dc motor

The DollyShield is an adaptation of the Arduino Motor Shield v3 that provides directional PWM control of two DC motors, at up to 1A of current each.  In addition to the motor drivers, it also provides a stereo plug with dual opto-coupled outputs for direct camera control, a 2x16 LCD, five user input buttons, and four auxilliary inputs or outputs through two stereo jacks.  It is designed to provide an inexpensive and easy-to-use interface for two-axis motion control integrated with a camera.

Introduction

While we spend a lot of our time focusing on stepper motors, we'd rather not leave out brushed DC motors!  It's hard to beat them for their simplicity and low cost.  When it comes to drivers for DC motors, there are a lot of options - from cheap $15 PWM drivers that can be found on eBay, to professional units that can cost up to several thousand dollars.  I've been using the Pololu JRK 21v3 driver with great success.  It offers rarely found in drivers several times its cost.  At approximately $50 USD it might seem a little pricey until you explore the options it gives you. In this article, we'll cover how to make an easy-to-use carrier board for the JRK 21v3 that will let you hook it right up into an OpenMoco system, and especially the dedicated hand-held engine model, while still retaining all of the features and flexibility of the driver.