Build
a 5A H-bridge motor driver
By Ibrahim
Kamal
Last update:
6/6/08
This H-bridge is easy to build, without any
critical components. It is based on the famous and cheap TIP122
and TIP127 power transistors. It have been used on many of
our robots and proved to be very versatile and robust.
Another major advantage is that it only needs 4 wires for
12V power supply and direction control. Nevertheless, it allows
bidirectional control, breaking and freewheeling. |
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1.The
hardware
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The schematic can seem a little
complicated at the first sight, but, practically, it only consists
of 2 logic ICs and a bunch of transistors.
figure 1.a |
Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 are 2N2222 BJT. They can be replaced with any
generic switching transistor.
Resistors R2, R4, R5 and R10 have to be 1 WATT rated,
to support high currents, especially if a 24V power supply is
used.
The wire connection W1 to W4 are the wires between this H-bridge
module and the controller board that provides the 12/24V power
supply and the logic signals for direction control.
The wire connection W3 can be connected to a power source from
10V to 24V, without circuit modifications.
The wire connection W1 and W2 are for connecting the H-bridge
to a microcontroller or another logic device allowing the control
of the motor. A truth table is given below showing the effect
of every combination of the logic states of W1 and W2:
Inputs |
Result
on the connected motor
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| W1 |
W2 |
0 |
0 |
Motor is freewheeling
(disconnected, High impendence) |
0 |
1 |
Turn
the motor clockwise |
1 |
0 |
Turn
the motor anti-clockwise |
1 |
1 |
breaking the motor
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*(X mean Don't care), 1
= Logic high Voltage (5V), 0 = Logic low voltage (0V).
Diodes D2 to D4 are simple rectifier diodes, with forward current
ratings of at least 4A.
LED D1 is only used to signal the presence of power in the circuit.
The whole is assembled in a 5cm X 5cm PCB like in the picture
below (figure 1.b). The length of the cable is not critical, it
can be up to 1 meter, assuming you're PWM frequency is below 50
KHz. Heatsinks can be added to protect the TIP transistors from
overheating. Be careful, the metallic back of the TIP is internally
connected the collector, so be careful not to cause short circuits.
Actually, as you can see in figure 1.b, each pair of TIP122 and
TIP127 share the same heatsink, without any risk of short circuits,
since their collectors are already connected together in the circuit
(If the schematic in figure 1.a, Q5 and Q6 have their collector
connected together, as well as Q7 and Q8).
figure 1.b |
2.
Associated motor control algorithm
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Here are some example C source codes showing how
to control a motor using this H-bridge. The source codes are written
for 8051 micro controller under the KEIL IDE, but can be easily
modified for any other kind of microcontrollers or compiler.
This first example shows a function that control the direction/state
of the motor, without speed variation.
#define
w1 P1_0
#define w2 P1_1
#define motor_free 0
#define motor_break 1
#define motor_clockwise 2
#define motor_anti_clockwise 3
drive_motor(state){
if (state == motor_free){
w1 = 0;
w2 = 0;
}else if(state == motor_break){
w1 = 1;
w2 = 1;
}else if(state == motor_clockwise){
w1 = 1;
w2 = 0;
}else if(state == motor_anti_clockwise){
w1 = 0;
w2 = 1;
}
} |
The above function can then be called anytime in your program
to change the state of the motor as in the example below:
drive_motor(motor_clockwise);
//turn clockwise
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The same function can be used in a more complicated code that
controls the speed (or breaking torque) of a motor via PWM signals
(for more information about PWM signals and speed control, check
this article). The
following example shows how to use this h-bridge with speed variations
via PWM:
//global
variables
unsigned char pwm_counter; //used to count from
0 to max_pwm
unsigned char max_pwm = 100; //this controls
the period of one complete cycle
unsigned char pwm = 50; //this controls the duty
cycle.
void main(){
while(1){
pwm_counter++
if (pwm_counter
> max_pwm){ pwm_counter = 0; }
if (pwm_counter
< pwm){ //ON cycle
drive_motor(motor_clockwise);
//turn clockwise
}else{
//OFF cycle
drive_motor(motor_free);
//motor freewheeling
}
}
}
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The above example drives a motor with a 50% duty cycle PWM signal.
It can be integrated in any program without causing any delays
or disturbance the other functions.
You can download the PCB and the schematic for that h-bridge though
the link below:
Download
the zip file for the project.
Containing the full schematic and the PCB
designs.
[note: i use ExpressPCB(FREEWARE)
to design the schematics and the PCB]
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I hope this article was useful. Any comments and further questions
are welcome in the forum below.
Preview of the last 15
messages discussing this page. Messages are sorted from the newest to
the oldest. |
Posted
by:
kennyquintens
on:
30 Jan 2012 |
5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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I've some big issue with this schematic. When i try to make this it wouldn't work properly. I have tried the parts apart and then it works good, but togeter it gives some big problem. My TIP127 becomes very hot. I think some short circuit, but can't figure it out. I have at two of the four endings of the ic's 1V and at the other two 2V is this normal, can somebody give me the correct values of this? At the four outputs of the 7400 and the 7402.
thanks, Kenny.
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Posted
by:
yawstick
on:
08 Nov 2011 |
5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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I've tried to download your zip file and getting errors when I try to open it... seems to be corrupted... nice article otherwise.
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Posted
by:
junior
on:
22 Apr 2011 |
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Posted
by:
ikalogic
on:
22 Apr 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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Quoting Junior: Hi I'm new in this so i would you ask that the names of the diodes are need for 5A H-Bridge motor controllers and can that works without diodes. Thanks ! |
there MUST be diodes!
any rectifier diodes will do just fine, (but they should have a forward current of 5 to 10 A
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Posted
by:
junior
on:
22 Apr 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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Hi I'm new in this so i would you ask that the names of the diodes are need for 5A H-Bridge motor controllers and can that works without diodes. Thanks !
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Posted
by:
gojko_sisa
on:
16 Apr 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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Salam,
I am currently building a Line following robot, and I want to use this H-bridge for the engine control. I have downloaded this PCB schematic, but I I can't figure out what are the inputs P3, P4, P5 for?? I have already found what you previously said on this forum:
[/quote] P4 = 12V / 24V P5 = 5V P6 = Ground [/quote]
Studying this schematic; however, I have found a few issues. In my opinion this inputs should be connected in this way:
P1 - pin 1 P2- pin 4 P3- (+12v) P4-GND P5-PWM input P6-(+5v) p7-(+FAN) P8-(-FAN)
Can you double-check yours schematic ? Thnx
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Posted
by:
wesleyross
on:
14 Apr 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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I plan to use your circuit to move a 100lb sliding steel door. No micro or pwm. Just 24v. My only concern is driving the TIP's. You mentioned in previous posts, you used 10-25 VDC. Do you see any problem keeping all resistors the same, but using 24vDC? Thanks to all for their insight and knowledge. Schematic attached.
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Posted
by:
onibnasir
on:
21 Feb 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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Quoting onibnasir: I made the circuit on breadboard but it is not working. I want to ask one thing. We have to take the output from the collector terminals of the TIP transistors? Please respond quickly
i don't understand the question?
also, you say it's not working, what is the problem exactly? |
The problem is that the potential difference that I am getting at the collector is 0.5 to 0.6 V ....
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Posted
by:
onibnasir
on:
20 Feb 2011 |
5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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I made the circuit on breadboard but it is not working. I want to ask one thing. We have to take the output from the collector terminals of the TIP transistors? Please respond quickly
i don't understand the question?
also, you say it's not working, what is the problem exactly?
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Posted
by:
kenny6
on:
23 Jan 2011 |
5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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I have built a h bridge with these tip transistors and controlling them through an Ardunio and i have biased the bases with 330 ohm resistors.This works ok on 6 volts but i cant work out why when i try to run it on 12 volts the transistors start to fry bad immediatly.Yet when i try to biase the bases with 1000 ohm resistors the thing wont even turn on,yet i think the qs get very hot still.I have tied bases together on each side.I am using small mabuchi motors. Im aware that motors resistance influences collector current I have calculated that the ideal resistor i should use is about 2000 ohms.if the motors resistance is about 10 ohms.mabuchi motors at 6 volts divides by full load current gives around this value for motor resistance.(6/.560). My questions are. What motors are you running on your bridge.? Any sugestions to make improvements thanks back again .I am now using motors by solarbotics and have much better results.I believe these motors draw less current than the Mabuchis.I have a couple of ideas to tinker with when i get time.
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Posted
by:
ikalogic
on:
05 Jan 2011 |
Re: 5A H-Bridge motor controllers |
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Quoting karookann: I am still thinking of eliminating these two ICs by appropriate code in my MC, as I have plenty of i/o pins available and enough room for code too. So I would like to have your opinion in this regard. Furthermore I want to know the purpose of transisters Q1-Q4. I suspect these are for power or voltage issues but I want your expert opinion.  |
Hello,
Sure, if you have spare I/O pins, then you can get rid of those ICs.
The transistors Q1 to Q4 are very important, because they provide high enough base current for the TIP transistors. the I/O from logic gates or from the µC do not give enough current.
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