Electronics Weekly
The STSPIN830 for driving 3-phase brushless DC motors has a mode-setting pin that lets users control the three half bridges of the integrated power stage with direct U, V, and W pulse-width modulated (PWM) inputs, or by applying signals to each gate individually for higher control flexibility.
A dedicated sense pin for each inverter leg simplifies setting up three-shunt or single-shunt current sensing for Field-Oriented Control (FOC).
The STSPIN840 can drive two brushed DC motors or one larger motor leveraging ST’s well-known, market-proven paralleling concept, which allows the integrated full bridges to be configured as two separate bridges or as a single bridge using the two sets of MOSFETs in parallel for lower RDS(ON) and higher current rating.
Both drivers include PWM current-control circuitry with adjustable off-time, a convenient standby pin for power saving, and protection circuitry including non-dissipative overcurrent protection, short-circuit protection, undervoltage lockout, thermal shutdown, and interlocking to help create robust and reliable drives.
The integrated power stage of each device features ST-proprietary MOSFETs with low RDS(ON) of only 500mΩ to combine high efficiency with economy.
The option to use the output bridges individually or connected in parallel, in the STSPIN840, helps trim the BOM for multi-motor applications.
With their high feature integration and flexibility, the drivers enable more compact and cost-effective controls for industrial, robotic, medical, building-automation, and office-equipment applications.
The STSPIN830 is suitable for factory-automation end-points, home appliances, small pumps, and fans for computer or general-purpose cooling.
The STSPIN840 targets ATM and money-handling machines, multi-axis stage-lighting mechanisms, thermal printers, textile or sewing machines, and vending machines.
The STSPIN830 and STSPIN840 are both in production now, as 4mm x 4mm QFN devices. Pricing for both starts from $1.25 for orders of 1000 pieces.
Two STM32 Nucleo expansion boards are provided to facilitate product evaluation and build functional prototypes using the STM32 Open Development Environment: X-NUCLEO-IHM16M1 for the STSPIN830 and X-NUCLEO-IHM15A1 for the STSPIN840, both priced at $16.
