Beginner
10 min

Control the operation of a brushless motor with STSPIN830 and PIC18F57Q43

The best motor driver for demanding industrial applications

Brushless 13 Click with Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43

Published Feb 13, 2024

Click board™

Brushless 13 Click

Dev. board

Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC18F57Q43

Manage the speed, direction, and overall performance of a brushless motor by precisely regulating the flow of electrical power

A

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Brushless 13 Click is based on the STSPIN830, a compact and versatile three-phase and three-sense motor driver from STMicroelectronics. The driver features the dedicated mode input, thus allowing you to decide whether to drive it through six inputs, one for each power switch or, more commonly, three PWM direct driving inputs. The driver integrates a complete set of protections for the power stages, such as non-dissipative overcurrent, thermal shutdown, short-circuit, under-voltage lockout, and interlocking. Considering a low standby current consumption, it makes an ideal and bulletproof solution for the new wave of demanding industrial applications. To control all high and low side driver control inputs

of the STSPIN830, Brushless 13 Click features the PCA9538A, a low-voltage 8-bit I2C I/O port with interrupt and reset from NXP. Besides driver control inputs, this I/O port also controls the enable input of the motor driver. The BLDC motor can be connected over the screw terminal, labeled U, V, and W. Additional screw terminal is just aside for connecting an external power supply in a range of 7V up to 45V. Brushless 13 Click uses a standard 2-wire I2C interface of the PCA9538A to communicate with the host MCU, supporting clock frequencies up to 400kHz. The I2C address of the PCA9538A can be set over the ADDR SEL jumpers, with the 0 position selected by default. If a fault condition occurs, the STSPIN830 will pull

the FLT pin to a low logic state, along with the FAULT LED. The RST pin resets the STSPIN830 motor driver. The driver's mode can be set over the MOD pin, with a HIGH logic state for three PWM direct drive inputs. The LOW logic state will allow a driver to drive the motor through six inputs. 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 as a reference for further development.

Brushless 13 Click hardware overview image

Features overview

Development board

PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity Nano evaluation kit is a cutting-edge hardware platform designed to evaluate microcontrollers within the PIC18-Q43 family. Central to its design is the inclusion of the powerful PIC18F57Q43 microcontroller (MCU), offering advanced functionalities and robust performance. Key features of this evaluation kit include a yellow user LED and a responsive

mechanical user switch, providing seamless interaction and testing. The provision for a 32.768kHz crystal footprint ensures precision timing capabilities. With an onboard debugger boasting a green power and status LED, programming and debugging become intuitive and efficient. Further enhancing its utility is the Virtual serial port (CDC) and a debug GPIO channel (DGI

GPIO), offering extensive connectivity options. Powered via USB, this kit boasts an adjustable target voltage feature facilitated by the MIC5353 LDO regulator, ensuring stable operation with an output voltage ranging from 1.8V to 5.1V, with a maximum output current of 500mA, subject to ambient temperature and voltage constraints.

PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity Nano double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

PIC

MCU Memory (KB)

128

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

48

RAM (Bytes)

8196

You complete me!

Accessories

Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards is a versatile hardware extension platform created to streamline the integration between Curiosity Nano kits and extension boards, tailored explicitly for the mikroBUS™-standardized Click boards and Xplained Pro extension boards. This innovative base board (shield) offers seamless connectivity and expansion possibilities, simplifying experimentation and development. Key features include USB power compatibility from the Curiosity Nano kit, alongside an alternative external power input option for enhanced flexibility. The onboard Li-Ion/LiPo charger and management circuit ensure smooth operation for battery-powered applications, simplifying usage and management. Moreover, the base incorporates a fixed 3.3V PSU dedicated to target and mikroBUS™ power rails, alongside a fixed 5.0V boost converter catering to 5V power rails of mikroBUS™ sockets, providing stable power delivery for various connected devices.

Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards accessories 1 image

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 13 Click accessories image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
Reset
PA7
RST
ID COMM
PD4
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
Mode Control
PB0
PWM
Fault Interrupt
PA6
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
PB2
SCL
I2C Data
PB1
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Brushless 13 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43 as your development board.

Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards front image hardware assembly
Charger 27 Click front image hardware assembly
PIC18F47Q10 Curiosity Nano front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Charger 27 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly
Board mapper by product8 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
PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity 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 13 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • brushless13_set_mode - Brushless 13 set mode pin function.

  • brushless13_get_flt_pin - Brushless 13 get fault pin function.

  • brushless13_drive_motor - Brushless 13 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 13 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of the Brushless 13 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 "brushless13.h"

static brushless13_t brushless13;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    brushless13_cfg_t brushless13_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.
    brushless13_cfg_setup( &brushless13_cfg );
    BRUSHLESS13_MAP_MIKROBUS( brushless13_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == brushless13_init( &brushless13, &brushless13_cfg ) ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    if ( BRUSHLESS13_ERROR == brushless13_default_cfg ( &brushless13 ) )
    {
        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 = BRUSHLESS13_SPEED_MIN; speed <= BRUSHLESS13_SPEED_MAX; speed += 20 )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, " Speed gain: %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) speed );
        if ( BRUSHLESS13_OK != brushless13_drive_motor ( &brushless13, BRUSHLESS13_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 = BRUSHLESS13_SPEED_MIN; speed <= BRUSHLESS13_SPEED_MAX; speed += 20 )
    {
        log_printf ( &logger, " Speed gain: %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) speed );
        if ( BRUSHLESS13_OK != brushless13_drive_motor ( &brushless13, BRUSHLESS13_DIR_CCW, speed, 2000 ) )
        {
            log_error ( &logger, " Drive motor " );
        }
    }
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
}

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

Additional Support

Resources

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