Datasheet

• PWM operation up to 20 kHz, which is ultrasonic and allows for quieter motor operation
• Current sense output proportional to motor current
• Motor indicator LEDs (indicates what the outputs are doing even when no motor is connected)
• Robust:
• Reverse-voltage protection
• Can survive input voltages up to 41 V
• Undervoltage and overvoltage shutdown
• High-side and low-side thermal shutdown
• Short-to-ground and short-to-Vcc protection
Using the Motor Driver
The motor and motor power connections are on one side of the board and the control connections are
on the other side. The motor power supply connects to the large VIN and GND pins; it should be
between 5.5 and 24 V and have the ability to deliver the potentially high currents the motor will
require. The logic power supply (typically 2.5 – 5 V) connects to the small VDD and GND pads on the
control side of the board and is used to power the internal pull-ups on the ENA and ENB enable lines.
Any control input voltage above 2.1 V is guaranteed to be high, so this driver can be directly interfaced
into both 3.3 and 5 V systems.
The following diagram shows the minimum connections required for interfacing this motor driver with
a microcontroller:
In this configuration, motor direction is determined by the states of the INA and INB pins and motor
speed is controlled by the duty cycle of a PWM signal supplied to the driver’s PWM pin. The PWM pin
is pulled low on the board, so the motor driver outputs are effectively disabled by default; the INA and
INB pins are floating (they are not pulled to any particular default voltage). See the truth tables in the
VNH5019A-E datasheet for more information on how the INA, INB, and PWM pins affect the driver
outputs, OUTA and OUTB. Note that it is also possible to save a microcontroller I/O line by directly
PWMing the INA and INB pins while holding the PWM pin high (e.g. by connecting it directly to
VDD).
Pinout
PIN Default State Description
VIN
The connection point for the positive side of the 5.5 – 24 V motor power
supply.
VDD
The connection point for the positive side of the logic power supply (typically
2.5 – 5 V). The only function of this pin is to power the internal pull-ups on
the two enable lines, ENA and ENB.
VOUT This pin gives you access to the motor power supply after the reverse-voltage
protection MOSFET (see the board schematic below). It can be used to