Collaboration accelerates automotive motor control development

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has collaborated with MikroElektronika to incorporate its TB9053 DC-motor driver IC into the DC Motor 26 Click Board to speed up the development of automotive applications.

The device supplies a dual H-bridge output stage that can drive two motors at up to 5A or a single motor at up to 10A. Protection and diagnostic features and additional circuitry are built-in to save external components such as charge-pump capacitors. The high feature integration of the device, in its thermally enhanced QFN40 package, simplifies design, enables compact ECUs, and ensures improved reliability.

Now featured on the MIKROE DC Motor 26 Click Board, the device is easily designed into automotive subsystems, including throttle valves, engine valves, powered mirrors, grille shutters, and door opening/closing mechanisms. It can also be employed for powering seat heaters.

The Click Board connects straight to microcontroller development boards supporting the industry-standard mikroBUS interface. The motor can be controlled via the mikroBUS socket utilising a PWM signal (CLK) or the TB9053’s SPI serial interface. PWM or SPI control is selected by user-accessible switches that also govern the selection of single- or dual-motor modes. Extra header pins enable motor forward, reverse, brake, drive and stop commands depending on the control mode. The board accepts a 3.3V or 5V input voltage and permits a separate supply for the device to power the motors from 4.5V to 28V.

The built-in diagnostic capabilities of the IC permit ongoing performance and functional observation. Current monitoring and current limiting features are also included. If the IC detects overtemperature, overcurrent, or under-voltage, a series of red LEDs display the fault to the user.

The Click Board comes with a software library from MIKROE that contains easy-to-use functions and example code to speed up development. Users can also take advantage of the mikroSDK, which incorporates open-source software libraries, a unified API, and software development tools to speed up time to market.