6-fold Universal Motor Controller

With this project, a paradigm shift was undertaken at the customer's site. In the past, microcontroller systems were placed directly on the PCB (no modularity). Since this new project required an almost unmanageable number of electronics with various functionalities, strategies had to be developed to reduce the development effort for the electronics (and firmware). For this purpose, CORESIGHT was able to work out a concept with the customer, in which a microcontroller SOM and a flexibly deployable motor controller were to be developed by CORESIGHT. The SOM and the motor controller could be used multiple times throughout the entire product, thus enormously reducing the development effort and keeping the maintenance for electronics and firmware within a manageable scope.

The motor controller was developed with the goal of being able to operate as many motors as possible of different sizes, power ratings, commutation methods and feedback systems. Despite the high flexibility and the by no means negligible power of each of the 6 motor output stages, the size could be kept relatively compact at 145mm x 93mm. The following actuators can be operated with the motor controller:

• DC motors
• 3-phase brushless AC motors
• Lifting magnets / holding magnets

The following feedback systems can be processed:

• Differential or single-ended optical encoders
• Differential or single-ended magnetic encoders

Tasks in the area of electronics:

• 6-layer PCB with HDI technology
• Lattice MACHXO2-1200UHC FPGA (BGA package)
• Supply voltage: +48VDC for motor and +24VDC for logic
• Integrated motor driver (3-phase) with max. 2.5A output current
• Size: 145mm x 93mm

Tasks in the area of programmable logic:

• Complete control via SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)
• Wishbone communication to Serial Peripheral Interface
• Commutation mode for DC motors, brushless motors and lifting magnets / holding magnets
• Register access for convenient configuration from the microcontroller SOM
• Overcurrent and shutdown logic with register reset
• Testbenches for all modules in VHDL