Currents of a few milliamps are enough to drive loads up to 500 mA with this circuit. The activation takes place with a positive voltage of at least 1 V of input. The supply voltage depends on the load and can be between 5 and 15 V. Transistor Q2 must be equipped with a heat sink. The circuit is from the book Robotics, Mechatronics and Artificial Intelligence by Newton C. Braga.