Experience smooth motor operation with DRV10964 and ATmega644

Your brushless symphony

Published Jul 26, 2023

Click board™

Brushless 2 Click

Dev. board

EasyAVR v7

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

ATmega644

Eliminate the need for brushes and commutators, reduce maintenance requirements, and extend the lifespan of brushless motors in industrial and automotive applications

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Brushless 2 Click is based on the DRV10964, a BLDC motor controller with an integrated output stage from Texas Instruments. This Click board™ is designed to run on either 3.3V or 5V power supply. It communicates with the target microcontroller over the following pins on the mikroBUS™ line: AN, RST, CS, PWM, and INT. A 3-wire BLDC motor

can be connected over the screw terminals; speed is controlled through a PWM pin on the mikroBUS™ line. The click also has feedback on the interrupt pin (INT), so you can see exactly how fast the motor goes. The DRV10964 is a three-phase sensorless motor driver with integrated power MOSFETs. It is specifically designed for

high-efficiency, low-noise, and low-external component-count motor drive applications. The proprietary sensorless windowless 180° sinusoidal control scheme offers ultra-quiet motor drive performance. The DRV10964 contains an intelligent lock detect function and other internal protection circuits to ensure safe operation.

Brushless 2 Click hardware overview image

Features overview

Development board

EasyAVR v7 is the seventh generation of AVR development boards specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports a wide range of 16-bit AVR microcontrollers from Microchip and has a broad set of unique functions, such as a powerful onboard mikroProg programmer and In-Circuit debugger over USB. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements in one place, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others. With four different connectors for each port, EasyAVR v7 allows you to connect accessory boards, sensors, and custom electronics more

efficiently than ever. Each part of the EasyAVR v7 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. An integrated mikroProg, a fast USB 2.0 programmer with mikroICD hardware In-Circuit Debugger, offers many valuable programming/debugging options and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment. Besides it also includes a clean and regulated power supply block for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including an external 12V power supply, 7-12V AC or 9-15V DC via DC connector/screw terminals, and a power source via the USB Type-B (USB-B)

connector. Communication options such as USB-UART and RS-232 are also included, alongside the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, three display options (7-segment, graphical, and character-based LCD), and several different DIP sockets which cover a wide range of 16-bit AVR MCUs. EasyAVR v7 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

AVR

MCU Memory (KB)

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

RAM (Bytes)

4096

You complete me!

Accessories

Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor with a Hall sensor represents a high-performance motor from the 42BLF motor series. This motor, wired in a star configuration, boasts a Hall Effect angle of 120°, ensuring precise and reliable performance. With a compact motor length of 47mm and a lightweight design tipping the scales at just 0.29kg, this BLDC motor is engineered to meet your needs. Operating flawlessly at a voltage rating of 24VDC and a speed range of 4000 ± 10% RPM, this motor offers consistent and dependable power. It excels in a normal operational temperature range from -20 to +50°C, maintaining efficiency with a rated current of 1.9A. Also, this product seamlessly integrates with all Brushless Click boards™ and those that require BLDC motors with Hall sensors.

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Handoff Threshold Set

PA7

Direction Selection

PA6

RST

Speed Indicator Selection

PA5

SCK

MISO

MOSI

Power supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

Speed Control

PD4

PWM

INT

SCL

SDA

Power supply

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

EasyAVR v7 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the EasyAVR v7 as your development board.

NECTO Output Selection Step Image hardware assembly

In the advanced settings, pay special attention to the Redirect standard output field. By default, it is set to Application output as the method of displaying final results. To show results via a UART terminal, select the “UART” option in that field and click the “SAVE” button. You will be returned to the Compiler field, and now you can move on to the next step by pressing the “NEXT” button.

GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly

GNSS2 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly

EasyAVR v7 Access DIP MB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly

NECTO Compiler Selection Step Image hardware assembly

Necto DIP image step 7 hardware assembly

EasyPIC PRO v7a Display Selection Necto Step hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

1. Application Output - In Debug mode, the 'Application Output' window enables real-time data monitoring, offering direct insight into execution results. Ensure proper data display by configuring the environment correctly using the provided tutorial.

2. UART Terminal - Use the UART Terminal to monitor data transmission via a USB to UART converter, allowing direct communication between the Click board™ and your development system. Configure the baud rate and other serial settings according to your project's requirements to ensure proper functionality. For step-by-step setup instructions, refer to the provided tutorial.

3. Plot Output - The Plot feature offers a powerful way to visualize real-time sensor data, enabling trend analysis, debugging, and comparison of multiple data points. To set it up correctly, follow the provided tutorial, which includes a step-by-step example of using the Plot feature to display Click board™ readings. To use the Plot feature in your code, use the function: plot(*insert_graph_name*, variable_name);. This is a general format, and it is up to the user to replace 'insert_graph_name' with the actual graph name and 'variable_name' with the parameter to be displayed.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for Brushless 2 Click driver.

Key functions:

brushless2_counter_clockwise - Set the direction of rotation in the counterclockwise direction function
brushless2_clockwise - Set the direction of rotation in the clockwise direction function
brushless2_get_interrupt_status - Get Interrupt pin state function

Open Source

Code example

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.

/*!
 * @file 
 * @brief Brushless2 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This application controlled speed motor.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialization driver enable's - GPIO, PWM initialization
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * This is a example which demonstrates the use of Brushless 2 Click board.
 * Brushless 2 Click communicates with register via PWM interface.
 * Results are being sent to the Usart Terminal where you can track their changes.
 * 
 * @author Nikola Peric
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "brushless2.h"

// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES

static brushless2_t brushless2;
static log_t logger;

// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    brushless2_cfg_t cfg;

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );

    //  Click initialization.

    brushless2_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    BRUSHLESS2_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    brushless2_init( &brushless2, &cfg );
    
    log_printf( &logger, "---------------------- \r\n" );
    
    brushless2_set_duty_cycle ( &brushless2, 0.0 );
    brushless2_pwm_start ( &brushless2 );
    Delay_ms ( 500 );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Task ----" );
}

void application_task ( void )
{    
    static int8_t duty_cnt = 1;
    static int8_t duty_inc = 1;
    float duty = duty_cnt / 10.0;
    
    brushless2_set_duty_cycle ( &brushless2, duty );
    brushless2_clockwise ( &brushless2 );
    log_printf( &logger, "> Duty: %d%%\r\n", ( uint16_t )( duty_cnt * 10 ) );
    
    Delay_ms ( 500 );
    
    if ( 10 == duty_cnt ) 
    {
        duty_inc = -1;
    }
    else if ( 0 == duty_cnt ) 
    {
        duty_inc = 1;
    }
    duty_cnt += duty_inc;
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    /* Do not remove this line or clock might not be set correctly. */
    #ifdef PREINIT_SUPPORTED
    preinit();
    #endif
    
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END