Gap crossing robot

[mattallen37]

...Speaking of which, I wonder how hard it would be to install a heatsink on the motor drivers...

I wouldn't try it. There really isn't that much room in the NXT. The IC's are not meant to have a heat-sink connected. The IC's are rated 1amp, and I don't know that it is a thermal limitation.

If I were to mess with an NXT PCB to increase the current rating for the motor drivers, I would probably remove the H-Bridges, and solder in some bigger ones. Although, if you didn't need every function of the output (like brake and coast), you could use external H-Bridges and leave the NXT alone. Or, you could make an I2C U-Controller H-Bridge driver instead (like I did).

[nxtreme]

I wouldn't try it. There really isn't that much room in the NXT. The IC's are not meant to have a heat-sink connected. The IC's are rated 1amp, and I don't know that it is a thermal limitation.

You're right, they're not meant to be used with a heat sink, but most electronics usually go up in smoke when they die and we all know that where there's smoke there's a fire. While not very practical, I do think you could get at least an extra 100mA through a motor driver safely with a heat sink, calm the fire so to speak.

And yes, I could always just build a motor driver. Not a bad idea, considering I could make one for about five dollars...