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Author Topic: buy motor driver or build?  (Read 1603 times)

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Offline szhangTopic starter

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buy motor driver or build?
« on: September 30, 2008, 09:55:23 PM »
The project i'm working on, the DC motors idles at around 250mA, load at around 1-2A, and stalls at ~7-8A.  So right now i'm trying to decide between whether to get 4 mosfets, some drivers etc and build a H-bridge, or to get a motor driver like http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/711

One one hand, the motor driver is easier, probably has more features, but it is probably cheaper to build a high-current h-bridge.

Any thoughts or comments?  Anyone know of a cheaper motor driver than the one I linked?

Offline ArcMan

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Re: buy motor driver or build?
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2008, 08:05:29 AM »
For this small of a load, you don't need a discrete MOSFET H-bridge.  I would use an LM18200.  Better yet, get an LM18200 kit from Anykits.com for $15.

http://www.anykits.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=46_70&products_id=436

Somebody pointed me to them the other day.  They have great little kits for stuff like this.

Offline Admin

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Re: buy motor driver or build?
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2008, 05:41:08 AM »
I strongly recommend *not* making your own driver, as there are many out in the market to buy that'll cost you just as much but save you tons of time and work much better too.

 

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