1. Overview

The Motoron motor controllers are a family of general-purpose modules designed to control brushed DC motors. The Motoron receives commands via I²C, so only two I/O lines are needed regardless of how many Motorons you connect. The Motoron modules are designed to plug into either a Raspberry Pi or an Arduino, and multiple Motoron controllers can be stacked on top of each other, allowing independent control of many motors.

Motoron M3S256 Triple Motor Controller Shield for Arduino (Connectors Soldered).

The Motoron M3S256 Triple Motor Controller Shield for Arduino, shown above, can control three motors and is designed to plug into an Arduino or compatible board, such as the A-Star 32U4 Prime. The Motoron M3S256 can operate from 4.5 V to 48 V and has reverse-voltage protection on motor power supply (down to −40 V). Its maximum continuous output current per motor is 2.0 A and it can provide a peak current of 6.4 A for less than 1 second.

Motoron M3H256 Triple Motor Controller for Raspberry Pi (Connectors Soldered).

The Motoron M3H256 Triple Motor Controller for Raspberry Pi, shown above, can control three motors and is designed to plug into a Raspberry Pi. The Motoron M3H256 can operate from 4.5 V to 48 V and has reverse-voltage protection on motor power supply (down to −40 V). Its maximum continuous output current per motor is 2.0 A and it can provide a peak current of 6.4 A for less than 1 second.

Features and specifications

• Logic voltage range: 2.8 V to 5.5 V
• Control interface: I²C
• I²C clock speed: up to 400 kHz
• Optional cyclic redundancy checking (CRC)
• Configurable motion parameters:
  • Max acceleration/deceleration forward/reverse
  • Starting speed forward/reverse
  • Direction change delay forward/reverse
• PWM frequency: eight options available from 1 kHz to 80 kHz
• Command timeout feature stops motors if the Arduino stops functioning
• Configurable automatic error response
• Motor power supply (VIN) voltage measurement
• Optional pins make it easy to power the Arduino or Raspberry Pi from reverse-protected motor power, either directly or through an external regulator (not included)
• Two status LEDs
• Motor direction indicator LEDs
• Motoron Arduino library simplifies getting started with an Arduino or compatible controller
• Motoron Python library simplifies getting started with a Raspberry Pi