I'm currently working on a project for which I'm looking to control six brushed 12V DC motors which each have a peak current draw of 3.5A. For a previous similar project, I used these motor controllers (https://www.robotshop.com/en/cytron-10a-5-25v-dual-channel-dc-motor-driver.html) which did their job very nicely. Unfortunately, the space I have to work with right now is quite constrained, so those controllers are pushing the limit of what I can fit in the environment; I'm looking for a smaller alternative which preferably doesn't cost too much more. I think I understand the concepts behind DC motor controllers pretty well, but my background is in CS and software development so I don't have the experience to be confident in this area nor have I worked with electronics past wiring up pre-built components and basic ICs on breadboards.
I've been doing some research and am having a hard time finding reasonable parts which satisfy my requirements. 1A and 2A motor controllers are available in abundance for cheap, but once you get above that it seems like the next major grouping is for much higher ratings and carry a proportionally higher price tag. I see a few options:
Thanks!
I've been doing some research and am having a hard time finding reasonable parts which satisfy my requirements. 1A and 2A motor controllers are available in abundance for cheap, but once you get above that it seems like the next major grouping is for much higher ratings and carry a proportionally higher price tag. I see a few options:
- Buy a high-quality pre-made component and eat the cost. This product (https://www.pololu.com/product/2991), for example, seems like a great fit, but it's quite expensive given that I would need six of them. Obviously, the 17A rating is superfluous for my needs.
- Buy a cheap pre-made component and risk the details. I've found components on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M2WUXM1) which are typical sketchy off-brand Chinese boards and don't provide me much confidence; better price, but lacking on specs.
- Buy a raw motor driver or H-bridge and roll my own surrounding circuitry. I've found a variety of components that seem to suit my needs (some more "raw" than others), but without any experience with PCB manufacturing I don't know what I would be getting myself into. The packaging of these components certainly wouldn't be friendly spacing for, say, a breadboard, and I'm at a loss for what I would do as an alternative. The components generally have reference implementation diagrams which indicate what external components are required, which is good. I'm realizing that I can't explain what it is that makes the other motor drivers so large, which is likely a sign I don't know nearly enough about what I'm doing.
Thanks!