Lab Inventory: Power and Motor Drivers¶

The following tables may help you identify power driver parts we have available in the lab supply.

For a searchable index of all lab parts, please see Physical Computing Lab Inventory.

Bidirectional Motor Drivers¶

The TB6612FNG driver can control two small motors bidirectionally PWM and direction signals for each motor. Dual H-bridge, 1A continous (3A peak) per channel, 4.5V-13.5V. Lab Part 0485.

This part is being phased out: this DRV8833 driver can control two small motors bidirectionally using a pair of PWM and direction signals for each motor. Lab Part 0482.

L293 drivers are bipolar drivers with four half-bridges which may be used as a dual H-bridge for DC motors or as a bipolar stepper driver. They are rated to 36 VDC at 1 Amp per channel. They still appear in many sample circuits, but in general I recommend MOSFET-based parts instead since they handle more current and run cooler. Lab Part 1256.

MOSFET Transistors¶

IRLB8721PbF MOSFET power transistor which can switch large currents using a logic-level control input. This particular part has a gate threshold low enough to work from 3.3V logic like the Raspberry Pi Pico. Typically these operate as high-speed ON/OFF switches with variable output produced using PWM. Lab Part 8721.

MOSFET Power Transistors¶
Value	Lab Part #	Description
IRLB8721PbF	Lab Part 8721	N-channel MOSFET compatible with 3.3V logic
IRF540N	Lab Part 0540	N-channel MOSFET compatible with 5V logic

We also stock a few small-signal and P-channel MOSFETS, see the Physical Computing Lab Inventory.

Bipolar Transistors¶

You may find older reference circuits using the TIP120, a bipolar Darlington transistor. In general I recommend using MOSFET parts instead.

Bipolar Transistors¶
Value	Lab Part #	Description
TIP120	Lab Part 0120	NPN Bipolar Darlington power transistor
2N2222	Lab Part 1340	NPN Bipolar small-signal switching transistor
2N3904	Lab Part 3904	NPN Bipolar small-signal switching transistor

We also stock a few general purpose PNP transistors, see the Physical Computing Lab Inventory.

Transistor Arrays¶

ULN2803 Darlington transistor array, 50V, 500mA per pin, NPN, 18-DIP. Lab Part 2803.

Stepper Motor Drivers¶

A4988 Stepper Motor Driver, Lab Part 4988. Capable of driving our bipolar NEMA17 stepper motors from a 12VDC supply with microstepping up to 16x: 200 physical steps becomes 3200 positions per revolution. Available from Pololu and generic sources, e.g. Electrodragon. A more detailed tutorial can be found at Robotics for Creative Practice F26 text/electronics/cnc-shield.html.

High-Power Motor Drivers¶

../_images/Cytron-MD13S-motor-driver.jpg

We have a few gearmotors in reserve stock which require significantly more current than the small driver modules can supply.

For more detail on the Cytron MD13S, please see Robotics for Creative Practice F26 text/electronics/cy-md13s-driver.html.

High-Power Motor Drivers¶
Value	Lab Part #	Description
Cytron MD13S	proposed	13A DC Motor Driver
VNH3SP30	discontinued Lab Part 0486	9A DC Motor Driver, Pololu 705