Automotive Stepper Motor Driver with Integrated Current Sense

The DRV8889-Q1 from Texas Instruments is a fully integrated stepper motor driver, supporting up to 1.5 A full scale current with an internal microstepping indexer, smart tune decay technology, advanced stall detection algorithm, and integrated current sensing.

Targeted applications include; Automotive bipolar stepper motors, Headlight position adjustment, Head-up display (HUD), HVAC stepper motors, and Electronic fuel injection (EFI).

With a simple step/dir interface to manage the direction and step rate, DRV8889-Q1 supports up to 1/256 levels of microstepping to enable a smooth motion profile. Integrated current sensing eliminates the need for two external resistors, saving board space and cost. With advanced stall detection algorithm, designers can detect if the motor stopped and take action as needed which can improve efficiency and reduce noise.

Recommended for you: High-Performance Three-Terminal Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors for Automotive

DRV8889-Q1 provides 8 decay mode options including: smart tune, slow, and mixed decay options. Smart tune automatically adjusts for optimal current regulation performance and compensates for any motor variation and aging effects. The device also includes an integrated torque DAC which allows for the controller to scale the output current through SPI without needing to scale the VREF voltage reference.

A low-power sleep mode is provided for very low standby current using an nSLEEP pin. The device features full duplex, 4-wire synchronous SPI communication, with daisy chain support for up to 63 devices connected in series, for configurability and detailed fault reporting.

You may also like: Surface Mount Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors with ESRs as low as 0.08Ω

Features

• AEC-Q100 Qualified for Automotive
• Up to 1/256 microstepping
• Integrated current sense functionality
  • No sense resistors required
• Smart tune decay technology, Fixed slow, and mixed decay options
• 5 to 45-V Operating supply voltage range
• Low RDS(ON): 900 mΩ HS + LS at 13.5 V, 25°C
• High current capacity per bridge
  • 4-A peak, 1.5-A full-scale, 1.1-A rms
• TRQ_DAC bits to scale full-scale current
• Configurable off-time PWM chopping
  • 7-μs, 16-μs, 24-μs, or 32-μs.
• Simple STEP/DIR interface
• SPI with daisy chain support
• Low-current sleep mode (2 µA)
• Programmable output slew rate
• Spread spectrum clocking to minimize EMI
• Protection features
  • VM undervoltage lockout
  • Overcurrent protection
  • Stall detection
  • Open load detection
  • Overtemperature warning and shutdown
  • Undertemperature warning
  • Fault condition indication pin (nFAULT)