DRV8251 Tiny Motor Driver 3.7A 48V

This is a very small and capable H-Bridge motor driver which is great for small projects. It is only a 0.4″ (10.2mm) square, or about as big as a DIP-8 chip. Unlike other small motor drivers, it has a supply voltage range from 4.5V to 48V, and a max current rating of 3.7A (~2.3A continuous). Because of it’s wide voltage and current range, it can be used for many brushed DC motors, solenoids, or large LED lighting loads.

Use the driver starting by connecting your two motor terminal wires into O1 and O2, and your power supply wires to VCC and GND. Then connect 2 microcontroller pins (1.5V-5.5V logic) to IN1 and IN2 and your controller’s GND to GND. Finally, connect your logic level voltage to REF. You can use PWM signals on both IN1 and IN2 for motor speed control, or just a high/low logic voltage. Note that either terminal of a brushed DC motor can be connected to O1 or O2, and reversing them will only change the motor direction. You can also control two motors unidirectionally by connecting one of their terminals to GND, and the other to O1 or O2.

The REF pin requires a voltage from 0.3v to 5V (closer to 5V is better). This allows the driver to output a max current of 3.7A which is overcurrent and thermal protected. Just remember that the max continuous current is about 2.3A, and 3.7A can only be safely reached for short periods without extra cooling.