DC Motor Controller

In order to program a DC motor in python, you will need to use the GPIO library.

*Note: Follow the DC Motors and Motor Controllers Wiki Page on how to wire a DC motor to a Raspberry Pi

Here are some tips to get started on programming a DC motor:

• Import the GPIO Library

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

• Figure out which GPIO pins to use for the inputs and EN pins

• Set up each input channel and EN pin

GPIO.setup(input,GPIO.OUT)

• Use the input channels to control the direction of the DC motor

GPIO.output(input,GPIO.HIGH) or GPIO.output(input,GPIO.LOW)

• Use the EN pin to control the speed of the DC motor

• Make sure to use the GPIO cleanup command before closing out the program

GPIO.cleanup()

Here is an example code to control 1 DC motor:

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

#Defines which GPIO pins are being utilized for a channel

in1 = 22

in2 = 27

enA = 25

#Sets up each channel

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

GPIO.setup(in1,GPIO.OUT)

GPIO.setup(in2,GPIO.OUT)

GPIO.setup(enA,GPIO.OUT)

#Sets initial output for each channel

GPIO.output(in1,GPIO.LOW)

GPIO.output(in2,GPIO.LOW)

#Sets initial speed for each channel

p=GPIO.PWM(enA,1000)

p.start(100)

print('s-stop f-forward b-backward e-exit')

while(1):

x=input()

if x=='s':

GPIO.output(in1,GPIO.LOW)

GPIO.output(in2,GPIO.LOW)

elif x=='f':

GPIO.output(in1,GPIO.HIGH)

GPIO.output(in2,GPIO.LOW)

elif x=='b':

GPIO.output(in1,GPIO.LOW)

GPIO.output(in2,GPIO.HIGH)

else x=='e':

GPIO.cleanup() #Cleans up each channel

break