What can you do with a tip120 transistor?
The TIP120 is an NPN Power Darlington Transistor. It can be used with an Arduino to drive motors, turn lights on, and drive other high power gadgets. The TIP120 acts as a power broker or gatekeeper between the Arduino realm and the high power realm composed of the PC fan and its battery pack.
Can a tip120 be used to control a DC motor?
If you are in a need to control the speed of a Dc Motor for one of your projects but you don’t care about the direction then the easiest and cheapest way is through a Darlington transistor like TIP120. Because Arduino cannot supply enough power to the motor (only 40mA maximum) we have to use external power supply.
How is the tip120 connected to the Arduino?
The TIP120 has three pins. One is called Base, which we will connect to any of the Arduino PWM pins. Through the Base pin, the Arduino can tell the TIP120 how much power to supply to the motor from the external battery pack. That’s it.
How do you connect a tip120 to a microcontroller?
Connect the base of a TIP120 transistor to one pin of your microcontroller. Connect the motor to the transistor as follows: Note the second power supply. Most motors take a great deal more current than a microprocessor, and need their own supply. The example below uses a 9V battery as a separate power source.
How much current do I need to turn off tip120?
With a hfe of 1000 very little current is needed from the micro-controller to turn the motor on-off. While in this case 1mA input my suffice to drive the motor at 1A extra current should be used (within limits) to assure complete cut on of the TIP120.
How does the Darlington pair work in tip120?
TIP120 comes with a Darlington pair in which two transistors are connected in such a way, the current amplified by the one transistor is being amplified further by the other transistor. This configuration features much higher current gain as compared to if each transistor is taken separately.