Control DC Motors with Raspberry Pi Pico and Toshiba TB6612 Using Arduino Sketch

This video is sponsored by PCBWay. Only $5 for 10 PCBs and Only $4.98 for 3D Printing + Express 24 hour service on http://www.pcbway.com/ ⭐
In this video, we'll guide you through controlling two DC motors using the Raspberry Pi Pico, paired with a custom-designed two-layer green printed circuit board (PCB) with white silkscreen built around the Toshiba TB6612 dual motor driver. The PCB is designed in KiCad and we'll take you step-by-step through the soldering process as we assemble the prototype board.

🛠️ You'll learn how to wire the Raspberry Pi Pico to the breakout board, which leverages the Pico's 40 pins, including 26 programmable GPIO pins, all capable of Pulse-width modulation (PWM). This flexibility makes the Pico or the newer Raspberry Pi Pico 2 a powerful and low-cost option for motor control in robotics projects.

🔋 We’ll use an Arduino sketch to program the Pico, focusing on controlling motor direction and speed. The motors are powered by a bank of 4 rechargeable AA batteries. The speed is configured using PWM with the analogWrite function, which accepts values from 0 to 255, where 0 is the minimum and 255 sets it to maximum speed. We'll demonstrate how to configure the code to adjust motor speed and direction in real-time.

🤖 This tutorial is ideal for anyone looking to build a DIY robot on a budget, powered by Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico 2, and designed for tasks like line-following or maze-solving challenges. By the end of the video, you'll have a fully functioning motor control system, perfect for powering your next robotics project!

🔗 Useful Links
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KiCad project for the PCB: https://github.com/AnaviTechnology/an...
Arduino sketch: https://github.com/AnaviTechnology/an...
Toshiba TB6612FNG datasheet: https://eu.mouser.com/datasheet/2/408...
ANAVI Fume Extractor: https://anavi.technology/#products


📚 Chapters
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0:00 Intro
2:18 Datasheet
2:33 PCB
2:56 Soldering
4:16 Wiring
5:49 Arduino Sketch
7:53 Conclusions