Pololu Dual VNH5019 Motor Driver Shield for Arduino

This motor driver shield and its corresponding Arduino library make it easy to control two bidirectional, high-power, brushed DC motors with an Arduino or Arduino clone. The board features a pair of robust VNH5019 motor drivers from ST, which operate from 5.5 to 24 V and can deliver a continuous 12 A (30 A peak) per channel, and incorporates most of the components of the typical application diagram on page 14 of the VNH5019 datasheet (629k pdf), including pull-up and protection resistors and FETs for reverse battery protection. It ships fully populated with its SMD components, including the two VNH5019 ICs, as shown in the picture to the right; stackable Arduino headers and terminal blocks for connecting motors and motor power are included but are not soldered in (see the Included Hardware section below).

This versatile motor driver is intended for a wide range of users, from beginners who just want a plug-and-play motor control solution for their Arduinos (and are okay with a little soldering) to experts who want to directly interface with ST's great motor driver ICs. The Arduino pin mappings can all be customized if the defaults are not convenient, and the VNH5019 control lines are broken out along the left side of the board for general-purpose use without an Arduino (see the right connection diagram below). This versatility, along with an option to power the Arduino directly from the shield, sets this board apart from similar competing motor shields.

Features

• Wide operating voltage range: 5.5 – 24 V
• High output current: up to 12 A continuous (30 maximum) per motor
• Motor outputs can be combined to deliver up to 24 A continuous (60 A maximum) to a single motor
• Inputs compatible with both 5V and 3.3V systems (logic high threshold is 2.1 V)
• PWM operation up to 20 kHz, which is ultrasonic and allows for quieter motor operation
• Current sense voltage output proportional to motor current (approx. 140 mV/A)
• Motor indicator LEDs show what the outputs are doing even when no motor is connected
• Can be used with an Arduino or Arduino clone (through shield headers) or other microcontroller boards (through 0.1″ header along the left side)
• When used as a shield, the motor power supply can optionally be used to power the Arduino base as well
• Arduino pin mappings can be customized if the default mappings are not convenient
• Arduino library makes it easy to get started using this board as a motor driver shield
• Reverse-voltage protection
• Robust drivers:
  • Can survive input voltages up to 41 V
  • Undervoltage and overvoltage shutdown
  • High-side and low-side thermal shutdown
  • Short-to-ground and short-to-Vcc protection

Documents:

• VNH5019A-E Datasheet
• Schematic
• Arduino library
• User's guide