Brushless 4 click
PID: MIKROE-3019
Weight: 25 g
Brushless 4 click is a 3 phase
sensorless BLDC motor driver, which
features a 180° sinusoidal drive,
providing high efficiency and low
acoustic noise. This type of drivers
inherently provides higher torque in
general, compared to classical 120°
BLDC motor drivers. Brushless 4 click
allows a wide voltage range to be used
for the power supply: from 2V, up to
14V. The Click board™ features a
standard set of protection features:
overvoltage protection,
overtemperature protection,
overcurrent limiting, but also some
more specific protection features,
such as the rotor lock-up protection
and automatic restart function.
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Table of contents
1. How does it work?
2. 180° vs 120°
3. Specifications
4. Pinout diagram
5. Brushless 4 click electrical
specifications
6. Onboard settings and indicators
7. Software support
8. Downloads
Brushless 4 click is a 3 phase sensorless BLDC motor driver, which features
a 180° sinusoidal drive, providing high efficiency and low acoustic noise. This
type of drivers inherently provides higher torque in general, compared to
classical 120° BLDC motor drivers. Brushless 4 click allows a wide voltage
range to be used for the power supply: from 2V, up to 14V. The Click board™
features a standard set of protection features: overvoltage protection,
overtemperature protection, overcurrent limiting, but also some more
specific protection features, such as the rotor lock-up protection and
automatic restart function.
The Click board™ itself has a low count of external components, considering
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all the features it has to offer. The power transistors are integrated into the
driver IC, it requires no tuning, and no sensor is used, making the circuit
very simple and cost-effective. With all the features it has, it is a perfect
solution for building a reliable low-cost motor driver applications, such as
the low noise computer cooling fans, efficient air ventilation systems, and
similar applications that could benefit of having reliable and reasonably
simple motor driver circuit.
How does it work?
The main component of the Brushless 4 click is the MCP8063, a 3 phase
brushless sinusoidal sensorless motor driver, from Microchip. This IC has
many features that make it a perfect choice for driving a wide range of small
to medium BLDC motors. The MCP8063 requires a very low count of external
components, due to its high degree of integration. It provides the rotor
position digital output, via the FG pin, routed to the mikroBUS™ INT pin,
which is also labeled as FG on the Click board™ itself. The rotation speed
control is implemented via the PWM pin of the mikroBUS™, routed to the
PWM input pin of the IC. One of the most distinctive features of the
Brushless 4 click is the 180° sinusoidal drive, which provides more torque
and better efficiency than the more commonly used 120° driver topology.
As mentioned above, the PWM signal can be used to control the motor
speed. The duty cycle controls the speed of the rotor, while the frequency of
the PWM signal doesn’t affect the rotation speed and can vary between 20
Hz and 100 kHz. When the PWM input is at the HIGH logic level, the
rotational speed of the motor will be at a maximum. When the PWM input
stays at the LOW logic level, the motor is stopped. Toggling between HIGH
and LOW logic state will result in the rotor turning at a specific speed, which
depends on the duration of the HIGH logic level state. The PWM pin is
routed to the same named pin of the mikroBUS™, conveniently allowing the
MCU to provide the required PWM signal.
Another method of controlling the motor speed can be implemented by
varying the voltage of the motor power supply, which is connected via the
input screw terminal, labeled as VBAT. This voltage can range from 2V, up to
14V. The power supply has to be connected to the input terminal, as this
terminal provides power for both the output stage of the MCP8063, as well
as for the internal logic circuit (through the internal voltage regulator).
The rotational speed and phase of the motor can be determined by using
the FG pin. This pin acts like the Hall-effect sensor output, providing
information about the speed and the phase of the motor to the host MCU,
via the mikroBUS™. The FC pin is pulled up with the onboard resistor. When
the lock-up or desync condition appears, this pin is set to a high impedance
mode, meaning it is pulled to a HIGH logic level - because of the pull-up
resistor. To calculate the RPM (rounds per minute) the formula below
should be used. Please note that the result depends on the type of the used
motor since the number of its slots and poles are part of the calculation:
P = Total number of poles in the motor
S = Total number of slots in the motor
When the rotor is blocked or it loses synchronization, an internal lock-up
section detects this condition and ties the coils to GND, effectively
discharging the rotor with minimal self-heating. After a time-out, another
attempt is made to run the rotor. If it is still blocked, another lock-up event is
detected and another time-out period is initiated. This way, the rotor is
protected from overheating.
As already mentioned, the MCP8063 IC features a current limit protection.
The maximum current is internally limited to 1.5A. This limitation prevents
overheating of the motor coils, as well as protecting the output stage
transistors. A good practice is to always keep the power consumption lower
than the maximum specified, ensuring there is enough overhead. The
thermal protection protects the IC when it reaches 170°C, with a hysteresis
of 25°C before the restart is attempted, meaning that the IC has to be cooled
down to 145°C.
The output 3 pole screw terminal is used to connect the motor phases. It is
labeled with A, B, and C, allowing connecting of the 3 pole BLDC motors
which do not require more than 1.5A (when the internal overcurrent limit is
triggered).
Brushless 4 click supports only 3.3V MCUs and it is not intended to be
connected or controlled via the 5V MCU without a proper level shifting
circuitry.
180° vs 120°
In the 120° driver configuration, only two transistors are in the conductive
state at a time, energizing only two windings of the BLDC. This means that
one winding will not be used at all, not contributing to the torque at all. In
the 180° driver configurations, all the phases are energized and three
transistors are conductive at a time. This provides better torque and
efficiency, as no phases are left unpowered and all three phases contribute
to the rotor torque at the same time. This can be illustrated with the
simplified schematic below, where the output stage transistors are replaced
with the switches. The current through the coils is illustrated by the dots
(outwards direction) and crosses (inwards direction).
Specifications
Type DC
Applications
General purpose small to medium 2V to 14V
sensorless BLDC motor driving, silent computer
cooling fan driving, efficient air ventilation
systems, and similar applications that could
benefit of having reliable and simple motor driver
circuit.
On-board modules MCP8063, a 3 phase brushless sinusoidal
sensorless motor driver, from Microchip.
Key Features
Overvoltage protection, overtemperature
protection, overcurrent limiting, rotor lock-up
protection, automatic restart function,
sensorless operation, low count of additional
components required, edge terminals for an easy
connection.
Interface GPIO
Input Voltage 3.3V
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on Brushless 4 click corresponds to the
pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle
columns).
Notes Pin Pin Notes
NC 1AN PWM 16 PWM PWM speed
control IN
NC 2RST INT 15 FG Motor speed
indication OUT
NC 3CS RX 14 NC
NC 4SCK TX 13 NC
NC 5MISO SCL 12 NC
NC 6MOSI SDA 11 NC
Power
supply 3.3V 73.3V 5V 10 NC
Ground GND 8GND GND 9GND Ground
Brushless 4 click electrical specifications
Description Min Typ Max Unit
OUT1/2/3 maximum current limitation 1.4 1.5 1.6 A
Input power supply voltage 2 - 14 V
Lock protection waiting time 4.0 4.5 5.0 s
Absolute PWM signal ratings -0.7 -4V
Onboard settings and indicators
Label Name Default Description
LD1 PWR -Power LED indicator
TB1 VBAT -External power supply input terminal
TB2 A,B,C -BLDC motor connector
Software support
We provide a demo application for Brushless 4 click on our Libstock page, as
well as a demo application (example), developed using MikroElektronika
compilers. The demo can run on all the main MikroElektronika development
boards.
Library Description
The library provides generic functions for working with the Click board.
Key functions:
void brushless4_motorParameters(uint8_t poles, uint8_t slots) - Sets
the number of poles and slots of the motor. This needs to be set correctly for the
calculation to be correct
uint16_t brushless4_getSpeed(uint16_t pulseSample) - Calculates the
speed of accumulated pulses from the interrupt pin and returns the motor speed
value.
uint8_t brushless4_intGet() - Returns the state of the interrupt pin.
Example description
The application is composed of three sections:
System Initialization - Initializes the GPIO structure.
Application Initialization - Initializes the GPIO driver and configures the PWM
peripheral for controlling the speed of the motor.
Application Task - (code snippet) - Increases and decreases the speed of the
motor
demonstrating the speed control.
void applicationTask()
{
for(i=0;i
{
brushless4_setSpeed(i);
Delay_ms(10);
}
Delay_ms(1000);
for(i=pwm_period;i>1;i‐‐)
{
brushless4_setSpeed(i);
Delay_ms(10);
}
Delay_ms(1000);
}
void brushless4_pwmInit() - Initializations of the PWM on the mikroBUS 1.
void brushless4_setSpeed(uint16_t speed) - Sets the PWM signal for the
motor.
The full application code, and ready to use projects can be found on our
Libstock page.
Other MikroElektronika libraries used in the example:
PWM Library
Additional notes and information
Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB
UART click, USB UART 2 click or RS232 click to connect to your PC, for
development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board.
The terminal available in all MikroElektronika compilers, or any other
terminal application of your choice, can be used to read the message.
Downloads
mikroBUS™ Standard specifications
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MCP8063 datasheet
Brushless 4 click schematic
Libstock: Brushless 4 click library
Brushless 4 click: 2D and 3D files
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