Projects in Motion: Control Three Types of Motors with 555 Timers

By Steve Hobley
Category: Electronics
Time Required: 2-3 hours
Difficulty: Moderate

With an estimated one billion 555 timers manufactured annually, you know this component must be versatile! We’re going to learn how to build and control drivers for three very different types of motors using a breadboard, resistors, diodes, transistors, and some 555 timers (along with a sprinkling of CMOS logic). These motor drivers are the basis of many robotics and other motor-control applications.

The first project is one of the simplest "H-bridge" circuit designs around. It consists of only two 555 timers, a potentiometer, and some hookup wire on your breadboard.

In the second project, we will build a servomotor controller using only one 555 chip and a small assortment of other parts. Servos often act as the "muscle" of a robot.

And finally, for the the third project, explained over three steps, we will build a simple stepper controller. This project will introduce you to the XOR logic gate (pronounced "Eks-Or"). Regarded as exclusive or, the output is true only if gate one or gate two are true; if both gates are true or both gates are false, the output is false.

Steps

Step #1: Project #1: 555 H-Bridge Motor Driver

This is a clever idea: using two 555 timers, you can create a simple H-bridge motor driver for controlling DC motors. An H-bridge is the basis of many robotic drive systems, as it lets you easily control the direction of a motor. Twisting the potentiometer will turn the DC motor one direction, then twisting it the other way will turn the motor in the other direction.
The circuit works by getting the output to source and then sinking the current. 555 timers can do this with up to 200ma, more than enough to drive a small DC motor. The two 555 timers work in an opposite configuration: when one sources, the other sinks, and vice versa.
This particular circuit has a very small component count too - just two 555 timers, a potentiometer, and hookup wire. (Original circuit diagram from 555-Timer-Circuits.com)
Once completed, hook up 5v to the power rails on the breadboard (the red and black wires on the left of the breadboard diagram).
To power all three of these circuits, you'll need to deliver voltages from 5-6v to 12v. We recommend either using a benchtop power supply or a variable-voltage power supply.

Conclusion

As you can see, the 555 timer is a really great component. It was introduced in 1971 by Signetics - and it's still just as useful today - with over 1 billion units produced annually.

13 Responses to Projects in Motion: Control Three Types of Motors with 555 Timers

Nick Normal on July 4th, 2012 at 3:22 pm said:

hi Logan, that’s great! I’m curious which experiment you did, and what it looks like. Would you be able to send some images and a description of your project to weekendprojects@makezine.com – thanks!

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Steve Hobley on July 18th, 2012 at 1:32 pm said:

Actually you are correct, there appears to be a discrepancy between the first and second pictures. Let me try and figure it out and post an update. (Right now it looks like the breadboard diagram is incorrect.)

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Steve Hobley on July 21st, 2012 at 3:12 am said:

It might be sensible to do that, although my 555s survived without too many ill effects.

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Goli Mohammadi on July 27th, 2012 at 6:16 pm said:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. The image was grayscale, but we converted it to RGB, and it’s working fine now. Here’s a direct PDF link for you:
https://make-guide-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/guide_2036_en.pdf

Please let us know how your build goes!

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Goli Mohammadi on July 28th, 2012 at 3:04 pm said:

Should be all fixed now, Tim! My apologies for the tech difficulties. Happy building!

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Maxwell on December 6th, 2012 at 9:56 pm said:

Hi Randy, please could you tell me how you hooked up the unipolar stepper motor? I’m pretty stuck, but so close to the end!

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jessey on February 14th, 2013 at 7:16 am said:

Hello, Would it be possible to see a full schematics for Project #3? Is it posted anywhere?
Thanks
jes

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You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence
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be giving us something informative to read?

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Orlando on March 14th, 2013 at 11:21 am said:

Hi, I’m trying to build the second and third project
But I can’t see the circuit pictures when I try clicking
On them, could you send me the pictures of both
Circuits?
Thank you

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