Logic Voltage Regulators

There are two popular voltage regulation approaches: linear voltage regulation and switching voltage regulation. Linear regulators are inexpensive and easy to set up. However, the efficiency of linear regulators is a function of the input voltage. For example, if the input voltage is 12V and the output voltage is 5V, the efficiency is only $\frac{5}{12}$. On the other hand, if the input voltage is 5.5V and the output voltage is 5V, the efficiency becomes $\frac{5}{5.5}$.

One common problem with linear regulators in the case of high input voltage is that the regulator itself has to dissipate a lot of power and gets hot. There is really no easy way to overcome this problem. One solution is to use switching regulators instead. Another solution is to use one battery for logic and another battery for motor.