We have expanded our line of micro metal gearmotors to include versions with a 15:1 gear ratio. As with all of our other micro metal gearmotors, these units are available with five different motor options:

• Motors with precious metal brushes
  • low-power (LP) 6 V
  • medium-power (MP) 6 V
  • high-power (HP) 6 V
• Motors with longer-life carbon brushes (HPCB)
  • high-power 6 V
  • high-power 12 V

Each motor is available with or without an extended back shaft, which rotates at the same speed as the input to the gearbox and offers a way to add an encoder, such as our encoders for micro metal gearmotors (see the picture above). This makes ten new versions in all:

Rated Voltage	Motor Type	Stall Current (A)	No-Load Current (A)	No-Load Speed (RPM)	Extrapolated Stall Torque		Max Power (W)	Single-Shaft (Gearbox Only)	Dual-Shaft (Gearbox & Motor)
					(kg ⋅ cm)	(oz ⋅ in)
12 V	high-power, carbon brushes (HPCB)	0.75	0.06	2200	0.25	3.5	1.4	15:1 HPCB 12V	15:1 HPCB 12V dual-shaft
6 V	high-power, carbon brushes (HPCB)	1.5	0.10	2100	0.25	3.5	1.3	15:1 HPCB 6V	15:1 HPCB 6V dual-shaft
6 V	high-power (HP)	1.6	0.07	2000	0.30	4.2	1.5	15:1 HP 6V	15:1 HP 6V dual-shaft
6 V	medium-power (MP)	0.67	0.04	1400	0.20	2.8	0.70	15:1 MP 6V	15:1 MP 6V dual-shaft
6 V	low-power (LP)	0.36	0.02	860	0.17	2.4	0.37	15:1 LP 6V	15:1 LP 6V dual-shaft

More detailed specifications for all our micro metal gearmotors can be found in their datasheet (5MB pdf).

These new versions bring our total micro metal gearmotor selection to 130 options, with gear ratios ranging from 5:1 to 1000:1! To see them all, visit our micro metal gearmotor category, and visit our metal gearmotor category to see all of our metal gearmotor options. Keep in mind if you don’t see an option that suits your application, for sufficient volumes, modifications such as customized output shafts are available.

Once you find the perfect gearmotors for your project, don’t forget to check out our great selection of accessories. These were all designed either specifically for our micro metal gearmotors or with their compatibility in mind:

• Wheels and tracks
• Universal mounting hubs with #2-56, #4-40, or M3 holes.
• 12mm Hex Wheel Adapter for 3mm Shaft
• Mounting brackets in white, black, or extended options
• Magnetic and optical encoders

Related products

	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor MP 6V with Extended Motor Shaft
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor LP 6V
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor LP 6V with Extended Motor Shaft
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HP 6V
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HP 6V with Extended Motor Shaft
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 6V with Extended Motor Shaft
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 12V
	15:1 Micro Metal Gearmotor HPCB 12V with Extended Motor Shaft

What’s this? A 400-Point breadboard with mounting holes! We know you’ve been waiting for this your whole life.

Okay, maybe not. But hey, mounting holes are awesome, and now you can pick up some of our new 400-point breadboards and mount them all over the place!

This 3.2″ × 2.1″ breadboard is fairly standard in many ways. It has four bus lines spanning the length of the board and 30 rows of pins, enough for up to four 14-pin DIP ICs or three 16-pin DIP ICs. The rows and columns of tie points are conveniently labeled, multiple units can be connected for larger projects, and it has an adhesive backing for those of you who like sticking breadboards on things.

But this breadboard is also a little special. It has eight mounting holes for M2 or #2 screws spaced evenly down the center on a 1 cm pitch. Now you can do stuff like mount your breadboard to a Romi Chassis (or any robot chassis) with some standoffs like this:

Wow! So convenient! And they’re just $2.49 each! But, even better, we’ve got a special discounted price for the first hundred customers. Get up to 10 boards at just $1.75 each using coupon code 400PTBBINTRO!

Related products

	Pololu 400-Point Breadboard with Mounting Holes
	Romi Chassis Kit - Red

Everyone wants encoders on their motors, but not everyone wants to solder a bunch of wires to a tiny encoder board. That is why I am excited to announce that we are now offering two new versions of magnetic encoders for Micro Metal Gearmotors that feature JST SH-type connectors:

• Magnetic Encoder Pair Kit with Top-Entry Connector for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 12 CPR, 2.7-18V
• Magnetic Encoder Pair Kit with Side-Entry Connector for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 12 CPR, 2.7-18V

These encoders are easier to get up and running than our previous design that requires soldering to through-holes with a 2 mm pitch. With these new encoders, you just have to solder the board to the two motor tabs (sorry, that part is not going away yet), put the magnetic disc on the backshaft, and plug in your cable (available separately in a variety of lengths)!

We think that the “micro” aspect of our Micro Metal Gearmotors is one of their coolest features since their small size make them useful in a wide array of projects. We designed these encoders with this in mind, making them within the profile of the gearmotor on three sides (the side with the connector extends a few millimeters past the motor). Since everyone’s constraints are different, we decided to make two encoder versions, one with a top-entry connector that lets the cable come straight out of the back, and one with a side-entry connector for applications where there isn’t much space past the rear of the motor. We are also continuing to offer encoder boards with through-holes, which allow wires to be soldered to the board for especially compact installations.

Remember that you will also need 6-pin female JST SH-style cables to use our new encoders. We are offering those cables in three lengths: 12 cm, 30 cm, and 75 cm.

The ends of our cables are unterminated so you can decide how you want to connect them in your project (solder, crimp connectors, terminal blocks, etc.).

Introductory special

In case you are not as excited as I am yet, our intro special might help. Right now, you can get up to five of our new encoder pair kits for just $4.95 each using the coupon code MMGMENCINTRO! (Click to add the coupon code to your cart.) But you better hurry, this offer is limited to the first hundred customers to use the coupon code.

Related products

	Magnetic Encoder Pair Kit with Top-Entry Connector for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 12 CPR, 2.7-18V
	Magnetic Encoder Pair Kit with Side-Entry Connector for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 12 CPR, 2.7-18V
	6-Pin Single-Ended Female JST SH-Style Cable 12cm
	6-Pin Single-Ended Female JST SH-Style Cable 30cm
	6-Pin Single-Ended Female JST SH-Style Cable 75cm
	Magnetic Encoder Pair Kit for Micro Metal Gearmotors, 12 CPR, 2.7-18V

Our wide selection of stepper motor drivers has grown once again, this time with the addition of a full breakout board for Toshiba’s TB67S128FTG. The TB67S128FTG has many of the same great innovative features as the TB67S2x9FTG carriers we released last year, including Active Gain Control (AGC) for automatically reducing the current when full torque is not needed and Advanced Dynamic Mixed Decay (ADMD) for smoother, more even microsteps. On top of that, it adds features such as microstepping down to 1/128th-step and an optional serial interface. The driver offers a wide operating voltage range of 6.5 V to 44 V, and it can deliver 2.1 A per phase continuous (5 A peak) on our carrier board without any heat sink or forced air flow, making it our highest-current integrated driver (bested only by our discrete MOSFET High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4).

These stepper motor driver carriers first debuted at Toshiba’s booth at Maker Faire Tokyo in August, and now that we finally have the drivers in volume, we are able to offer them to you! All of the driver’s control pins and outputs are available, so it can function as a complete evaluation board for the TB67128FTG, yet it is compact enough to integrate into actual projects without taking up an excessive amount of space:

TB67S128FTG Stepper Motor Driver Carrier, top view with labeled pinout.

Introductory special

As with all of our new product announcements, we are offering an introductory discount to make it extra easy to try out this new driver. Be among the first 100 customers to use coupon code TB67S128INTRO (click to add the coupon code to your cart) and up to three units for just $7.95 each.

Related products

TB67S128FTG Stepper Motor Driver Carrier

We have expanded our line of Hall effect-based linear current sensors from Broadcom to include ±40 A and ±50 A versions. These easy-to-use bidirectional current sensors are now available in five current range options:

• ACHS-7121 Current Sensor Carrier -10A to +10A
• ACHS-7122 Current Sensor Carrier -20A to +20A
• ACHS-7123 Current Sensor Carrier -30A to +30A
• ACHS-7124 Current Sensor Carrier -40A to +40A
• ACHS-7125 Current Sensor Carrier -50A to +50A

With these additions, our full line of current sensors now includes 15 options with current and sensitivity ratings ranging from ±5 A with 400 mV/A sensitivity to ±75 A with 28 mV/A sensitivity. The following table shows all of current sensor options:

	ACS709 Current Sensor Carrier	ACS711EX Current Sensor Carriers	ACS714 Current Sensor Carriers	ACS724 Current Sensor Carriers	ACHS-712x Current Sensor Carriers
Sensor IC:	ACS709	ACS711EX	ACS714	ACS724	ACHS-712x
Current range / sensitivity(1):	±75 A / 28 mV/A	±15.5 A / 136 mV/A ±31 A / 68 mV/A	±5 A / 185 mV/A ±30 A / 66 mV/A	0–⁠10 A / 400 mv/A 0–⁠30 A / 133 mV/A ±5 A / 400 mV/A ±20 A / 100 mV/A ±50 A / 40 mV/A	±10 A / 185 mV/A ±20 A / 100 mV/A ±30 A / 66 mV/A ±40 A / 50 mV/A ±50 A / 40 mV/A
Path resistance:	1.1 mΩ	0.6 mΩ	1.2 mΩ	1.2 mΩ	0.7 mΩ
Bandwidth	120 kHz	100 kHz	80 kHz	120 kHz	80 kHz
Vcc range:(1)	3 V–5.5 V	3 V–5.5 V	4.5 V–5.5 V	4.5 V–5.5 V	4.5 V–5.5 V
Size:	0.82″ × 0.9″	0.7″ × 0.8″	0.7″ × 0.8″	0.7″ × 0.8″	0.7″ × 0.8″
Special features:	configurable over-current threshold, low-voltage operation, high bandwidth	over-current fault pin, low-voltage operation		Differential Hall sensing rejects common-mode fields, high bandwidth
1-piece price:	$5.95	$4.35	$19.95	$8.95	$3.95
1 Sensitivity based on when Vcc is 5V.

Introductory special

As usual, we are offering an extra introductory special discount on the ACHS-712x current sensor carriers, to help share in our celebration of releasing a new product. The first hundred customers to use coupon code ACHSINTRO can get up to five units for just $3 each!

Related products

	ACHS-7121 Current Sensor Carrier -10A to +10A
	ACHS-7122 Current Sensor Carrier -20A to +20A
	ACHS-7123 Current Sensor Carrier -30A to +30A
	ACHS-7124 Current Sensor Carrier -40A to +40A
	ACHS-7125 Current Sensor Carrier -50A to +50A

I am pleased to announce the release of the Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller, the fifth model in our line of Tic Stepper Motor Controllers. The Tic 36v4 features a discrete MOSFET stepper motor driver that can deliver up to approximately 4 A per phase, without a heat sink or forced air flow, over a broad 8 V to 50 V operating range. With the ability to provide more than twice as much current as any of our previous stepper motor controllers, this is our highest-power Tic yet, and the first that can drive the most demanding stepper motors we carry (#1474 and #1478) with their full rated current (2.8 A).

Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller controlling a #1478 stepper motor from USB.

The Tic 36v4 supports microstepping resolutions down 1/256 step, which is 8 times smaller than any previous Tic model. These new, finer microstep resolutions make it increasingly important to be able to take steps at a high speed since with microsteps that small, it takes up to 51,200 of them to complete one revolution on standard stepper motors with 200 full steps per revolution. The Tic firmware takes care of that for you: it is designed to be able to produce up to 50,000 steps per second, meaning that you can get 58 RPM out of most of our stepper motors even when using 1/256 step mode. Every power of two step mode between full stepping and 1/256 is supported, allowing you to choose the right trade-off between speed and resolution.

An oscilloscope capture showing the current through one coil of a stepper motor as the Tic 36v4 takes 25600 microsteps per second in 1/256 step mode.

By default, the Tic 36v4 uses an automatic mixed decay mode for current regulation. In this mode, it dynamically selects between fast or slow decay based on the actual coil current, allowing it to achieve extremely smooth stepping in most applications without a lot of manual tuning—especially at high microstepping resolutions. (Isn’t that a nice sine wave in the picture above?)

However, if you want more control, this Tic also gives you the option to select a fixed decay mode and adjust several timing parameters to fine-tune the current decay behavior. This can be easily done with the Tic’s free graphical configuration software.

The decay mode settings for the Tic 36v4 in the Tic Control Center software.

Like the other members of the Tic family, the Tic 36v4 makes basic speed or position control of a stepper motor easy, with lots of configurable parameters (e.g. max speed and acceleration) and support for six high-level control interfaces:

• USB for direct connection to a computer
• TTL serial operating at 5 V for use with a microcontroller
• I²C for use with a microcontroller
• RC hobby servo pulses for use in an RC system
• Analog voltage for use with a potentiometer or analog joystick
• Quadrature encoder input for use with a rotary encoder dial, allowing full rotation without limits (not for position feedback)

This video gives a brief demonstration of these interfaces in action:

The Tic 36v4 is available with connectors soldered in or without connectors soldered in. If you do not need the high-level interfaces provided by the Tic, we also offer the Pololu High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4.

Here is a handy comparison chart with all five Tic stepper motor controllers:

	Tic T500	Tic T834	Tic T825	Tic T249	Tic 36v4
Operating voltage range:	4.5 V to 35 V(1)	2.5 V to 10.8 V	8.5 V to 45 V(1)	10 V to 47 V(1)	8 V to 50 V(1)
Max continuous current per phase (no additional cooling):	1.5 A	1.5 A	1.5 A	1.8 A	4 A
Peak current per phase (additional cooling required):	2.5 A	2 A	2.5 A	4.5 A	6 A
Microstep resolutions:	full half 1/4 1/8	full half 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32	full half 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32	full half 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32	full half 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 1/256
Automatic decay selection:
Automatic gain control (AGC):
Driver IC:	MP6500	DRV8834	DRV8825	TB67S249FTG	discrete MOSFETs
Price (connectors not soldered):	$29.95	$39.95	$39.95	$49.95	$59.95
Price (connectors soldered):	$31.95	$41.95	$41.95	$51.95	$61.95

1 See product pages and user’s guide for operating voltage limitations.

Introductory special

As usual, we are offering an extra introductory special discount on the Tic 36v4, to help share in our celebration of releasing a new product. The first hundred customers to use coupon code TIC36V4INTRO can get up to five units for just $24.95! And we’ll even cover the shipping in the US!

Related products

	Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller (Connectors Soldered)
	Tic 36v4 USB Multi-Interface High-Power Stepper Motor Controller

We have expanded our selection of specially modified FEETECH servos that have direct access to the feedback potentiometer through an extra fourth (green) wire! Several months ago, we started carrying similarly modified micro FS90-FB and standard-sized FS5103B-FB servos. Now, our larger selection includes a variety of sizes from compact sub-micro servos all the way up to ultra-high torque giant servos:

• FEETECH Sub-Micro Servo FS0403-FB with Position Feedback
• FEETECH Mini Servo FT1117M-FB with Position Feedback
• FEETECH High-Torque Servo FS5115M-FB with Position Feedback
• FEETECH Ultra-High-Torque, High-Voltage Digital Giant Servo FT5335M-FB with Position Feedback

FEETECH Sub-Micro Servo FS0403-FB with Position Feedback.

FEETECH Mini Servo FT1117M-FB with Position Feedback.

FEETECH High-Torque Servo FS5115M-FB with Position Feedback.

FEETECH Ultra-High-Torque, High-Voltage Digital Giant Servo FT5335M-FB with Position Feedback.

These new additions are special versions of the normal sub-micro FS0403, mini FT1117M, high-torque standard-size FS5115M, and ultra-high-torque giant FT5335M FEETECH servos.

The feedback voltage, which varies linearly over the servo’s range of motion by a couple of volts, is especially useful for more complex robotic applications that require monitoring the actual servo position. For example, it can be used for determining if the servo is stalled or when it has reached it’s target position. It also allows you to implement your own higher-level closed-loop position control or create servo movements by hand that you can record and play back later.

Related products

	FEETECH Sub-Micro Servo FS0403-FB with Position Feedback
	FEETECH Sub-Micro Servo FS0403
	FEETECH Mini Servo FT1117M-FB with Position Feedback
	FEETECH Mini Servo FT1117M
	FEETECH High-Torque Servo FS5115M-FB with Position Feedback
	FEETECH High-Torque Servo FS5115M
	FEETECH Ultra-High-Torque, High-Voltage Digital Giant Servo FT5335M-FB with Position Feedback
	FEETECH Ultra-High-Torque, High-Voltage Digital Giant Servo FT5335M

Silicone Tire Pair for 40×7mm (left) and 32×7mm (right) Pololu Wheels.

We are now offering replacement tires for our 32×7mm wheels and for our 40×7mm wheels. These are intended primarily as replacement parts for our wheels, but they can also be used as nicer tires for other similarly sized wheels.

Pololu Wheel 32×7mm on a Micro Metal Gearmotor.

Mini Plastic Gearmotor, 90° 3mm D-Shaft Output with Pololu Wheel 32×7mm.

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

Along with the tires we released last month for our larger Pololu wheels, we now have replacement tires available in four sizes that can stretch to work with six different sizes of Pololu wheels:

From left to right: Silicone Tire for 32×7mm, 40×7mm, 60×8mm/70×8mm, and 80×10mm/90×10mm Pololu Wheels.

Related products

	Silicone Tire Pair for 32×7mm Pololu Wheels
	Silicone Tire Pair for 40×7mm Pololu Wheels

Pololu High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4 (md38a) with large stepper motor.

I am very excited to announce the release of our new High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4, our most powerful stepper motor driver yet, with more than twice the current capabilities of any of our alternative drivers. This driver can deliver a continuous 4 A per phase without any heat sinks or active cooling, and up to 6 A with cooling! This means we finally have a driver capable of powering our largest stepper motors like this beefy motor with a 2.8 A current rating.

This new driver also has a wide 8 V to 50 V operating range, making it great for use in 12, 24, or 36 V systems. And though you might be thinking that your stepper motor’s voltage rating is well below that max voltage so what do you care, keep in mind that running you stepper motor at a higher voltage while actively limiting the current (as you can do with all our stepper motor drivers) allows you to achieve higher step rates than you could using the rated voltage.

Other exciting features of this driver include nine different step resolutions down to 256 microsteps, STALL and BEMF (back EMF) outputs that enable more advanced control algorithms, and highly adjustable decay parameters and modes for creating ultra-smooth motion profiles. The driver is configurable through its SPI interface, and our Arduino library and example sketches can help you get started.

As usual, we are offering an extra introductory special discount on the High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4 to help share in our celebration of releasing a new product. The first hundred customers to use coupon code HPSMDINTRO can get up to three units for just $8.95 each!

Related products

Pololu High-Power Stepper Motor Driver 36v4

Our Micro Metal Gearmotors are now available with 380:1 gearboxes, offering a new high gear ratio option between our existing 298:1 and 1000:1 versions. Unlike the 1000:1 gearmotors, which uniquely require a longer, more expensive gearbox to achieve such a big reduction, the 380:1 gearboxes fit everything in the same volume as all our lower gear ratios, so they are the same price as those lower-ratio versions and they work with all our micro metal gearmotor brackets.

What really sets these new units apart from our other gear ratios are their stainless steel gearbox plates, which are more durable than the ubiquitous brass ones, especially in applications with non-negligible radial loads. They also look way cooler! Continued…