I read few posts and tutorials on this topic but none of them kind of answered my questions. I bought this L298N motor board and i have two motors that are rated 3V
Now i am trying to understand how to connect it to arduino and power the motors.
For example i have a 12V (8x 1.5v AA batteries) I can connect to VCC and GND then enable ENA with a jumper and connect PWN port from arduino to INA. This way i can control the voltage that is coming out from OUTA and OUTB I can bring down the 12V to 3V.
Now the question is can i use the +5 (regulated voltage) on the driver board and connect it to arduino Vin and GND to ground to power the arduino? Is that viable solution. I actually tried it and it works. I am worried that it is not enough voltage to properly power the arduino. It's suggested to connect 7v - 12v to Vin. I am also going to connect a red lab ble shield on top of arduino that is powered by 5v
Another question is if i use 12 volts battery and step it down to 3v with PWN is that going to heat up the L298N chip?
Another option is connecting 9V battery to arduino and then using Vin and GND to power the motor shield and the motors. The problem there if motor draws more then 1Amp that wouldn't be good for the arduino. Also if i would switch to 9v+ motors then it wouldn't work.
The third option is to have two separate power sources. 9V for arduino and 5v+ for powering the motors. Does it make sense to use two power sources?
This project seems like a good way to learn about arduino and electronics
Update
NEOMART Brand New Original High Quality Chips L298N http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E58EA90/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Product Details 1. driver chip: L298N Dual H-Bridge Motor Driver IC
- drive section terminal supply area Vs: +5V ~ +35V; such as the need to take power within the board, the supply area Vs: +7V ~ +35V
- drive section peak current Io: 2A
- logical part of the terminal supply area Vss: +5V ~ +7V(can take power within the board +5V)
- logical part of the operating current range: 0 ~ 36mA
- Control signal input voltage range: Low:-0.3V ≤ Vin ≤ 1.5V High: 2.3V ≤ Vin ≤ Vss
- enable signal input voltage range: Low: -0.3 ≤ Vin ≤ 1.5V (control signal is invalid) High: 2.3V ≤ Vin ≤ Vss (control signal active)
- Maximum power consumption: 20W (when the temperature T = 75℃)
- Storage temperature: -25℃ ~ +130℃
- Driver Board Size: 48mm*43mm*33mm (with fixed copper pillar and the heat sink height)
- Other Extensions: control of direction indicators, the logic part of the plate to take power interface.
Update 2:
I wanted to clarify regarding using 12 volt battery and having 2 motors that I think max voltage is 3 volts. If i use PWN and step down the voltage to 3 volts will L298N produce a lot more heat to step the voltage down?
Probably in this case would be the best just to get two separate power supplies 9 volts for arduino and 4.5 volts for the motor drive to supply 3 volts for each motor. Unless i get better motors that support 6v - 9v then i can use the 12 volts battery for both arduino and motors.
As far as the motor drivers, I thought they are used to prevent the noise and power spikes from motors? I guess you still have to consider it either way.
Thanks in advance!