Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, is it possible to replace the L293D H-Bridge with the L298N H-Bridge to get the same results?

Hi - do you have a link to the exact part you are purchasing? In general there are many H-bridges and motor drivers that are compatible with Arduino and used for robotics projects. However, all the circuit diagrams you will find on our website are specific to the L293D that comes in our kit. When substituting a different H-bridge you will need to look at the datasheet for a few things:

1) The pinout because the arrangement of pins may be different
2) The current limit. The L293D can provide 600mA per motor, so make sure your H bridge can provide at least that much.
3) Whether the H-bridge has built-in flyback diodes. The L293D does, meaning you do not need to add external diodes when building the circuit. These diodes help protect the rest of the circuit from voltage spikes that can occur when a motor stops suddenly.

Hope that helps, I may be able to provide more information if you can provide the exact link to what you're buying.

-Ben

Hi
This is a link to the H - Bridge i'm referring to:
https://opencircuit.shop/product/l298n- ... e-h-bridge

Ok - that is a complete "motor driver board" which contains an H-bridge along with additional protective circuitry, so you should not need to include any extra parts. However, you will need to follow the diagrams on their website which will not match the diagrams in our instructions exactly. You will also need to either A: connect the H-bridge "logic input" pins to the same Arduino pins used in our project, in which case you should be able to keep the code the same, OR B: connect the H-brings logic input to the same Arduino pins used in *their* diagrams, but then you will need to change the pin numbers in our example code to match the pins you are using.

Thanks for the help. I think i will be able to figure it out now