RAKwireless WisBlock Motor Control Module (RAK17000)

The module includes a 2.54mm jumper header for power source selection. Place the jumper to connect the motor supply to the WisBlock base board's battery (VBAT) for portable use. Remove the jumper and provide an external 2.7V-10.8V supply to the designated VIN pins on the WisBlock connector for higher-power applications or when using a separate motor power rail to preserve base board battery life.

Each H-bridge of the integrated Texas Instruments DRV8833 IC can deliver a continuous output current of up to 0.85A. Ensure your motor's stall current is within this limit. For driving a bipolar stepper motor, both bridges are used, sharing the same current rating. Adequate heatsinking or airflow is recommended for sustained high-current operation near the maximum rating to prevent thermal shutdown of the driver IC.

Snap the RAK17000 module onto the dedicated slot of a WisBlock Base Board. Control is achieved via the base board's GPIO pins mapped to the module's IN1, IN2, IN3, and IN4 inputs. Use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals from your WisBlock core MCU (like an RAK4631) on these pins to control speed (for DC motors) or step sequence (for stepper motors). Refer to the RAKwireless GitHub for example Arduino or PlatformIO code.

Yes, though it's optimized for WisBlock. You can solder wires to the board's edge connector pads corresponding to VIN, GND, and the four control input pins. Provide a 2.7V-10.8V power supply to VIN and ground. Then, use a microcontroller to send logic-level PWM signals to the input pins. Note that you will lose the plug-and-play convenience and need to manually handle the power source selection jumper.