Most electronics projects (and many Pololu products) require soldering. That’s why we’re excited to offer a soldering station and other accessories that we can wholeheartedly recommend! We are now carrying Hakko soldering and desoldering tools and Hakko hand tools (cutters and pliers). We use Hakko tools in our own manufacturing, and we believe they offer a great mix of reliability, performance, and price. Continued…

We are excited to introduce new versions of our high-power micro metal gearmotors with long-life carbon brushes in place of the standard precious metal brushes:

Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB long-life carbon brushes (left) next to Micro Metal Gearmotor HP precious metal brushes (right).

So far, we only offer these on motors with HP windings, so the brushes being a lot more robust can just move the failure point if you try to push the motors too hard. However, if you use them at around 6 V and keep the continuous load under around 20% of the stall torque, the carbon brushes allow the HPCB motors to last several times longer than HP versions with precious metal brushes.

With the addition of this new HPCB motor variant in ten different gear ratios (10:1 through 1000:1), our selection of popular micro metal gearmotors now spans more than fifty options, giving you control over the motor winding, gearbox, and shaft arrangement:

Motor Type	Stall Current @ 6 V	No-Load Speed @ 6 V	Approximate Stall Torque @ 6 V	Single-Shaft (Gearbox Only)	Dual-Shaft (Gearbox & Motor)
high-power, carbon brushes (HPCB)	1600 mA	3000 RPM	4 oz-in	10:1 HPCB
		1000 RPM	9 oz-in	30:1 HPCB
		625 RPM	15 oz-in	50:1 HPCB
		400 RPM	22 oz-in	75:1 HPCB
		320 RPM	30 oz-in	100:1 HPCB
		200 RPM	40 oz-in	150:1 HPCB
		140 RPM	50 oz-in	210:1 HPCB
		120 RPM	60 oz-in	250:1 HPCB
		100 RPM	70 oz-in	298:1 HPCB
		32 RPM	125 oz-in	1000:1 HPCB
high-power (HP) (same specs as HPCB above)	1600 mA	6000 RPM	2 oz-in	5:1 HP
		3000 RPM	4 oz-in	10:1 HP	10:1 HP dual-shaft
		1000 RPM	9 oz-in	30:1 HP	30:1 HP dual-shaft
		625 RPM	15 oz-in	50:1 HP	50:1 HP dual-shaft
		400 RPM	22 oz-in	75:1 HP	75:1 HP dual-shaft
		320 RPM	30 oz-in	100:1 HP	100:1 HP dual-shaft
		200 RPM	40 oz-in	150:1 HP	150:1 HP dual-shaft
		140 RPM	50 oz-in	210:1 HP
		120 RPM	60 oz-in	250:1 HP
		100 RPM	70 oz-in	298:1 HP	298:1 HP dual-shaft
		32 RPM	125 oz-in	1000:1 HP	1000:1 HP dual-shaft
medium-power (MP)	700 mA	2200 RPM	3 oz-in	10:1 MP	10:1 MP dual-shaft
		730 RPM	8 oz-in	30:1 MP
		420 RPM	13 oz-in	50:1 MP
		290 RPM	17 oz-in	75:1 MP	75:1 MP dual-shaft
		220 RPM	19 oz-in	100:1 MP	100:1 MP dual-shaft
		150 RPM	24 oz-in	150:1 MP
		75 RPM	46 oz-in	298:1 MP
		25 RPM	80 oz-in	1000:1 MP	1000:1 MP dual-shaft
low-power	360 mA	2500 RPM	1 oz-in	5:1
		1300 RPM	2 oz-in	10:1
		440 RPM	4 oz-in	30:1	30:1 dual-shaft
		250 RPM	7 oz-in	50:1	50:1 dual-shaft
		170 RPM	9 oz-in	75:1
		120 RPM	12 oz-in	100:1	100:1 dual-shaft
		85 RPM	17 oz-in	150:1
		60 RPM	27 oz-in	210:1
		50 RPM	32 oz-in	250:1
		45 RPM	40 oz-in	298:1	298:1 dual-shaft
		14 RPM	70 oz-in	1000:1	1000:1 dual-shaft

Related products

	10:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	30:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	50:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	75:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	100:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	150:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	210:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	250:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	298:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	1000:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V

We are now selling the low-profile 2×7 male LCD header included with the Zumo 32U4 robot kit.

Related products

	0.100" (2.54 mm) Low-Profile Male Header: 2×7-Pin, 8.75 mm
	8×2 Character LCD - Black Bezel (Parallel Interface)

In September of last year, we started carrying our Breakout Board for microSD Card, which was the first board that I ever designed and routed here at Pololu. It is a simple breakout board that gives direct access to each contact available on a microSD card socket. However, since microSD cards operate at 3.3 V, it can be tricky interfacing them with a 5 V system. To address this, we made a new version with an integrated 3.3 V regulator and level shifters. Even with the extra components (and mounting holes, which the mechanical engineers at here Pololu are always pushing for), the board is still compact, measuring only 0.94″ × 0.9″, and it breaks out all of the contacts from a microSD card socket necessary to interface with the card through its SPI bus mode interface to a single 1×9 row of 0.1″-spaced pins. This allows easy use with breadboards, perfboards, or 0.1″ connectors.

You might recognize the circuit from our A-Star 32U4 Prime controllers, which use essentially the same level shifters to interface a microSD card with an Arduino-compatible ATmeg32U4 microcontroller running at 5 V.

For more information about this breakout board, see its product page.

Related products

	Breakout Board for microSD Card with 3.3V Regulator and Level Shifters
	Breakout Board for microSD Card
	A-Star 32U4 Prime LV microSD with LCD (ac03b)
	A-Star 32U4 Prime SV microSD with LCD

This new board is a Pololu carrier for ON Semiconductor’s AMIS-30543 Micro-Stepping Motor Driver, which is a high-performance stepper motor driver with advanced features not found on our other stepper motor driver carriers.

AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver carrier, bottom view with dimensions.

The Pololu AMIS-30543 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier breaks out all of the important pins of the driver onto breadboard-compatible 0.1"-spaced pins, with optional terminal blocks for the power and motor connections and mounting holes for a more robust setup. Our board supplies reverse protection and all the necessary circuit components for interfacing to a microcontroller.

The AMIS-30543 is rated up to 30 V and 3 A, but (as with other stepper drivers) the current rating is a theoretical maximum assuming excellent cooling. Using our board at room temperature without a heatsink, the chip can practically supply about 1.8 A per coil, more than any of our other stepper motor driver carriers.

The SPI interface of the AMIS-30543 provides many exciting features: it lets you configure microstepping (down to 1/128-step), set the current limit, select voltage slopes, change direction, disable the outputs or put the driver to sleep, monitor the micro-step position and errors, and more. Please note, however, that you cannot step the motor over SPI.

Many of our customers have asked for software current limit control, since it allows better power management. For example, consider that stepper motors counter-intuitively use their maximum current when stopped, even if there is no holding torque required. This wastes a lot of power and generates undesirable heat in the drivers and motors. In a typical application like a 3D printer, where you don’t need much holding torque, you would want to reduce the current limit to a low value during pauses. You might use a higher limit (above the continuous limit) when accelerating and an intermediate value for constant-speed motion. The SPI current limit control on the AMIS-30543 lets you do all of this in your code.

Another advanced feature is the SLA (speed and load angle) output that indicates the level of the back-EMF voltage of the motor. This is an analog signal that can be used for stall detection or closed-loop control of the torque and speed:

AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver SLA output (green) and motor output (blue).

It is easy to get started using our Arduino library on GitHub, which provides basic functions for configuring and operating the driver as well as access to many of the advanced features. Please visit the product page for a detailed description, wiring diagrams, the AMIS-30543 datasheet, and more.

Related products

AMIS-30543 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier

Make your next project more colorful with our new red, white, blue, and yellow breakaway male header strips. You can use them to add some personal flair to an otherwise boring PCB, or you can use them to color-code connections, like on this custom-assembled 24-channel Mini Maestro:

Like our venerable black breakaway male header strip, these strips are 40 pins long, but they can easily be cut or broken into smaller strips that work with standard 0.1″-pitch through-holes, female connectors, and breadboards.

We also now have right angle male header strips available in 2 rows or 3 rows:

0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 2×40-Pin, Right Angle.

0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 3×40-Pin, Right Angle.

We are particularly excited about the 3×40 right angle header because it can be used with the partial kit versions of our Maestro servo controllers to make low-profile modules where the servos plug in from the side rather than the top.

Related products

	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 1×40-Pin, Straight, Black
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 1×40-Pin, Straight, White
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 1×40-Pin, Straight, Red
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 1×40-Pin, Straight, Yellow
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 1×40-Pin, Straight, Blue
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 2×40-Pin, Right Angle
	0.100" (2.54 mm) Breakaway Male Header: 3×40-Pin, Right Angle
	Mini Maestro 24-Channel USB Servo Controller (Partial Kit)
	Mini Maestro 18-Channel USB Servo Controller (Partial Kit)
	Mini Maestro 12-Channel USB Servo Controller (Partial Kit)
	Micro Maestro 6-Channel USB Servo Controller (Partial Kit)

We now have 40mm-diameter wheels (available in black, red, and white) in the same thin style as our 32×7 mm wheels, which help fill the void between those and the 60×8 mm wheels that were previously our next size up.

Black Pololu Wheels with 90, 80, 70, 60, 40, and 32 mm diameters (other colors available).

Like the rest of the Pololu wheels, the 40×7 mm wheels press-fit onto the 3mm D shafts on many of our motors, including the micro metal gearmotors and mini plastic gearmotors.

Pololu 40×7mm wheel on a Micro Metal Gearmotor.

For more information, take a look at one of the items listed below, or check out all the Pololu wheels category page for more options.

Related products

	Pololu Wheel 40×7mm Pair - Black
	Pololu Wheel 40×7mm Pair - Red
	Pololu Wheel 40×7mm Pair - White

We are now offering Sharp’s GP2Y0A60SZLF analog distance sensor by itself. This is a great sensor with a wide 4″ to 60″ (10 cm to 150 cm) detection range and a high update rate of 60 Hz, but it requires additional components to use and has a non-standard 1.5 mm pitch. You can use this sensor with our compact carrier boards to make a complete sensor module, or you can get our carrier boards with the GP2Y0A60SZLF already installed.

For more information, see the GP2Y0A60SZLF product page.

Related products

	Sharp/Socle GP2Y0A60SZLF Analog Distance Sensor 10-150cm
	Pololu Carrier with Sharp/Socle GP2Y0A60SZLF Analog Distance Sensor 10-150cm, 5V
	Pololu Carrier with Sharp/Socle GP2Y0A60SZLF Analog Distance Sensor 10-150cm, 3V
	Pololu Carrier for Sharp/Socle GP2Y0A60SZLF Analog Distance Sensor, 5V
	Pololu Carrier for Sharp/Socle GP2Y0A60SZLF Analog Distance Sensor, 3V

Get FREE copies of Circuit Cellar magazine’s March issue and Elektor magazine’s March/April issue with your order, while supplies last. To get your free issues, enter the coupon codes CIRCUIT0315 and ELEKTOR0315 into your shopping cart. The Circuit Cellar magazine will add 6 ounces and the Elektor magazine will add 9 ounces to the package weight when calculating your shipping options.

For back issues and more information, see our free Circuit Cellar magazine offers and free Elektor magazine offers.

NEMA 17-size stepper motors with 18, 28, and 38cm lead screws.

Since we started carrying the stepper motor with 28cm lead screw, we have routinely received requests for shorter and longer versions of it, so we are happy to announce that we are now carrying two additional versions: one with an 18 cm lead screw and one with a 38 cm lead screw. All three of the stepper motors with lead screw use the same NEMA 17-size stepper motor, which is also available without a lead screw.

All of the stepper motors with lead screw come with a traveling nut, also known as a carriage nut. This copper alloy nut features a mounting flange with four holes threaded for M3 screws to make it easy to integrate into your project. From time to time, we also get requests to make the traveling nut available for purchase separately, so we did! If you are interested in picking up some spare traveling nuts, more information can be found on the traveling nut’s product page.

We also have a new NEMA 23 stepper motor bracket as pictured above. Around eight months ago, we started carrying our stamped aluminum mounting bracket for NEMA-17 size stepper motors, and since then, we added a stamped aluminum NEMA 14 stepper motor bracket to our selection. We looked into getting similar aluminum bracket for NEMA 23-size stepper motors but ultimately decided to go with a more rigid 3mm-thick steel mounting bracket for NEMA 23 stepper motors. On this bracket, two steel supports are welded in the corner along the bend of the bracket to provide extra reinforcement.

Related products

	Stepper Motor with 18cm Lead Screw: Bipolar, 200 Steps/Rev, 42×38mm, 2.8V, 1.7 A/Phase
	Stepper Motor with 38cm Lead Screw: Bipolar, 200 Steps/Rev, 42×38mm, 2.8V, 1.7 A/Phase
	Traveling Nut for TR8×8(P2) Threaded Rods
	Steel L-Bracket for NEMA 23 Stepper Motors