I tend to end up with ST on MCU and TI on motor drivers. This is accidental as I always look for what is out there at a reasonable price and availability. I started with DRV8313, but abandoned it because the PCB ended up to complex for a 1A controller. Looking for a simpler concept I found DRV10983. It has a simple digital/analogue interface to tick a motor. But, it also provides an I2C interface allowing access to the more complex parts of a motor controller.
I like this chip because it is small, deliver 2,5A on 8-28V and allow 2,5A to be easily routed on a PCB. Looking at its datasheet and digging into the I2C interface I must admit that this chip impress me. This is an abstract from the datasheet:
- 3 Phase sinusoidal algorithm.
- 8-28V input
- 2.5A continuous, 3A peak.
- Build in Hexfet’s
- Separate 5V or 3.3V PSU (100mA)
- Single current sensor possible
- BEMF sensing build in
- Analogue, Digital or I2C interface
- Build in EEPROM
- Current monitoring/protection
- Temperature protection
- Voltage monitoring/protection
- Lock protection if motor stops
- Speed control on analogue, PWM or I2C
- Sleep/Standby support for low power
- Start/Stop ramp-up/ramp down
- Acceleration control
- Brake function
- Anti Voltage Surge (AVS) protection
- Diagnostics
- TSSOP24 package With heatpads
- And much more …
The funny thing is that I wanted a simpler motor controller to get size down and was willing to sacrifice these things since they have limited effect on such small motors.