User Manual

4. Using as a General-Purpose Motor Driver

The set of pins along the left side of the shield provides direct access to the VNH5019 motor

drivers, which means this board can be used as a general-purpose motor driver controlled by devices

other than Arduinos. This section explains how to use the dual VNH5019 motor driver shield this

way and provides some basic information about the motor driver pins to help get you started.

However, we strongly encourage you to consult the VNH5019 datasheet [https://www.pololu.com/file/

download/vnh5019.pdf?file_id=0J504] (475k pdf) for detailed pin descriptions, truth tables, and electrical

characteristics. This shield is essentially a breakout board for two VNH5019 motor driver ICs, so the

datasheet is your best resource for answering questions not covered by this user’s guide.

4.a. Assembly for Use as a General-Purpose Motor Driver

1. Logic connections: The 13 small holes along the left side of the board, highlighted in red

in the above diagram, are used to interface with the motor drivers. You can optionally solder

a 13×1 piece of the included 0.1″ male header strip to these pins. Soldering the pins so

they protrude down allows the logic side of the motor driver to be plugged into a standard

solderless breadboard [https://www.pololu.com/category/28/solderless-breadboards] or perfboard.

You can also solder 0.1″ female headers [https://www.pololu.com/category/50/0.1-2.54-mm-female-

headers] or custom connectors to these pins.

2. Motor and power connections: The six large holes/twelve small holes on the right side

of the board, highlighted in yellow in the above diagram, are the motor outputs and power

inputs. You can optionally solder the included 5mm-pitch terminal blocks to the board to

enable temporary motor and motor power connections, or you can break off an 12×1 section

of the included 0.1″ header strip and solder it into the smaller through-holes that border the

six large motor and motor power pads. Note, however, that the terminal blocks are only

rated for 16 A, and each header pin pair is only rated for a combined 6 A, so for higher-

current applications, thick wires with high-current connectors [https://www.pololu.com/product/

4. Using as a General-Purpose Motor Driver Page 19 of 35