Physical motion of some form helps differentiate a robot from a computer. It would be nice if a motor could be attached directly to a chip that controlled the movement. But, most chips can't pass enough current or voltage to spin a motor. Also, motors tend to be electrically noisy (spikes) and can slam power back into the control lines when the motor direction or speed is changed.Specialized circuits (motor drivers) have been developed to supply motors with power and to isolate the other ICs from electrical problems. These circuits can be designed such that they can be completely separate boards, reusable from project to project.A very popular circuit for driving DC motors (ordinary or gearhead) is called an H-bridge. It's called that because it looks like the capital letter 'H' on classic schematics. The great ability of an H-bridge circuit is that the motor can be driven forward or backward at any speed, optionally using a completely independent power source.An H-bridge design can be really simple for prototyping or really extravagant for added protection and isolation. An H-bridge can be implemented with various kinds of components (common bipolar transistors, FET transistors, MOSFET transistors, power MOSFETs, or even chips).
No comments:
Post a Comment