Datasheet

Powering Motors

Motors need a lot of energy, especially cheap motors since they're less efficient.

Voltage requirements:

The first important thing to figure out what voltage the motor is going to use. If you're lucky

your motor came with some sort of specifications. Some small hobby motors are only

intended to run at 1.5V, but its just as common to have 6-12V motors. The motor controllers

on this HAT are designed to run from 5V to 12V.

MOST 1.5-3V MOTORS WILL NOT WORK or will be damaged by 5V power

Current requirements:

The second thing to figure out is how much current your motor will need. The motor driver

chips that come with the kit are designed to provide up to 1.2 A per motor, with 3A peak

current. Note that once you head towards 2A you'll probably want to put a heat-sink on the

motor driver, otherwise you will get thermal failure, possibly burning out the chip.

You can't run motors off of a 9V battery so don't waste your time/batteries!

Honestly, for portable we recommend you use a big Lead Acid or multiple-AA NiMH battery

pack - use 4 to 8 batteries to vary the voltage from about 6V to 12V as your motors require

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat-for-

raspberry-pi

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