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DRV8301: InstaSpin - Obsolete component on DRV8301-HC-EVM rev.D - SPI needed?

Nick Sklavos66
Prodigy 200 points
Part Number: DRV8301
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: TMS320F28069M, , DRV8323R, MOTORWARE, LAUNCHXL-F280049C, BOOSTXL-DRV8320RS, BOOSTXL-DRV8323RS, LAUNCHXL-F28069M

Hello,

TMS320F28069M on a TMDSCNCD28069MISO v0.4 on DRV8301-HC-EVM rev.D

We are looking forward to use InstaSpin FOC in our new product, all tests where good.

For this we also purchased many 80 pin TMS320F28069FPNT (the 80 pin FOC).

Though.... this nice driver on the eval Board the DRV8301, is now obsolete.

TI has one alternative (the DRV8323R) and some more are coming up in the market.

But....

Some drivers have SPI communication pins, and some don't. The DRV8301 does have SPI, and GPIO lines (GPIO24-27) of the MCU are dedicated for that
(as GPIO lines (GPIO16-19) are dedicated for the second SPI on board, but is not set up).

The Question: Does the code use SPI to talk to the driver, so we have to buy a driver with SPI on it, OR, the code does not talk to the driver so we can buy a driver with or without SPI on it?

Thank you

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 26046 points

    Hi Nick,

    The DRV8301 uses a 4-wire SPI bus and SPI is used in the InstaSPIN-FOC driver software through MotorWARE. However, the MotorWARE SDK and DRV8301 devices are very old, so we have a few recommendations to evaluate InstaSPIN-FOC and a newer gate driver device. 

    To clarify, many BLDC devices have a SPI interface (SDI, SDO, SCLK, nSCS) to configure settings and diagnose faults, but you'll need firmware to write drivers to read/write specific registers and/or settings to interface with the DRV device. Many source codes in our SDKs include source and include files (i.e. drv8301.c and drv8301.h) which has the SPI registers already programmed so you can insert them into the HAL structure with the firmware. 

    SPI communication should always occur with the SPI interface on the LaunchPad (i.e. SPIA, SPIB). 

    Our recommendations are:
    1) LAUNCHXL-F280049C + BOOSTXL-DRV8320RS (recommended) - this solution uses MotorControl SDK which is a much more robust InstaSPIN-FOC library than MotorWARE. Includes labs for torque, speed control, field weakening, etc.

    2) LAUNCHXL-F28069M + BOOSTXL-DRV8323RS - this solution uses MotorWARE to run the BOOSTXL-DRV8323RS on the Launchpads you all ordered. Documentation on how to do this is on the BOOSTXL-DRV8323RS tool page

    Does this help?

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  • 0 in reply to Aaron Barrera
    Prodigy 200 points

    Hello Aaron, thank you for your answer.

    I understand it like this:

    "The SPI lines of the driver DRV8301 layout on the evaluation board DRV8301-HC-EVM rev.D (and going to GPIO24-27 of the MCU) are there to be used for development, if someone wants to incorporate such an extra current check to his code. As far as if they are used for running the FOC Labs (InstaSPIN Projects and Labs User’s Guide Version 1.0.14), this current check function with SPI, that DRV8301 provides, is not used."

    Am I right?

  • 0 in reply to Nick Sklavos66
    TI__Mastermind 26046 points

    Hi Nick,

    I haven't worked much with the DRV8301-HC-EVM rev D, but if SPI is not used in the control firmware according to the User's Guide, this means that the DRV8301 will default to its default settings in the SPI registers. You can implement the SPI drivers (drv8301.c and drv8301.h) from the MotorWARE SDK, or create your own. 


    Thanks,
    Aaron

  • 0 in reply to Aaron Barrera
    Prodigy 200 points

    Hello Aaron, thank you for your answer

    Lets say I am running an FOC Lab, lets say its the proj_lab10c.c Is the SPI on the DRV8301 used from the code?
    Is it essential? Or it is extra laid-out on the DRV8301-HC-EVM, for user experimentation?

    Thank you.

  • 0 in reply to Nick Sklavos66
    TI__Mastermind 26046 points

    Hi Nick,

    I am not sure of the impact, I don't have the MotorWARE firmware on me for that project. The only settings that are pertinent to set over SPI are gate drive current settings and OC_ADJ_SET registers to monitor overcurrent. If not set, the DRV8301 will default to the settings as described in the datasheet. It may work without any SPI initialization in the firmware, but if there is poor motor driver performance or the device runs into a fault, having SPI would be helpful in these cases. 

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  • 0 in reply to Aaron Barrera
    Prodigy 200 points

    Thank you. I will try to locate the register, and also sniff the SPI line on the DRV to see for any chatter.

  • 0 in reply to Nick Sklavos66
    TI__Mastermind 26046 points

    Sure thing Nick. Please reach back out if you need more assistance. I will be out of office until 1/3/21, so please be patient for slow responses. 

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  • 0 in reply to Aaron Barrera
    TI__Mastermind 26046 points

    Hi Nick,

    I'm back from vacation. Any updates on this?

    Thanks,
    Aaron