DRV8313: Power generator

Danilo A.

Part Number: DRV8313

Hi Team,

The DRV8313PWPR has a brake feature to slow down the motor. Our customer would like to know if they can use it with a 3-phase brushless DC motor to generate power. They will use it to charge a LiPo battery for energy storage. Is this possible?

Regards,

Danilo

over 1 year ago

+1 Andrew Liu over 1 year ago

TI__Mastermind 18916 points

Hi Danilo,

For BLDC motor systems, I think the simple way to implement regenerative braking (to recharge battery using motor) would be just to Hi-Z the half-bridge outputs (ALL HS+LS FETS OFF) and have the body diodes of inactive MOSFETs handle the current recirculation.

This is different than the Brake feature (ONLY HS FETS ON, or ONLY LS FETS ON)
The Hi-Z setup is also referred to as 'COAST' in the DRV8313 datasheet.
- if you use this approach, you'd need to be wary of thermal implications (since this is an integrated-FET device, and body diode losses produce heat)
- overvoltage is also a concern. Refer to this FAQ: https://e2e.ti.com/support/motor-drivers-group/motor-drivers/f/motor-drivers-forum/1041760/faq-how-to-not-damage-your-motor-drive-system-from-overvoltage

For more elaborate regeneration (to reduce/minimize body diode losses), there may need to be further research done on that elsewhere.

I am personally not too familiar with the exact control algorithm, but I believe the implementation would have a more elaborate switching scheme for MOSFET operation, dependent on dynamic motor phase voltage and current

Best Regards,
Andrew

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DRV8313: Power generator