L293D Motor Driver Expansion Board

Description:

The L293D Expansion Board is a full-featured motor driver based on two L293D dual H-bridge chips and a 74HC595 shift register. This combination allows the shield to drive up to 4 DC motors, 2 stepper motors, and 2 servos while using only a few pins on your Arduino (UNO, Mega, or Leonardo).

It is a "plug-and-play" solution that sits directly on top of the Arduino board. With integrated thermal protection and separate terminals for motor and logic power, it is a robust choice for building obstacles-avoiding robots, RC cars, and automated mechanical arms.

Features:

Quad H-Bridge Support: Each L293D chip provides two H-bridges, totaling four channels for bidirectional motor control.

Multi-Motor Compatibility: Can drive 4 DC motors, 2 stepper motors (unipolar or bipolar), and 2 "hobby" servos simultaneously.

High-Resolution Speed Control: Supports 8-bit speed selection (PWM), allowing for approximately 0.5% resolution in speed adjustment.

Dedicated Servo Timers: The 2 servo ports use the Arduino’s high-resolution hardware timers for jitter-free operation.

Safe Power-Up: Includes onboard pull-down resistors to keep motors disabled during the controller's startup phase.

Power Isolation: Features a 2-pin terminal block and a jumper for separate logic and motor power supplies to prevent "brownouts" during heavy motor loads.

Onboard Reset Button: The Arduino reset button is brought to the top of the shield for easy access.

Specifications:

Driver Chipset: 2× L293D (Dual H-Bridge) + 1× 74HC595 (Shift Register)

Motor Operating Voltage: 4.5V to 25V DC

Logic Voltage: 5V

Output Current: 600mA per channel (Continuous)

Peak Output Current: 1.2A per channel (Non-repetitive pulse)

Servo Output: 5V (Supports standard SG90, MG90S, etc.)

Thermal Protection: Integrated Automatic Shutdown

Pin Usage: Digital pins 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12 (Servos on 9 & 10)