Contents
What does a TIP120 transistor do?
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.
What is TIP120?
The TIP120 is a NPN Darlington Power Transistor. It can switch loads upto 60V with a peak current of 8A and continuous current of 5A. This makes it suitable for medium and high power electronics like controlling motors, solenoids or high power LEDs.
How to control high current?
The most common way to control another direct current device from a microcontroller is to use a transistor. Transistors allow you to control the flow of a high-current circuit from a low-current source.
How do you test a tip120 transistor?
How to Test Darlington Transistors
- Identify the base, collector and emitter leads on the Darlington transistor.
- Turn the multimeter dial to the diode setting.
- Clip or press the positive meter lead to the base lead.
- Touch the negative test probe to the collector and then the emitter.
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.
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.
What can you do with an Arduino tip120?
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.
How are transistors used to control high voltage?
Transistors are often used as electronic switches, to control loads which require high voltage and current from a lower voltage and current. The most common example you’ll see of this in a physical computing class is to use an output pin of a microcontroller to turn on a motor or other high current device.