New Industry Products

Motor Drivers Deliver Simplicity with Flexibility for Low- to Mid-Power Designs

August 27, 2018 by Paul Shepard

Simplifying the design of low-to-mid-power motor controls in the 7- to 45-V range, the STSPIN830 and STSPIN840 single-chip drivers from STMicroelectronics contain flexible control logic and low-RDS(ON) power switches for industrial applications, medical technology, and home appliances.

The STSPIN830 for driving 3-phase brushless DC motors has a mode-setting pin that lets users control the three half bridges of the integrated power stage with direct U, V, and W pulse-width modulated inputs, or by applying signals to each gate individually for higher control flexibility.

A dedicated sense pin for each inverter leg simplifies setting up three-shunt or single-shunt current sensing for Field-Oriented Control (FOC).

The STSPIN840 can drive two brushed dc motors or one larger motor leveraging ST's market-proven paralleling concept, which allows the integrated full bridges to be configured as two separate bridges or as a single bridge using the two sets of MOSFETs in parallel for lower RDS(on) and higher current rating.

Both drivers contain rich features, including PWM current-control circuitry with adjustable off-time, a convenient standby pin for power saving, and protection circuitry including non-dissipative overcurrent protection, short-circuit protection, undervoltage lockout, thermal shutdown, and interlocking to help create robust and reliable drives.

The integrated power stage of each device features ST-proprietary MOSFETs with low RDS(ON) of only 500mΩ to combine high efficiency with economy. The option to use the output bridges individually or connected in parallel, in the STSPIN840, helps trim the BOM for multi-motor applications. With their high feature integration and flexibility, the drivers enable more compact and cost-effective controls for industrial, robotic, medical, building-automation, and office-equipment applications.

The STSPIN830 is designed for factory-automation end-points, home appliances, small pumps, and fans for computer or general-purpose cooling. Key features of the STSPIN830 include:

  • Operating voltage from 7- to 45-V
  • Maximum output current 1.5 Arms
  • RDSon HS + LS = 1Ω typ.
  • Supporting both single and three shunts architectures
  • Current control with adjustable OFF time
  • Current sensing based on external shunt resistors
  • Flexible driving methodology user settable between 6 inputs (high side & low side driving) and 3 inputs (direct PWM driving)
  • FOC compatible thanks to three shunts sensing topology support
  • Full protections set:
    • Non-dissipative overcurrent protection
    • Short-circuit protection
    • Underuoltage Lockout
    • Thermal shutdown
    • Interlocking function
  • Low standby current consumption

The STSPIN840 targets ATM and money-handling machines, multi-axis stage-lighting mechanisms, thermal printers, textile or sewing machines, and vending machines. Key features of the STSPIN840 include:

  • Operating voltage from 7- to 45-V
  • Maximum output current 1.5 Arms
  • RDSon HS + LS = 1Ω typ.
  • Current control with adjustable OFF time
  • Current sensing based on external shunt resistors
  • Full protections set:
    • Non-dissipative overcurrent protection
    • Short-circuit protection
    • Undervoltage lockout
    • Thermal shutdown
  • Parallel operation mode achieving single full-bridge configuration with output IRMS = 3 Arms and RDSon HS + LS = 500mΩ typ.
  • Low standby current consumption

The STSPIN830 and STSPIN840 are both in production now, as 4mm x 4mm QFN devices. Pricing for both starts from $1.25 for orders of 1000 pieces.

Two STM32 Nucleo expansion boards are provided to facilitate product evaluation and build functional prototypes using the STM32 Open Development Environment: X-NUCLEO-IHM16M1 for the STSPIN830 and X-NUCLEO-IHM15A1 for the STSPIN840, both priced at $16.