Well, by motor driver... you could mean anything.

Is the motor AC or DC? Do you want to be able to vary the direction of the
motor? How about the speed? What about braking the motor?

A 2N2222 is quite a powerful transistor, but is only good up to 800mA or so.

So any motor you use must not consume more than this current when
spinning and when stalled, or the transistor may burn. Also, the 2N2222 is
rated for 40V maximum, so you can't drive high voltage motors.

Here is probably the simplest circuit:

+12V ---------+---------+
| |
/ \ |
|M| motor --- 1N4001
\ / / \
| |
+---------+
|
|/
CTL -/\/\/--| 2N2222 NPN
1k |\>
|
---
-
The 1N4001 is a flywheeling diode. As the motor is an inductor, when you
turn it off the energy has to go somewhere. The diode provides a path for this;
otherwise, the transistor could be burnt out by switching the output off.

This "driver" allows you to run the motor forwards and coast it. With PWM,
you can vary the speed.

Here is a H-bridge using four 2N2222 transistors.

+12V --------+------------------------+
| |
1k / c c \ 1k
1 --/\/\/---| 2N2222 2N2222 |--/\/\/--- 3
\> e e </
| + - |
|-------- MOTOR ---------|
| |
1k / c c \ 1k
2 --/\/\/---| 2N2222 2N2222 |--/\/\/--- 4
\> e e </
| |
--- ---
- -
Making S1 = 1, S2 = 0, S3 = 0, S4 = 1 the motor would go forwards

Making S1 = 0, S2 = 1, S3 = 1, S4 = 0 the motor would go backwards

Making S1 = 0, S2 = 0, S3 = 0, S4 = 0 the motor coasts

Making S1 = 1, S2 = 0, S3 = 1, S4 = 0 the motor would brake (slow down

quickly)

Making S1 = 0, S2 = 1, S3 = 0, S4 = 1 the motor would also brake

Making S1 = 1, S2 = 1 would be bad and should be avoided. It would cause

both transistors to come on giving a direct path to ground. The transistors
would burn up, and you could damage your power source. The same applies
for S3 = 1, S4 = 1, as well as setting all switches on.
There should also be diodes across each transistor, anode to the emitter. For
simplicity and due to the text-only media, I omitted these. Use the same
1N4001's.

You could also replace the 2N2222's with something else to allow it to drive
heavier loads. With heavier loads it's a good idea to use heatsinks on each
transistor.

The inputs can be controlled from an Arduino.

shareimprove this answer edited Nov 28 '10 at 16:57 answered Nov 28 '10 at 10:01

Thomas O
17.8k34128264

It's a DC motor. Change in direction is required

speed. Is that possible with the circuit you prov
28 '10 at 11:23
To change the direction can I use just any PNP
to use specific ones? Also can I use this motor
Arduino? – gomek Nov 28 '10 at 11:36
You don't need a PNP transistor, it just makes t
Connor Wolf Nov 28 '10 at 13:35
@gomek If you want to reverse the direction yo
backwards. But if you want to be able to chang
your Arduino when you want, without removing
installing it backwards, you can use a H-bridge.
13:37
@Fake Name, the circuit is designed for an NPN
probably not work well. – Thomas O Nov 28 '10 at 13
show 17 more comments
up vote0down vote Yes, it can be done very simply, but you don't get
much power or position control.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
The circuit uses the back-EMF from a single motor
coil to drive the transistor, so that one transistor is
all that is needed to turn the motor. Because of the
back-EMF drive, it can work on different kinds of
motors such as pendulums as shown in this
patent, hereis a also a good link.