I am new to arduino and electronics in general but I need some help on a project I am working on. Essentially I want to be able to control the state (on/off) and direction of two linear actuators that are really just DC motors.
It seems easy but the problem is that the linear actuators are each 12VDC and consume 10 amps of current at full load. I bought a 25A external power supply because obviously the arduino microcontroller cannot not provide that much current.
I saw something about using an H bridge to control each motor's direction and then I read something about using a relay that acts as an electromechanical switch to draw current from the power supply. Can someone help me out or draw me a circuit diagram of what this looks like so I could be able to put it together? I would love to know how all of this works and I know it is probably challenging to beging electronics with but I am willing to learn as much as I can about this stuff.
Best Answer
You can use any 12v speed controller that accepts a PWM signal. There are many such controllers available. Check eBay and google.
What you will be doing is using the PWM signal from the arduino to control a speed controller that is "regulating" the voltage to a motor. This way the power source for the motor is completely independent from the arduino.
Personally I have experience using Talun and Jaguar speed controllers. Those are both very expensive, but they will give you an idea of where to start looking.
Here is what I would search for on eBay