The Texas Instruments DRV8835DSSR is a fully integrated motor driver that combines the control logic, gate drive, and power MOSFET output stage in a single 12-WSON (2x3 mm) package. It is designed for battery-powered applications where board space and efficiency matter. The part integrates four half-bridges, each rated for 1.5 A continuous output current, with a supply range of 2 V to 7 V and a load voltage range from 0 V to 11 V. This makes it suitable for driving small brushed DC motors or a single bipolar stepper motor in portable devices, robotics, and consumer electronics.
Parallel interface — direct GPIO control
The parallel interface means the driver is controlled by simple logic-level signals from a microcontroller, without needing a serial bus like SPI or I2C. Each half-bridge can be independently set to drive, brake, or coast by toggling the appropriate input pins.
150°C junction — thermal headroom for motor stalls
In a motor driver, the 150°C ceiling is the key derating parameter: during a locked-rotor or stall condition, the output current can spike and the die temperature rises rapidly. The wide junction rating gives the thermal shutdown circuit time to react before damage occurs. The exposed pad on the 12-WSON package (2x3 mm) should be soldered to a PCB copper plane for effective heat sinking.
For a BOM line, this means no supply-chain disruption from a sudden discontinuation — it can be qualified into a new design with confidence.
Two brushed DC motors or one bipolar stepper
With four half-bridges, the DRV8835DSSR can drive two independent brushed DC motors (one half-bridge per motor terminal) or a single bipolar stepper motor (two half-bridges per coil). The 1.5 A per-bridge rating applies to both configurations. For a stepper, full-step, half-step, and microstepping drive patterns are implemented in the MCU firmware through the parallel input pins — the driver itself does not include a sequencer, so the step timing is entirely under software control.