Week 9 · Output Devices

Driving actuators, displays, and other ways your project speaks back to the world.

Assignment Overview

This week explores output devices: servos, steppers, DC motors, speakers, LEDs/Neopixels, high-power drivers, and more. The goal is to prototype physical responses driven by microcontrollers.

Initial Attempt (Failure)

This previous setup did not work — likely because I forgot to add a required decoupling/bulk capacitor on the motor supply line. Documenting the failure here to track what changed.

Initial motor driver wiring attempt that failed
Suspected root cause: missing capacitor across motor supply/ground for stability and inrush handling.

New Design: DRV8833 Dual Motor Driver

I’m moving to the NOYITO DRV8833 (1.5A, 2‑channel) DC motor driver to control two motors. Below are the wiring sketches for the new approach.

DRV8833 new wiring design - sketch 1
Sketch 1: DRV8833 dual H-bridge wiring with separate motor supply and logic supply.
DRV8833 new wiring design - sketch 2
Sketch 2: Pin mapping plan for two DC motors; ensure common ground and add supply capacitor(s).

Two-Motor Demo

This is how I’m using the DRV8833 driver to move two motors.

DRV8833 dual motor driver basic motion test.

Motion Pattern + Next Steps

This test shows a simple motion pattern. Next, I’ll connect it with my final project pipeline to drive behavior from camera input and multi‑agent algorithms for interaction.

Motor motion pattern demo; will integrate with vision and multi‑agent logic.

Resources

  • Datasheets for chosen actuators/drivers
  • Microcontroller pinout and power budget notes
  • Basic test sketches for each device