How It Works L298 H-Bridge
One of the challenges of driving DC electric motors is that they sometimes need the capability to operate in reverse. To do this, the current flow must be reversed. Arranging for this requires additional hardware. The H-Bridge driver can be used to drive a reversible DC motor or a bipolar stepper motor. Unlike the unipolar motor, the field windings of a bipolar stepper motor require reversible current flow to operate. An H-Bridge is an electronic circuit that enables a voltage to be applied across a load in either direction. These circuits are often used in robotics and other applications to allow DC motors to run forwards and backwards. Most DC-to-AC converters (power inverters), most AC/AC converters, the DC-to-DC push–pull converter, most motor controllers, and many other kinds of power electronics use H-Bridges. In particular, a bipolar stepper motor is almost invariably driven by a motor controller containing two H-Bridges. The L298 integrated circuit implements a conven...