Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

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mgkuria18
 
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Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

Post by mgkuria18 »

I'm working on an 4wd 1/15th scale vehicle with 4 motors in each of the hubs. The motors are rated at 12v and a maximum of 20 Amps. So this is my very first arduino/adafruit project and I'm not very sure about how voltage and amperage restrict my selection for a motor controller to control the motors from the arduino. My question is whether the motorshield v2 would be able to provide enough power to the motors to at least get them going. For this project I will not need the full power capabilities of the motors utilized since they are pretty big but I want to know if the motorshield v2 would even be able to at least get them running. I hope to use skid steering by running the motors at different speeds using pulse width modulation. I uploaded a pic of one of the motors with its model number (Robotzone: Part No: 638280). Any assistance and guidance would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The motor shield has a continuous rating of 1.2A and a peak rating of 3A. The peak rating is for load spikes of a few milliseconds such as those incurred during startup of a motor. Since startup is essentially a stall condition, you are likely to see a spike of 20A at startup with your motors. So damage to the V2 shield is likely.

We do have the RageBridge controller which can handle 40A continuous and 9A peak: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3567

The Pololu motor shield can do 12A continuous/30A peak and is probably a better match for your project: https://www.pololu.com/product/2507

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mgkuria18
 
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Re: Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

Post by mgkuria18 »

Thank you!

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mgkuria18
 
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Re: Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

Post by mgkuria18 »

If I chose to go with the Pololu dual VNH5019 motor shield, would I need two of them to run all four motors or just one? I'm asking because the specs specify that it is able to run two high power dc motors at 12A continuous and 30A peak or a single one at 24A continuous and 60 peak?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Motorshield v2 capacity compatibility

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Your motors are 20A peak. The shield can handle up to 30A peak per channel, so you should be able to run 2 motors per shield.

I don't see any information about stacking those shields. I'd recommend checking with Pololu regarding that possibility. They also have a wide selection of other motor control options and they may be able to suggest one better suited for your project.
https://www.pololu.com/support

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