News

All-in-One Online Tool Simplifies Motor-Control Designs

February 14, 2019 by Paul Shepard

STMicroelectronics' ST-MC-SUITE is the entry point for easy access to all resources for motor-control application development with STM32 and STM8 microcontrollers. The tool lets users gather tutorials and documentation, store project setups (HW and SW), get links to download software solutions including the newly updated X-CUBE-MCSDK package, and buy evaluation hardware online.

Intuitive features include the choice of a generic search tool or an adaptive front end that filters relevant content based on the project description. Documents and videos can be previewed and saved in a personalized bundle to download in compressed .zip format.

Users can also create setups to select and save items to start their projects, including appropriate software and a choice of applicable evaluation boards (control and power), motor-control kits, and inverters that can be purchased online.

Supporting documentation can be downloaded directly or added to the personalized information bundle. Users can save multiple setups to compare different approaches for each project or manage several projects simultaneously.

The X-CUBE-MCSDK motor-control software development kit contains firmware libraries and the STM32 Motor Control Workbench graphical configurator. The latest release, version 5.3, adds support for the STM32G0 microcontroller series and includes the FreeRTOS real-time operating system. Updates to STM32 Motor Control Workbench allow direct access to firmware examples and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and Low Layer (LL) APIs.

ST-MC-SUITE is initially focused on BLDC (Brushless DC motor) and PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) designs using Field-Oriented Control (FOC). Support for extra motor types and control techniques is planned for later this year.