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I don't understand the difference between a motor-driver like this IC H-Bridge Motor Driver and a motor-driver like this Dual Motor Driver Board. When reading about them they do the same thing but the second one is obviously much more complex and more expensive.

Michael Rader
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1 Answers1

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Item 1 - The L293 has two H bridges and is a chip.

Item 2 - The Ada fruit product is a circuit board with two chips and each chip has a single H bridge.

Item 1 and item 2 are functionally very similar however Item 2 has H bridges that are superior.

Item 1 is a chip that needs soldering to a PCB and item 2 is a PCB with broadly the same functionality as Item 1.

Andy aka
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  • Thank you. Can you tell me why I would choose one over the other? Item 1 seems so simple and way less expensive and can run a motor up to 36v while Item 2 can run up to 28v. Why is item 2 superior? Is it just less work because of the soldering? If you can add more details that would be very helpful. – Michael Rader Feb 25 '15 at 08:51
  • See this http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/108686/what-h-bridge-drivers-are-preferred-for-applications-controlling-a-low-voltage-m - it explains why the L293 is so crappy. Admittedly it does work at a higher voltage range but as far as getting any sensible amount of current from it, it's a poor choice and will overheat badly. – Andy aka Feb 25 '15 at 08:59
  • I tried reading it, that stuff is over my head at the moment. I just don't understand what all else is on these complex H Bridge PCB's when they both do the same thing. – Michael Rader Feb 25 '15 at 09:05
  • OK, you asked for the detail and the devil is in the detail. Maybe you need to raise a new question about the pros and cons of driving a particular motor you have in mind? – Andy aka Feb 25 '15 at 09:10