Dc Motor Controller

Dc Motor Controller info

DC motor drivers are electronic circuits that are needed to drive DC motors. DC motors require higher currents for creating the electromagnetic field that rotates the rotor. While a simple switch between the DC motor and the power supply seems to be enough to control a DC motor, this is not the case when a microcontroller is used to control the motor. Current supplied by a microcontroller pin is often not enough for a motor to run (maybe for some micro motors – an Arduino Uno pin supplies 40mA maximum current from one of its pins without getting harmed). Also trying to drive a DC motor directly from microcontroller pins will possibly destroy your pin, or worse your entire microcontroller.

DC motor drivers are used to control the high currents required by DC motors. Depending on the commands that are signaled to the input pins of the driver, current passes from the appropriate output pins of the driver to the DC motor. Therefore DC motor drivers can be seen like amplifiers that are used to amplify the current coming from the microcontroller to a higher level to drive the motor (of course physically, this is not the case).

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