best motor driver for small geared dc motor

Robotics
1

I am currently working on a project with a small overall size constraint of 3inx3inx3in. One of the main key functionalities is being able to accurately rotate a 360 degree continuous rotary 8 position switch. In order to actuate these switches we currently have small geared DC motors with encoders that are controlled by an Arduino. I am wondering what the best way to make the motors accurately rotate the switches to small discrete positions is. Is the encoder data enough to accurately position the switches or is a DC motor driver needed and what motor driver would be best for this application.

Thanks,

Andrew

2

Hi Andrew.

The switches should tell the Arduino where the motor is and you can read the encoder to figure out how far away from the desired position you are. A little bit of code on the Arduino to do the calculations is all you need.

For a motor driver, something like the [TB6612FNG would work just fine on a small DC motor and the Arduino is capable of controlling it.](SparkFun Motor Driver - Dual TB6612FNG (1A) - ROB-14451 - SparkFun Electronics)

3

Are there available overall dimensions for this motor driver?

4

It’s 0.8" square, a bit smaller than a US quarter.

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