Control Large Gearmotors with PWM & Arduino

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is the ideal method of controlling large DC gearmotors, but driving these motors can often be challenging and expensive. Today I will show you an inexpensive and efficient H-Bridge motor controller - the Cytron MD10C.

I’ll also show you how raising the PWM frequency can make your motor controller design far more efficient.

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We have used PWM to control small DC motors many times but what happens when you need to control a bigger motor? The L298N is the usual “go-to” motor controller but it doesn’t have the current capability to handle anything that draws over 3.5 amperes., so it won’t work with large motors.

Most large H-Bridge controllers are expensive, many cost as much or even more than the motor they are driving. But there are a few inexpensive options, and I’ve got a great one for you today.

The Cytron MD10C is a single-motor H-Bridge controller that can support motors that draw up to 13 amperes continuous, with peaks of up to 30 amperes! Amazingly this device is not only cheap, it also is so efficient that it doesn’t even require a heatsink to source those impressive current levels.

It is a very easy controller to use with an Arduino. I’ll show you how to hook it up as well as how to code for it. But it doesn’t stop there.

We’ll put our motor controller to the test and observe its performance. I will then “fine-tune” it to run a LOT more efficiently, and I’ll demonstrate its capabilities by driving a 10 Kg (22 lb) weight around the room!

We’ll then look at an improved Arduino design to control our DC gearmotors.

Here what we will cover in today's video:

00:00 - Introduction 03:04 - H-Bridge Design 04:57 - Cytron MD10C 08:03 - Arduino PWM Sketch 13:57 - Arduino PWM Test 18:25 - High Frequency PWM Test 23:11 - First Load Test 26:13 - Arduino High Frequency PWM Sketch & Test

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Hope you enjoy the video! ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc892r--njw