How to control motors with an arduino

Question

I am a complete beginner with electronics mostly dabbling as a hobby so please forgive me if I struggle to follow or don't understand specific terms.

I have been working on a project for a while now with the intention of controlling multiple 'haptic' devices via 3.5mm connectors with the help of an Arduino nano, it is my hope I will be able to incorporate it into VR and create some custom controlled haptic feedback

unfortunately, my first attempt seems to have been a failure and I am unsure why

Prototype plan

ultimately I wanted to be able to control 6 up different devices via the 3.5mm ports my initial attempt was through the use of an L295D chip which I had seen used in multiple video tutorials online, however when I tested this nothing happened and no power was getting to the motors, either I have misunderstood how the chips work/should be wired. or I have somehow broken them

if anyone has any ideas as to how I could go about this or can see and obvious flaw in my design I would appreciate the input

• HandyHowie: In your drawing it looks like the Arduino doesn't have power.
• Justme: That picture shows a wiring diagram. How do we know without a schematic if the diagram is correct or not (without designing this again from scratch that is)? Please post the schematics so we can check if it's right. And a photo of your wiring if it's right.
• Bimpelrekkie: Have you tried getting one motor working with one L295D (and don't use the chip, get a module, they're much easier to use)? Then add another motor and try to get that to work. It looks like you just "made everyting in one go" and that almost never works for beginners. Get one detail wrong and it does not work or things are damaged. So start simple, expand from there.
• Russell McMahon: Others asking fo a circuit diagram may seem pedantic BUT it is RELLY hard to follow the wiring diagram you have provided. I found 6 or 8 datasheets for the inline version of the L295 but NONE for the DIP package. Please provide a datasheet link. L295 inline pkg datasheet. ||| STOP !!! ee next comment.
• Russell McMahon: @Freya Where did you get to with this. If it didn't work then we can probably help by adressing what you actually wsant to do and not how you think the problem needs to be solved. SOmething much much simpler than the bidge IC may be suitable.

Answer 1

Others asking for a circuit diagram may seem pedantic BUT it is REALLY hard to follow the wiring diagram you have provided.

WARNING !!! - you seem to be using an L293D (NOT an L295) in a powerdip package - you MUST specify the correct IC and the pkg used and vey desirably a datasheet link.

L293d datasheet

enter image description here

Pin 13 on your diagram is not grounded and should be.

As shown only the left hand motor is fully connected.
You must drive Inputs 1 & 2 either

• Low high or

• High low

for motor to operate.
Low low or high high = no operation.

Enable 1 must be low for motor operation.

5V on your diagram is fed to Arduino RST but NOT to Vin.
Has the Arduino got 5V power?

If you have wired it as shown (with the corrections notes - extra ground and the Arduino powered) and drive it as above then "it must work" [tm] :-)

• Chris Stratton: Missing from this is that the L293 is a truly horrid device utterly unsuited to low voltage battery operation. An H-bridge is also probably unnecessary for this usage as the motors likely do not need to be reversed.