Support » Pololu Motoron Motor Controller User’s Guide »
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 or UART serial (depending on which model you have), so only two I/O lines are needed regardless of how many Motorons you connect.
Features and specifications
- Control interface: I²C or UART serial (depending on the model)
- I²C clock speed: up to 400 kHz
- UART serial baud rate: up to 250,000 bps
- 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 Motoron stops receiving commands
- Configurable automatic error response
- Motor power supply (VIN) voltage measurement
- Two status LEDs
- Motor direction indicator LEDs
- Motoron Arduino library simplifies getting started with an Arduino or compatible controller
- Motoron Python library simplifies using the Motoron with Python or MicroPython
Available versions
The Motoron motor controllers are divided into three different classes with different operating voltage ranges and maximum currents.
- Each Motoron in the 550 class operates from 1.8 V to 22 V and can provide a maximum continuous current of 1.6 A to 1.8 A per motor (depending on the model).
- Each Motoron in the 256 class operates from 4.5 V to 48 V and can provide a maximum continuous current of 1.8 A to 2.2 A per motor (depending on the model).
- Each Motoron in the high-power class has a minimum operating voltage of 6.5 V, can operate up to 30 V or 40 V (depending on the model), and can provide a maximum continuous current of 14 A to 20 A (depending on the model). These high-power models have current sensing and configurable hardware current limiting.
Each of the links in the list above goes to a category on the Pololu website that contains several different Motoron products. Visit the links above to learn the details for each Motoron product, including its operating voltage range, maximum current, control interface, number of channels, and what hardware comes included or soldered.
For tables showing all the different Motoron products, see the Motoron category on the Pololu website.