High performance motor driver sample with code

In Chapter 5, Autonomous Robotics with Intel Edison, we saw an application of L293D and we also wrote some code for it to control motors. However, L293D fails in high performance applications. To tackle this, we had a brief discussion about an alternative high-power driver.

Here, we'll deep dive into the driver, as it has been my personal favorite and is used in virtually all our robots:

Dual motor driver high power. Picture source: http://robokits.co.in/motor-drives/dual-dc-motor-driver-20a

The driver has the following five control pins:

• Gnd: Ground
• DIR: When low, the motor rotates in one direction; when high, it rotates in another direction
• PWM: Pulse width modulation to control the speed of the motor; the recommended frequency range is 20Hz - 400Hz
• BRK: When high, it halts the motor in operation
• 5V: Regulated 5V output from motor driver board

Now let&apos...