The HW-130 is one of the most accessible and widely used motor control shields for the Arduino platform. If you are building a robot, a smart car, or any project involving DC motors, stepper motors, or servos, this is likely the first shield you will encounter. Often labeled as the "L293D Motor Driver Shield," the HW-130 is an Arduino Uno-compatible expansion board designed for plug-and-play motor control.
void loop() // Forward at 75% speed digitalWrite(IN1, HIGH); digitalWrite(IN2, LOW); analogWrite(ENA, 191); // 0-255 -> 191 ≈ 75% delay(2000);
The HW-130 shield uses two L293D motor driver chips and one 74HCT595 shift register. The shift register expands the Arduino's digital pins, allowing you to control motor directions using fewer pins. Specification 2 x L293D Dual H-Bridge Logic Shift Register Logic Voltage Motor Power Supply ( VScap V sub cap S )
| Arduino Pins | HW-130 Function | | :--- | :--- | | | Channel A Enable (L293D Enable 1,2) | | D5 | Channel A PWM / Speed Control (Logic High 1 & 2) | | D6 | Channel A Direction (Input 1) | | D7 | Channel A Direction (Input 2) | | D8 | Channel B Enable (L293D Enable 3,4) | | D9 | Servo 1 Control Signal | | D10 | Servo 2 Control Signal / Shift Register Latch | | D11 | Channel B PWM / Speed Control (Logic High 3 & 4) | | D12 | Channel B Direction (Input 3) | | D13 | Channel B Direction (Input 4) | | A0-A5 | Analog Inputs (Broken out for general use) | | 5V & GND | Logic Power | hw 130 motor control shield for arduino datasheet
The HW-130 shield is built around two L293D dual H-bridge motor driver integrated circuits (ICs) and a 74HCT595 shift register. This architecture maximizes motor output while conserving precious Arduino digital I/O pins. Specification 2 x L293D Dual H-Bridge Shift Register 1 x 74HCT595 Logic Voltage 5V DC (supplied from Arduino) Motor Supply Voltage (V_Motor) 4.5V to 25V DC (36V max peak) Output Current (Per Channel) 600 mA continuous Peak Output Current 1.2 A per channel (non-repetitive) Supported Motor Types
Using the same library, you can control a unipolar or bipolar stepper motor. The stepper uses two of the shield’s channels and is initialised with AF_Stepper(steps, 1) for channel 1+2 or AF_Stepper(steps, 2) for channel 3+4.
HW-130 Motor Control Shield (often marketed as the L293D Motor Driver Shield) is a versatile, entry-level expansion board for Arduino designed to simplify the complex task of driving inductive loads like DC motors, steppers, and servos. Based on the classic Adafruit Motor Shield V1 design, it centralizes motor control by consolidating multiple H-bridges and shift registers into a single "plug-and-play" footprint. ResearchGate Core Technical Architecture The HW-130 is one of the most accessible
Always and use an external battery pack (like a 2-cell LiPo or 6AA battery pack) connected to the EXT_PWR terminal to power your motors. This prevents the high current draw of the motors from drawing down the Arduino’s onboard regulator. Software Implementation & Code Example
This approach works because the HW‑130 connects the L293D direction pins directly to Arduino D12/D13 and the PWM pins to D3/D11, bypassing the shift register for those signals. The shift register is only used for brake and the second pair of motors.
chipset. It is a popular "clone" of the original Adafruit Motor Shield (v1) and is designed to drive multiple DC motors, stepper motors, and servos simultaneously. 5.imimg.com Technical Specifications Motor Driver: 2 x L293D Quadruple H-Bridges. Logic Controller: void loop() // Forward at 75% speed digitalWrite(IN1,
You need a plug-and-play solution to drive two small yellow DC motors (TT motors) or a small stepper motor for a CNC plotter, and you want to avoid messy wiring.
: Output screw terminals for DC Motor 3 and 4, or Stepper Motor 2.
The Arduino logic and motor power are completely isolated. You must connect an external power supply to the screw terminals labeled EXT_PWR . Best Practice for Robotics
The Ultimate Guide to the HW-130 Motor Control Shield for Arduino