my board, and can view the 3D view of my PCB board. Then I uploaded all the PCB designing files online on Inventhub, the benefit of doing this is that mow I do not need to visit my manufacturer, I can send this PCB file to him so that he can fabricate my PCB.

Release File

I have created the release of my project online on Inventhub for users, manufacturers, and component providers. They can view and download all my design files and library files in a ZIP file format to avoid any conflict in the design.

BOM File:

My BOM file contains the detail of each component with exact dimensions, library reference, manufacturer, and quantity. After the fabrication, I need to embed components on my board for which I can contact my component provider. He can view and download my BOM file in CSV format and can deliver my components as per my design requirements.

Arduino Based Motor Driver PCB Module Useful in Robotics