Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: bunnyluvr89 on July 29, 2016, 07:50:26 PM

Title: Motors follow directions only when power supplied to arduino, not motor shield
Post by: bunnyluvr89 on July 29, 2016, 07:50:26 PM
I am currently using the attached 2DW Robot Chassis. 2 geared DC motors are used. I am controlling the motors with an Arduino Leonardo and a motor driver that is essentially identical to Adafruit's Motor Driver v2.0. The issue is that when I supply power to the Arduino via either the USB cable (attached to my laptop) or via the power jack (with a 12V DC supply), the motors do what my code tells them to do. However, when I supply power to the motor shield via the power terminals using either 5, 6, or 8 AA batteries, the motors seem to just do whatever they want. They start by jerking around a little, then run continuously until I disconnect a battery. I have the VIN jumper attached to the shield, and the Arduino power LED says that it is on; it just doesn't seem to be transferring the proper instructions, but it does when I power the Arduino and not the shield. In all cases, the power LED on the shield is on.

Could anyone supply any insight?

Thanks.