[chbot] Cheap, low voltage, high current h-bridge

[Hanno Sander]

Hi,
I'm looking for a:
- cheap (ideally <$5 with less than 5 parts)
- low voltage (battery powered, so 6-8Volt)
- high current (nominal ~500mA, but spikes to 1 or 2 Amps)
H-bridge to drive a geared "rc car" motor.

This must be a common problem for hobbyists, but I can't find a discrete
component that fits the bill.  I've tried L293 and L298 which are cheap, ok
on current, but terrible for low voltage- since they eat 2 Volts- which also
heats them up over time.

I'm reasonably happy with the LMD18200T, but at $14, it's not cheap, and
with a minimum voltage of 12 volts, it doesn't do low voltage.

Mass-manufactured items, like toy robots, seem to make their own h-bridges
using FET's - is that the solution?
Hanno
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