Brushless 18 Click

How does it work?

Brushless 18 Click is based on the ATmega8A, an 8-bit microcontroller from Microchip, offering a practical and efficient solution for controlling three-phase sensorless brushless motors (BLDC motors). These motors boast significant advantages over traditional DC motors. Their contactless design offers extended durability, superior torque, and high rotational speed, making them an excellent choice for lightweight, high-performance applications. These applications include propulsion systems for drones, where high speed, lightweight construction, and energy efficiency are critical; electronic cooling devices such as computer fans and industrial cooling systems that demand quiet and reliable operation; small household appliances like vacuum cleaners and air purifiers, and robotic mechanisms where their high torque and control accuracy are essential for smooth and precise movements.

This Click board™  ensures precise control over BLDC motor operation and processes driving commands received via the PWM signal from the mikroBUS™ socket, enabling smooth and reliable motor control. Since the ATmega8A’s output cannot directly drive the motor coils, it functions as the controller for a power circuit. This circuit consists of six high-performance N-channel MOSFETs, the STL120N4F6AG from STMicroelectronics, capable of efficiently switching power from an external source to the motor’s stator coils. These MOSFETs can handle currents up to 50A, allowing the board to support demanding motor applications. The external power source can range from 0 to 40V, providing versatility in various use cases.

The motor is connected via dedicated onboard terminals A, B, and C, ensuring secure and straightforward connections. This design, paired with robust components, allows Brushless 18 Click to deliver reliable performance and make it a go-to solution for high-speed motor-driven applications.

A unique feature of this Click board™ is the inclusion of bootloader pins, which are unpopulated by default and designed for the onboard ATmega8A microcontroller. These pins provide direct access to the microcontroller’s bootloader functionality, enabling easy firmware updates and reprogramming without needing an external programmer. This feature simplifies development and testing processes, allowing users to quickly load and debug custom firmware directly on the Click board™, making it an efficient and developer-friendly solution for various applications.

This Click board™ uses both power rails, 3.3V and 5V, with the 3.3V rail dedicated exclusively to the ClickID functionality, while the 5V rail powers all other components, including the onboard ATmega8A microcontroller. Due to this design, the board requires appropriate logic voltage level conversion when interfacing with external MCUs operating at 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 18 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
	NC	1	AN	PWM	16	PWM	PWM Control
	NC	2	RST	INT	15	NC
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	5V	Power Supply
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

Brushless 18 Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the Brushless 18 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 18 Click driver.

Key functions

• brushless18_throttle_calib This function performs the ESC throttle calibration.

• brushless18_drive_motor This function drives the motor at the selected speed and direction.

Example Description

This example demonstrates the use of the Brushless 18 Click by driving the motor in both directions at different speeds.

void application_task ( void ) 
 { 
     static uint8_t direction = BRUSHLESS18_DIRECTION_CW; 
     static int8_t speed = BRUSHLESS18_SPEED_MIN; 
     static int8_t speed_step = 5; 
     brushless18_drive_motor ( &brushless18, direction, speed ); 
     log_printf( &logger, " Direction: %srn",  
                 ( char * ) ( BRUSHLESS18_DIRECTION_CW == direction ? "CW" : "CCW" ) ); 
     log_printf( &logger, " Speed: %u%%rnn", ( uint16_t ) speed ); 
     Delay_ms ( 500 ); 

     speed += speed_step; 
     if ( speed > BRUSHLESS18_SPEED_MAX ) 
     { 
         speed_step = -speed_step; 
         speed += speed_step; 
         speed += speed_step; 
     } 
     else if ( speed < BRUSHLESS18_SPEED_MIN ) 
     { 
         speed_step = -speed_step; 
         speed += speed_step; 
         direction ^= 1; 
         Delay_ms ( 1000 ); 
     } 
 }

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.Brushless18

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.