I am planning to make a robot car with various functions and I want to control 2-3 DC motors with hall sensor, 2-3 servo motors, sensors like these and some electronic components like a speaker, microphone, LED lights, etc. I found some driver like L298N, but it can control only 2 motors. Can I control sensors and electric components directly with raspberry pi? If not, please suggest me a good driver that can control all of these. I am relatively new to all these.
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1It seems unlikely that you'll find a single product which accommodates DC motors and servos and sensors and audio and lights and... who, aside from you in this one special case, would need it? You'll have an easier time of it sourcing individual components for individual purposes - DC motor driver, A-to-D converters for the sensors, amplifier board for the speaker, sound card for the mic, driver for the LEDs (or use individually addressable LEDs). In addition to being easier to source, it's much easier to maintain a modular platform than a monolithic one.– gooberingJan 11, 2017 at 13:52
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I want to accommodate them in a small place, too many drivers would make it messy.– Anshul BansalJan 11, 2017 at 14:05
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Try the 4tronix Picon Zero - 4tronix.co.uk/store/index.php?rt=product/… It might suit your needs– recanthaJan 11, 2017 at 14:29
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Can I use Arduino Uno as an alternative to it?– Anshul BansalJan 14, 2017 at 7:14
2 Answers
The most capable motor controller board that gets closest to what you require is called the 4tronix Picon Zero.
As you can see from the picture, it allows you to drive 2 DC motors (bottom right) and has outputs (left) that you can configure as servo outputs. There are also a number of inputs (which can take both digital and analog signals.
You can get it from 4tronix or The Pi Hut.
I reviewed the Picon Zero over on my blog.
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Can I use this -(ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1r1vMNFXXXXXmXXXXq6xXFXXX8/206232166/…) motor with this driver. Jan 12, 2017 at 5:38
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I don't know I'm afraid. I have no idea what kind of power requirements there are for that motor.– recanthaJan 12, 2017 at 13:46
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I suppose you could, but I'm not an expert on Arduino I'm afraid. I'm sure there's a stack exchange for it though!– recanthaJan 17, 2017 at 9:29
You need a motor driver board for the DC motors (and for stepper motors).
The servo motors can be driven (but not powered) directly from the Pi.
General digital sensors can normally be driven direct from the Pi.
You need additional hardware (an ADC) to talk to analogue sensors.