How to control DC motors with L298N driver and Arduino

Hi, In this article, you will learn, how you can control DC motors with Arduino using an L298N motor driver module

L298N motor driver module.

The L298N H-bridge motor driver module is used to control two DC motors or a single bipolor stepper motor. By using this module you can control the direction and the speed of DC motors. This module support from 5 to 35 volt DC.

In this module also have an onboard 5 volt regulator. so if you are using a 6 volt to 12 volt power supply then you have also have 5 volt output from the board.

Control DC motors with Arduino

When you want to drive a DC motor with Arduino, you need some sort of motor driver module that can run the motor and control the direction and speed of the motor. The L298N driver module is compact and best for this. In this post, I have attached step by step demonstration video tutorial to control the speed and direction of a DC motor with the motor driver module, manually as well as with Arduino.

Arduino code for L298N motor driver module.

// connect motor controller pins to Arduino digital pins
// motor one
int enA = 10;
int in1 = 9;
int in2 = 8;
// motor two
int enB = 5;
int in3 = 7;
int in4 = 6;
void setup()
{
  // set all the motor control pins to outputs
  pinMode(enA, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(enB, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(in1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(in2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(in3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(in4, OUTPUT);
}
void demoOne()
{
  // this function will run the motors in both directions at a fixed speed
  // turn on motor A
  digitalWrite(in1, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(in2, LOW);
  // set speed to 200 out of possible range 0~255
  analogWrite(enA, 200);
  // turn on motor B
  digitalWrite(in3, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(in4, LOW);
  // set speed to 200 out of possible range 0~255
  analogWrite(enB, 200);
  delay(2000);
  // now change motor directions
  digitalWrite(in1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in2, HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in4, HIGH); 
  delay(2000);
  // now turn off motors
  digitalWrite(in1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in2, LOW);  
  digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in4, LOW);
}
void demoTwo()
{
  // this function will run the motors across the range of possible speeds
  // note that maximum speed is determined by the motor itself and the operating voltage
  // the PWM values sent by analogWrite() are fractions of the maximum speed possible 
  // by your hardware
  // turn on motors
  digitalWrite(in1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in2, HIGH);  
  digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in4, HIGH); 
  // accelerate from zero to maximum speed

 for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) { 
analogWrite(enA, i); 
analogWrite(enB, i); 
delay(20); 
} 
// decelerate from maximum speed to zero 
for (int i = 255; i > 0; --i)
  {
    analogWrite(enA, i);
    analogWrite(enB, i);
    delay(20);
  } 

 
  // now turn off motors
  digitalWrite(in1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in2, LOW);  
  digitalWrite(in3, LOW);
  digitalWrite(in4, LOW);  
}
void loop()
{
  demoOne();
  delay(1000);
  demoTwo();
  delay(1000);
}

Bonus links – For the Arduino and Motor drivers

Here are some other articles link which are related to DC Motor Driver and Arduino.

• How to Control DC Motor with L293D Driver – Arduino Code for DC Motor
• How to Run Stepper Motor with Arduino using L298N Driver Module

Hope this article is useful for you. If you have any question or doubt, please comment and let us know. Thanks