Suggested Reading
Before continuing with this experiment, we recommend you be familiar with
the concepts in the following tutorial:
• Bildr Tutorial
Introducing the H-Bridge
The SN754410 is an Integrated Circuit (IC), called an H-Bridge, that makes
controlling motors easier. An H-Bridge allows you to control both the
direction and the amount of an electrical current being supplied to a motor.
You can think of it as a smart valve that allows you to change the direction
of the current passing through the motor.
To switch the direction of the current, you use two pins to toggle pins on the
board either HIGH or LOW. If the two direction pins are both HIGH or LOW
at the same time, that causes the board to brake the motors. If one pin is
HIGH and the other is LOW, the motor spins in one direction. If you flip-flop
the states, the motor spins in the opposite direction. The IC is also powered
separately with 5V supplied to pin 16 on the IC, and up to 36V for the motor
voltage on pin 8 of the IC.
WARNING:
You will be using voltage that may be higher than the limit
of the circuitry on your RedBoard allows! Make sure you keep motor
voltage (MV) isolated from other circuitry! Accidentally using MV to
power other circuitry may cause irreparable damage to your
RedBoard!
H-Bridge Motor Driver 1A
COM-00315
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