HOW DOES IT WORK?

DC Motor 18 Click as its foundation uses the TB9051FTG, a motor driver which incorporates the output driver for the direct drive of a DC brushed motor intended for automotive use from Toshiba Semiconductor. While primarily targeting vehicle engine applications, such as electronic throttle and valve control, the TB9051FTG can also be suitable for controlling onboard systems operating at up to 5A, such as control of wing mirrors and trunk locks. Control functions include motor-related (forward, reverse, brake), PWM control, current limit control, H-side current monitor, diagnosis output, and built-in detection circuits for overcurrent, overheat, and low/high voltage.

DC Motor 18 Click communicates with MCU using several GPIO pins. The Enable pin, labeled as EN and routed to the CS pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, optimizes power consumption and is used for power ON/OFF purposes (driver operation permission). The Forward/Reverse/Brake mode can be selected according to PWM control signals routed to the PWN and RST pins of the mikroBUS™ socket.

The current, which flows to the high side in the H-bridge of motor-driven output, is monitored in real-time, where the user can select the way of the current monitoring. In the case of a 5V VCC power supply, the current can be monitored using an AN pin on the mikroBUS™ socket, and in the case of a lesser power supply (3.3V), monitoring is possible with the help of an added voltage divider between the OCM pin and GND. Selection can be performed by onboard SMD jumper labeled as ADC SEL.

This Click board™ also has an additional LED for anomaly indication. Suppose a state such as an overtemperature or overcurrent/under voltage is detected. In that case, such anomaly is indicated by a red LED marked as DIAG, which is also connected to the interrupt INT pin through which the user can also monitor the state of the diagnostic pin. In addition, there is the possibility of controlling the motor control output at the time of the overcurrent detection, which is realized through an onboard switch labeled as OCC. This switch is used for the judgment of whether the motor control output is ON(1) or OFF(0).

The DC Motor 18 Click supports an external power supply for the TB9051FTG, which can be connected to the input terminal labeled as VM and should be within the range of 4.5V to 28V, while the DC motor coils can be connected to the terminals labeled as OUT1 and OUT2.

This Click board™ can operate with both 3.3V and 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, it is allowed for both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs to use communication lines properly. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.