DRV8256E Single Brushed DC Motor Driver Carrier

This compact breakout board for TI’s DRV8256E motor driver offers a wide operating voltage range of 4.5 V to 48 V and can deliver a continuous 1.9 A (6.4 A peak for <1 second) to a single brushed DC motor. It features a simple two-pin speed/direction interface and built-in protection against reverse-voltage, under-voltage, over-current, and over-temperature.

Texas Instruments’ DRV8256E is a tiny H-bridge motor driver IC that can be used for bidirectional control of a single brushed DC motor at 4.5 V to 48 V. It can supply up to about 1.9 A continuously and can tolerate peak currents up to 6.4 A for a few seconds, making it a good choice for small motors that run on a wide range of voltages. Since this board is a carrier for the DRV8256E, we recommend careful reading of the DRV8256 datasheet. The board ships populated with all of its SMD components, including the DRV8256E.

This DRV8256E uses a phase/enable interface that allows bidirectional control with only one PWM signal, but it is limited to drive/coast operation. The very similar DRV8256P has an IN/IN interface instead, requiring two PWM signals for full bidirectional control, but it offers drive/brake operation (which usually provides a more linear relationship between PWM duty cycle and motor speed). We sell another version of this carrier board with the DRV8256P; the two versions can be distinguished by the markings on the driver chip.

Features

• Drives a single brushed DC motor
• Motor supply voltage: 4.5 V to 48 V
• Supports 1.8 V to 5 V logic voltage (5.5 V max)
• Output current: 1.9 A continuous (6.4 A peak)
• Simple interface requires only two I/O lines (one for direction and another for speed)
• Under-voltage lockout and protection against over-current and over-temperature
• Carrier board adds reverse-voltage protection up to 40 V
• Compact size (0.6″×0.6″)