Toshiba and Mikroe create motor control click boards

The plug-and-play style Click boards are compact in size while supporting Mikroe’s convenient and standardised connector socket called mikroBUS. Mikroe support this range of development boards with software examples which help designers to simplify the integration of the boards when developing prototype systems and undertaking hardware evaluation.

The collaboration introduces five new Click boards for motor control, with two targeting brushed DC motor applications, one for brushless DC (BLDC) motors, and the remaining two supporting stepper motor control.

Targeting brushed motor applications are the DC Motor 6 Click based upon the TB67H451FNG, and the DC Motor 14 Click based upon the TB67H450FNG. Utilising an advanced PWM chopper-type integrated DC motor driver, they are manufactured on Toshiba’s latest BiCD technology. Their low-resistance H-bridge delivers high currents with minimal heat generation. Four motor operation modes, forward, reverse, short brake and stop, are supported.

For brushless DC motors, developers can turn to the Brushless 7 Click featuring the TC78B009FTG. Capable of driving a BLDC motor without the use of Hall sensors, it integrates a closed-loop speed controller to regulate and maintain the set rotational speed regardless of any dynamic supply voltage or load fluctuations. User-defined speed profiles can be stored in its non-volatile memory (NVM), eliminating the need for an external controller for speed control.

Finally, for those looking to drive stepper motors, two further boards are available. The Stepper 10 Click, featuring the TB67S128FTG is a two-phase bipolar stepping motor driver with an output rating of 50V/5A. It offers low power consumption coupled with the low on-resistance (0.25Ω) of its driver MOSFETs.

A simplified control interface allows stepper motor control in both directions from full to 1/128 step sizes. Advanced current detection, active gain control, and multiple error detection features are also integrated.

The Stepper 8 Click is based upon the TB78H670FTG and also supports stepping down to 1/128, allowing noise and vibration generated by the stepping motor to be significantly reduced. Its wide operating voltage range of 2.5 to 16V ensures its suitability for USB and battery-powered applications, as does its compact 3x3mm, 16-pin VQFN packaging.