DRV10970: New BLDC motor driver design, need to maximize efficiency. What's a good starting point?

David Burton

Part Number: DRV10970
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DRV8320, DRV8308

I'm starting a new 3PH BLDC motor drive application and don't have time for many design iterations. I'd like some advice on best controller families to start with to avoid as many design iterations as possible.

1. 8-16V

2. May be sensorless or sensored.

3. 3A drive capability should be enough.

4. battery powered so maximum efficiency is a priority.

5. speed range 1500-3000 rpm

6. Need integrated controller since SW resource and external computing power is limited.

It seems like sinusoidal drive with some optimized angle adjustment is supposed to be most efficient. Is that correct?

For starters I'm looking at DRV10970 for a sensored motor. Does that sound like a good place to start? What about for sensorless?

Thanks.

over 3 years ago

0 David Burton over 3 years ago

Expert 1330 points

3A is peak current for the DRV10970 and max normal is 1.5A, so I may need a bit more. Might need to go to external FET devices?

0 Adam Sidelsky over 3 years ago in reply to David Burton

TI__Guru 61200 points

David,

Could you tell us your continuous current requirement? DRV10 devices have a maximum continuous rating of 2A. If the continuous rating is truly higher than this then you would need to use something like DRV8320 with external FETs.

DRV8320 has hall sensors inputs so you could use one PWM input to drive your motor. This device is a gate driver with protection features built in but no control so you would not get optimization like angle adjustment or similar and you would need to program an MCU yourself.

Regards,

-Adam

0 Vishnu Balaraj over 3 years ago in reply to David Burton

TI__Mastermind 24405 points

Hi Davis,

We do not have any device in DRV10x family that can support above 3A peak.An expert from Gate drivers family will respond to your question.

Regards,

Vishnu

0 David Burton over 3 years ago in reply to Adam Sidelsky

Expert 1330 points

2 amps is on the boundary of what we might need. Unfortunately we won't have mechanical models to test for some time yet. Seems like the DRV8308 has more built in controls than the DRV8320 and could reduce controller SW overhead to a manageable level, though I'm just starting to look in to it.

0 Adam Sidelsky over 3 years ago in reply to David Burton

TI__Guru 61200 points

David,

Both devices have EVMs available here:

http://www.ti.com/tool/DRV8308EVM#buy

http://www.ti.com/tool/BOOSTXL-DRV8320S

Whichever device you choose, I highly recommend prototyping your system using an EVM. You can post here if you have any further questions!

Regards,

-Adam

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DRV10970: New BLDC motor driver design, need to maximize efficiency. What's a good starting point?