Beginner
10 min

Steer brushless motor with precision using TMC6300 and PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Power driver for BLDC/PMSM motors

Brushless 27 Click with Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Published Dec 10, 2023

Click board™

Brushless 27 Click

Dev. board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Optimize the performance of a BLDC motor with precise control over the flow of electrical power

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Brushless 27 Click is based on the TMC6300, a power driver for BLDC/PMSM motors from Analog Devices. It integrates a charge pump and ultra-low standby current, ensuring the best efficiency and longest battery life. The 3-phase driver offers three half-bridges with individual enable signals for low-side and high-side. It is optimized for BLDC motor control, as well as control of other magnetic actuators. Each MOSFET of each half-bridge can be individually switched on and off. Internal break-before-make (BBM) logic ensures that no cross-conduction occurs. The driver operates a BLDC motor with a block or sine-commutation using 6-line control from the PCA9538, a low-voltage

8-bit I/O port from NXP. The foot-points of the motor driver are connected via a sense resistor to the LMV321, a low-voltage rail-to-rail output operational amplifier from Texas Instruments. This OP-AMP allows current measurement of the motor to control or limit motor torque. You can change this sense resistor (R9) to set other maximum motor current values according to the table at the bottom of the Brushless 27 Click. The external power supply in a range of 2 – 11V can be connected over the INPUT screw terminal. Brushless 27 Click uses a standard 2-wire I2C interface of the PCA9538 to communicate with the host MCU, supporting clock frequency of up to

400kHz. The I2C address can be selected over the ADDR SEL jumpers. The I/O prot can be reset over the RST pin, while the host MCU can measure the current over the SEN pin. The diagnostic output signals any overcurrent or overtemperature condition over the INT pin. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used for further development.

Brushless 27 Click hardware overview image

Features overview

Development board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board is a fully integrated 32-bit development platform featuring the high-performance PIC32MZ EF Series (PIC32MZ2048EFM) that has a 2MB Flash, 512KB RAM, integrated FPU, Crypto accelerator, and excellent connectivity options. It includes an integrated programmer and debugger, requiring no additional hardware. Users can expand

functionality through MIKROE mikroBUS™ Click™ adapter boards, add Ethernet connectivity with the Microchip PHY daughter board, add WiFi connectivity capability using the Microchip expansions boards, and add audio input and output capability with Microchip audio daughter boards. These boards are fully integrated into PIC32’s powerful software framework, MPLAB Harmony,

which provides a flexible and modular interface to application development a rich set of inter-operable software stacks (TCP-IP, USB), and easy-to-use features. The Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board offers expansion capabilities making it an excellent choice for a rapid prototyping board in Connectivity, IOT, and general-purpose applications.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

PIC32

MCU Memory (KB)

2048

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

100

RAM (Bytes)

524288

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.

Brushless 27 Click accessories image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Current Sense Output
RPB4
AN
Reset
RA9
RST
ID COMM
RPD4
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
Interrupt
RF13
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
RPA14
SCL
I2C Data
RPA15
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
round
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Brushless 27 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF as your development board.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly
GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
GNSS2 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly
Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MB 1 Access - upright/background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
Necto image step 5 hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MCU Step hardware assembly
Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Debug Image 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 27 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • brushless27_set_pins - Brushless 27 set pins function.

  • brushless27_set_trap_com_state - Brushless 27 set trapezoidal com state function.

  • brushless27_drive_motor - Brushless 27 drive motor 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 main.c
 * @brief Brushless 27 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of the Brushless 27 click board by driving the 
 * motor in both directions at different speeds.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes the driver and performs the click default configuration.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * Drives the motor in both directions and changes the motor speed approximately every 2 seconds.
 * The driving direction and speed will be displayed on the USB UART.
 *
 * @author Stefan Ilic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "brushless27.h"

static brushless27_t brushless27;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    brushless27_cfg_t brushless27_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * 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.
    brushless27_cfg_setup( &brushless27_cfg );
    BRUSHLESS27_MAP_MIKROBUS( brushless27_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == brushless27_init( &brushless27, &brushless27_cfg ) ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    if ( BRUSHLESS27_ERROR == brushless27_default_cfg ( &brushless27 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void ) 
{
    log_printf ( &logger, "\r\n Driving motor clockwise \r\n" );
    for ( uint8_t speed = BRUSHLESS27_SPEED_MIN; speed <= BRUSHLESS27_SPEED_MAX; speed += 20 )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, " Speed gain: %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) speed );
        if ( BRUSHLESS27_OK != brushless27_drive_motor ( &brushless27, BRUSHLESS27_DIR_CW, speed, 2000 ) )
        {
            log_error ( &logger, " Drive motor " );
        }
    }
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    
    log_printf ( &logger, "\r\n Driving motor counter-clockwise \r\n" );
    for ( uint8_t speed = BRUSHLESS27_SPEED_MIN; speed <= BRUSHLESS27_SPEED_MAX; speed += 20 )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, " Speed gain: %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) speed );
        if ( BRUSHLESS27_OK != brushless27_drive_motor ( &brushless27, BRUSHLESS27_DIR_CCW, speed, 2000 ) )
        {
            log_error ( &logger, " Drive motor " );
        }
    }
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

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

Additional Support

Resources

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