Arduino - Controlling DC motors with L298N motor controller

If you want to control a motor with the Arduino board, you'll need to power the motor with an external power source because the Arduino only provides up to 40 mA on its outputs, which is not enough to move DC motors. You will also need some circuit that allows you to move the motor forward and backwards (H-Bridge).

The L298N motor controller solves these 2 things for us, it allows us to power the motor from an external power source, while also allowing us to control the motor speed and directions with low current signals (which the arduino can handle).

 

Off topic: I bought mine from DealExtreme, which if you dont know I definitely recommend visiting. Its an online store that sells an enormous variety of things, at low prices and with free international shipping.

Lets see the input and outputs that this controller has:

Battery inputs	These are 2 of the blue connectors that you can see in the image above. This requires a battery which will power the 2 motors. The battery’s voltage should be compatible with the motors that you are going to use.  Check the specs of your controller to see the max allowed voltage .
Motor A outputs	These are 2 of the blue connectors that you can see in the image above. This will power the motor A
Motor B outputs	These are 2 of the blue connectors that you can see in the image above. This will power the motor B.
EN A	This signal should be connected to an Arduino’s PWM output pin. It will determine the speed of the motor A, a value of 0 means stopped and a value of 255 is max speed.
EN B	This signal should be connected to an Arduino’s PWM output pin. It will determine the speed of the motor B, a value of 0 means stopped and a value of 255 is max speed.
IN1 and IN2	These are 2 digital signals that will determine Motor’s A behavior (going forward, going backwards)
IN3 and IN4	These are 2 digital signals that will determine Motor’s B behavior (going forward, going backwards)

The following values will allow you to set the motors directions from your arduino.

	IN1	IN2		IN3	IN4
Motor A Forward	HIGH	LOW	Motor B Forward	HIGH	LOW
Motor A Backwards	LOW	HIGH	Motor B Backwards	LOW	HIGH

In the next example I'll show how to control 2 independant DC motor.

//Define the speed for the motors, Im just going to use 200 (almost top speed)
#define SPEED 200

//Define the signal pins for motor A
#define ENA 3
#define MAIN1  8
#define MAIN2  9

//Define the signal pins for motor B
#define ENB 5
#define MBIN1 10
#define MBIN2 11

void setup()
{
    pinMode(MAIN1, OUTPUT);  
    pinMode(MAIN2, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(MBIN1, OUTPUT);  
    pinMode(MBIN2, OUTPUT);
}

void loop(){
  forwardMotorA(SPEED);
  delay(2000); //let it running for 2 seconds
  backwardsMotorA(SPEED);
  delay(2000); 
  stopMotorA();

 
  forwardMotorB(SPEED);
  delay(2000); //let it running for 2 seconds
  backwardsMotorB(SPEED);
  delay(2000); 
  stopMotorB();
} 

void forwardMotorA(int speedVal){
  digitalWrite(MAIN1,HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(MAIN2,LOW); 

  analogWrite(ENA, speedVal);
}

void backwardsMotorA(int speedVal){
  digitalWrite(MAIN1,HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(MAIN2,LOW); 

  analogWrite(ENA, speedVal);
}

void stopMotorA(){
  analogWrite(ENA, 0);
}

void forwardMotorB(int speedVal){
  digitalWrite(MBIN1,HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(MBIN2,LOW); 

  analogWrite(ENB, speedVal);
}

void backwardsMotorB(int speedVal){
  digitalWrite(MBIN1,HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(MBIN2,LOW); 

  analogWrite(ENB, speedVal);
}

void stopMotorB(){
  analogWrite(ENB, 0);
}