Brushless 11 Click

How does it work?

Brushless 11 Click is based on the A4931, a 3-phase brushless DC motor pre-driver from Allegro Microsystems. It uses six external N-channel MOSFETs to drive a 3-phase BLDC motor. The internal charge pump generates a supply to drive the high-side MOSFETs while the voltage is internally monitored. In case of a fault condition, the device outputs are disabled. The pre-driver features several protection mechanisms, including fault shutdown, overvoltage protection, overtemperature protection, hall state reporting, and mock detect function.

The A4931 also features the HBIAS function, which provides a power supply voltage of 7.5V with a current limited to 30mA. This referent voltage powers the logic sections of the pre-driver and the external Hall elements. These elements can be connected over the 6-pin header, labeled as positive and negative A, B, and C channel inputs. To set the motor direction, this Click board™ uses a DIR switch. Set the position 1 for rotating forward and 0 position for rotating reverse.

Brushless 11 Click is controlled by the host MCU through GPIO logic states. The enable input terminal on pin EN is used for external PWM, with typically PWM frequencies in the 20 to 30kHz range. To use brakes and stop the motor, you should write a logic LOW on the BRK pin, which activates the Brake mode. This input overrides the enable input, and also the lock detect function. Both the EN and BRK pins are pulled up. There are FG1 and FG2 pins that let you accurately measure motor rotation.

This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on Brushless 11 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
Motor Rotation Output	FG1	1	AN	PWM	16	EN	Enable
Brake Control	BRK	2	RST	INT	15	FG2	Motor Rotation Output
ID COMM	CS	3	CS	RX	14	NC
	NC	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
	NC	5	MISO	SCL	12	NC
	NC	6	MOSI	SDA	11	NC
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	NC
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

Brushless 11 Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the Brushless 11 Click as well as a demo application (example), developed using MIKROE compilers. The demo can run on all the main MIKROE development boards.

Package can be downloaded/installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Library Description

This library contains API for Brushless 11 Click driver.

Key functions

• brushless11_get_fg1_pin Brushless 11 get FG1 pin state function.

• brushless11_set_brake Brushless 11 set motor brake state function.

• brushless11_set_speed Brushless 11 set motor speed.

Example Description

This example demonstrates the use of the Brushless 11 Click board™ by driving the motor at different speeds.

void application_task ( void )  
 { 
     log_printf( &logger, " Motor brake is off rn" ); 
     brushless11_set_brake( &brushless11, BRUSHLESS11_BRAKE_OFF ); 
     for ( uint8_t speed_cnt = 10; speed_cnt <= 100; speed_cnt += 10 ) 
     { 
         brushless11_set_speed( &brushless11, speed_cnt ); 
         log_printf( &logger, " Speed is: %d%% rn", ( uint16_t ) speed_cnt ); 
         Delay_ms( 1000 ); 
     } 
     log_printf( &logger, " Motor brake is on rn" ); 
     brushless11_set_brake( &brushless11, BRUSHLESS11_BRAKE_ON ); 
     Delay_ms( 2000 ); 
 }

The full application code, and ready to use projects can be installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Other Mikroe Libraries used in the example:

• MikroSDK.Board
• MikroSDK.Log
• Click.Brushless11

Additional notes and informations

Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB UART click, USB UART 2 Click or RS232 Click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. UART terminal is available in all MIKROE compilers.

mikroSDK

This Click board™ is supported with mikroSDK – MIKROE Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant Click board™ demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.

For more information about mikroSDK, visit the official page.