Choosing a motor controller board
The next important part you'll need is a motor controller. You cannot connect a Raspberry Pi directly to DC motors, as they require different voltages and high currents that would destroy GPIO pins. Motor controller boards can also add interfaces to other devices like sensors and other motor types.
It is a vital robot component that will guide many later decisions. Much like the motors, there are some trade-offs and considerations before buying one:
Figure 6.8 – A selection of motor control boards
Figure 6.8 shows a small sample group of motor controller boards. As we compare the requirements of our motor board, we refer to the boards pictured there as examples.
Integration level
Motor controllers may only control a motor (usually 2) like the L298N, containing the barest minimum to run this chip safely. They are not designed to sit on a Raspberry Pi and must be wired into the Pi's I/O output.
Controllers...
