AMIS-30543 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier

Description

This is a breakout board for ON Semiconductor’s AMIS-30543 microstepping bipolar stepper motor driver, which features SPI-adjustable current limiting, 11 step modes (from full-step through 1/128-step), back-EMF feedback that can be used for stall detection or optional closed-loop control, and over-current and over-temperature protection. The board operates from 6 V to 30 V and can deliver up to approximately 1.8 A per phase without a heat sink or forced air flow (it is rated for 3 A per coil with sufficient additional cooling).

Overview

This product is a carrier board or breakout board for ON Semiconductor’s AMIS-30543 Micro-Stepping Motor Driver. Here are some of the board’s key features:

• Standard step and direction control interface
• SPI interface for configuring settings (e.g. step mode, current limit, sleep) and reading status registers
• Speed and load angle output that can be used for stall detection or closed-loop control of the torque and speed based on the load angle
• Eleven different step modes: full-step (uncompensated, compensated 1-phase, or compensated 2-phase), half-step (uncompensated or compensated), 1/4-step, 1/8-step, 1/16-step, 1/32-step, 1/64-step, and 1/128-step
• SPI-programmable current control (from 132 mA to 3 A) enables your microcontroller to adjust the peak-current limit on the fly as more or less torque or speed is needed
• Intelligent chopping control that automatically selects the correct current decay mode (fast decay or slow decay)
• Low-EMI PWM with SPI-selectable voltage slopes
• Compatible with 5 V and 3.3 V microcontrollers
• Integrated 5V regulator that can be used to supply an external microcontroller
• Integrated watchdog function
• Open coil detection
• Thermal warning indicates when the driver is close to the thermal shutdown temperature
• Over-current status and shutdown (short-to-ground and shorted-load protection)
• Reverse voltage protection

AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver carrier, bottom view with dimensions

Note: This driver needs to be enabled and configured through its SPI interface on power up, so your microcontroller must be capable of acting as an SPI master (either with an SPI peripheral or software SPI). 

Using the driver

Pinout

General minimal wiring diagram

Minimal wiring diagram for connecting a microcontroller to an AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver carrier

While the AMIS-30543 allows control of a stepper motor through a simple step (NXT) and direction (DIR) interface, it first needs to be enabled and configured through its SPI interface. This means that the controlling microcontroller must be capable of acting as an SPI master (either with an SPI peripheral or software SPI), and it must be connected to the DI, CLK, and CS pins. While the DO and ERR pins are not required to use this driver, it is generally a good practice to use them to monitor for error conditions.

Minimal wiring diagram (5 V systems only)

Minimal wiring diagram for connecting a microcontroller with a logic voltage of 5 V to an AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver carrier

The AMIS-30543 has an internal 5 V regulator that can be used to supply IOREF in cases where the board is being used in 5 V systems. This internal regulator can also be used to supply the external microcontroller’s logic voltage if the regulator can deliver the required current, in which case there would be a wire from the AMIS-30543 VDD to the microcontroller VDD in the above diagram, and the “logic power supply” box would not be present.

Power dissipation considerations

The AMIS-30543 driver IC has a maximum current rating of 3 A per coil, but the actual current you can deliver depends on how well you can keep the IC cool. The carrier’s printed circuit board is designed to draw heat out of the IC, but to supply more than approximately 1.8 A per coil continuously, a heat sink or other cooling method is required. However, it is possible to use the SPI-configurable current limit to selectively deliver higher currents than this for short durations without overheating the driver.

This product can get hot enough to burn you long before the chip overheats. Take care when handling this product and other components connected to it.

Please note that measuring the current draw at the power supply will generally not provide an accurate measure of the coil current. Since the input voltage to the driver can be significantly higher than the coil voltage, the measured current on the power supply can be quite a bit lower than the coil current (the driver and coil basically act like a switching step-down power supply). Also, if the supply voltage is very high compared to what the motor needs to achieve the set current, the duty cycle will be very low, which also leads to significant differences between average and RMS currents.

Schematic diagram

AMIS-30543 stepper motor driver carrier schematic diagram

Specifications

Notes:

1. Without included optional headers or terminal blocks.
2. The regulated 5V (VDD) output current is reduced for input voltages under 8 V, and sleep mode is not available for input voltages under 9 V.
3. Without a heat sink or forced air flow.
4. With sufficient additional cooling.

Resources

Recommended links

ON Semiconductor AMIS-30543 product page

ON Semiconductor product page for the AMIS-30543 microstepping stepper motor driver, where you can find the latest datasheet, application notes, and additional resources.

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