Pololu DRV8835 Dual Motor Driver Kit for Raspberry Pi

This compact expansion board plugs directly into the GPIO header on a Raspberry Pi and provides an easy and low-cost solution for driving a pair of small brushed DC motors.

Its integrated DRV8835 dual motor driver allows it to operate from 1.5 V to 11 V, making it a great control option for low-voltage motors. The board can deliver a continuous 1.2 A (1.5 A peak) per motor, or a continuous 2.4 A (3 A peak) to a single motor when configured with both channels connected in parallel.

The board uses GPIO pins 5, 6, 12, and 13 to control the motor driver, making use of the Raspberry Pi’s hardware PWM outputs, although the pin mappings can be customized if the defaults are not convenient.

Although the DRV8835 itself works with a minimum motor supply voltage of 0 V, this board’s reverse-protection circuit limits the minimum to 1.5 V.

Note: Raspberry Pi not included

Features

• Dual-H-bridge motor driver: can drive two DC motors or one bipolar stepper motor
• Motor supply voltage: 1.5 V to 11 V
• Logic supply voltage 2 V to 7 V
• Output current: 1.2 A continuous (1.5 A peak) per motor
• Motor outputs can be paralleled to deliver 2.4 A continuous (3 A peak) to a single motor
• PWM operation up to 250 kHz (ultrasonic frequencies allow for quieter motor operation)
• Two possible interface modes: PHASE/ENABLE (default – one pin for direction, another for speed) or IN/IN (outputs mostly mirror inputs)
• Board can optionally power the Raspberry Pi base directly through add-on regulator (not included)
• Python library
• GPIO pin mappings can be customized if the default mappings are not convenient
• Reverse-voltage protection on motor power supply
• Under-voltage lockout and protection against over-current and over-temperature

Using the motor driver

Full setup and usage instructions can be found here

Please note: This product can get hot enough to burn you long before the chip overheats. Take care when handling this product and other components connected to it.