Use a Beaglebone Blue. Connect all the necessary signals according to your hardware configuration file.

There are 4 connectors denoted with DC Motors. Connect number 1 with the motor. Before testing plug in the 12V DC power supply or the Li-Po battery, otherwise the motors won't run. ssh into the Beaglebone blue board and run

debian@beaglebone:$ rc_test_motors -m 1 -d 1

-m 1 selects the first motor while -d 1 specifies a duty cycle of 1. The motor should run in positive direction. If the motor turns in the opposite direction, change the + and - wire of the motor. You can stop the program by pressing Ctrl-C. The test program is located in /usr/bin and can be run from anywhere.

On the Beaglebone blue we do not use a motor controller and therefore, we do not use this signal.

There are 4 connectors denoted with 4 Quadrature encoder inputs. Connect number 1 with your encoder. Make sure that your encoder works with 3.3V as delivered by this connector. Test the encoder with

debian@beaglebone:$ rc_test_encoders 

Turning the motor in positive direction must lead to the encoder counting upwards. If not, change the A and B signal.

Connect the encoder outputs (A/B signals) to the decoder inputs

• motor controller ready signal to a digital input
• emergency button to a digital input

Make sure that a positive voltage on the motor leads to the encoder counting upwards. If the opposite is the case, either change the cables or change the hardware configuration file.
On the beaglebone blue board, you don't need a motor controller. Hence, you do not need the enable signal. Tie the ready signal to logic one.