Use Evaluation Boards to Speed Motor Driver Development and Optimize Results

Automation and robotics depend heavily on motors and their associated control and driver ICs. These complex semiconductors have moved beyond basic motion control to run advanced algorithms that tailor system operation to the motor, its load, and the overall performance priorities.

However, it is challenging to set up these complex ICs and evaluate potential system performance solely from datasheets or simulations. The process can be lengthy and costly, and it can lead to uncertainties upon deployment. Development is best implemented in parallel with the system design, layout, and software development phases, using evaluation boards.

This article highlights some of the challenges designers face when using motion control ICs and the role of evaluation boards in addressing them. It then introduces exemplary ICs and associated evaluation boards from Analog Devices that shorten time-to-market by enabling early, real-world assessment while reducing hardware and software uncertainties.

Overview of motion control IC requirements

Motion control ICs provide the necessary intelligence to control the motor and its internal power devices, such as MOSFETs that drive the motor windings. Both the motor and the MOSFETs require careful management to achieve optimal performance, trajectory, motion profile, and efficiency across static and dynamic operating modes and load conditions, and to handle upsets, transients, and faults.

To help address these challenges, driver IC vendors offer evaluation boards. These simplify the setup, optimization, and performance assessment of hardware and software by enabling hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing with an actual motor and a real-world load under varying conditions. They also ensure that the physical layout of the IC and its surrounding circuitry is properly established with respect to power distribution, parasitics, input/output (I/O) connectivity and formats, physical connectors, and more. Using these boards, available as mid-range boards, basic breakout boards (BOBs), or modular solutions, designers can evaluate different settings, configurations, and options to determine the ones best suited to the application.

Motor control ICs and associated boards

A good example of a motor control IC is the TMC5130A-TA-T from Analog Devices’ TMC5130 family. It is a high-performance stepper-motor controller and driver with serial communication interfaces that includes a flexible ramp generator for automatic target positioning.

Using a sophisticated StealthChop chopper algorithm, the driver ensures nearly noiseless operation, maximum efficiency, and optimal motor torque. The TMC5130 offers several unique enhancements enabled by the system-on-chip (SoC) integration of the driver and controller. For example, the SixPoint ramp generator in the TMC5130 uses the DcStep, CoolStep, and StallGuard2 features to optimize every motor movement automatically.

To help designers get started with the TMC5130, the TMC5130-EVAL (Figure 1) board system provides a convenient hardware platform and a user-friendly software tool for evaluation. The board system consists of three parts: a baseboard connection bridge to a computer (left), a connector board including several test points (center), and the TMC5130-EVAL board (right).

Figure 1: The TMC5130-EVAL evaluation board (right) and motor load (far right) are configured using a baseboard connection USB bridge to a PC (left) and a connector board with test points (center). (Image source: Analog Devices)

For designers who prefer to develop more of their own circuitry around a TMC5130-based core, Analog Devices offers the TMC5130A-BOB breakout board (Figure 2, top). This board provides the basic interconnections needed for operation and is controlled via an SPI interface. Its schematic diagram (Figure 2, bottom) shows the minimalist circuitry it provides to enable a functional TMC5130 IC.

Figure 2: The TMC5130A-BOB (top) provides a basic evaluation approach, with connection points along its edges rather than discrete connectors; its schematic diagram (bottom) shows the minimal circuitry required to enable a functional TMC5130 IC. (Image source: Analog Devices)

The TMC5240-EVAL evaluation kit builds on the proven TMC5130-EVAL platform to streamline next-generation stepper motor evaluation, integrating 36 V H-bridges, lossless current sensing, and advanced motion control with a jerk-optimized ramp generator and ultra-quiet StealthChop2™ operation—enabling faster bring-up, easier tuning, and more efficient validation of smooth, precise motor performance.

Advanced control eliminates the need for feedback sensors

Field-oriented control (FOC), also known as vector control, is an increasingly popular approach to controlling a wide range of motors, as it eliminates—in many cases—the need for feedback sensors such as encoders or Hall-effect sensors and their associated costs and size. The primary tradeoff between FOC and non-FOC techniques is that FOC requires significant high-precision calculations and matrix math to be performed in real time.

The Analog Devices TMC4671-LA motor controller IC specifically targets FOC with its embedded algorithms and a dedicated engine for the complex computations needed to execute them. This servo controller for DC, brushless DC (BLDC), and stepper motors provides torque control via FOC, along with velocity and position via cascade control.

The TMC4671-A supports SPI and UART links for basic communication to a low-end supervisory microcontroller unit (MCU). All control functions are implemented in hardware, with integrated ADCs, position-sensor interfaces for optional feedback, position interpolators, and more, providing a fully functional servo controller for a wide range of servo applications.

The TMC4671-EVAL board (Figure 3) for the TMC4671-A simplifies configuring the required FOC parameters and assessing the motor’s performance under this advanced control scheme. The designer connects the TMC4671-EVAL with the connection bridge, associated base board, and a separate power stage. This setup enables easy configuration of proportional-integral (PI) controllers and feedback schemes, and supports motor operation in standard position, velocity, and torque control modes.

Figure 3: The TMC4671-EVAL board features two rows of headers for signal and power I/O. (Image source: Analog Devices, modified by author)

The pin headers at the top of the TMC4671-EVAL are for connecting digital encoders, digital Hall-effect sensor signals, and reference switches. The pin headers at the bottom of the board are for analog Hall-effect sensor signals or a sine/cosine encoder.

Designers who prefer to build their own evaluation circuit around a functional motor driver core can use the TMC4671-BOB breakout board (Figure 4, top). It offers SPI and UART interfaces for communication and configuration, along with a real-time monitoring interface (RTMI) for live debugging and tuning via the USB-2-RTMI_V20 adapter with galvanic (ohmic) isolation (Figure 4, bottom).

Figure 4: The TMC4671-BOB (top) provides direct access to the TMC4671, as well as SPI and UART interfaces; the associated USB-2-RTMI_V20 adapter (bottom) is a galvanically isolated USB interface. (Image source: Analog Devices)

This adapter offers USB interface conversion for real-time monitoring of the TMC4671-LA FOC controller IC. The USB High-Speed-to-SPI bridge interface converter is USB-powered and provides basic electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, as well as galvanic isolation between the USB and RTMI connectors to prevent safety and ground-loop issues.

All-in-one evaluation kit

Finally, in some cases, the complete Analog Devices evaluation board can serve as a deployable product. For example, the TMCM-3351-TMCL module (Figure 5, top) is a three-axis stepper motor controller/driver board for three two-phase bipolar stepper motors. It includes all required active and passive components, including MOSFET power drivers and connectors (Figure 5, bottom).

Figure 5: The standard signal, power, and I/O connectors of the TMCM-3351-TMCL module (top) speed setup and use; the IC and its module can handle three motors simultaneously (bottom) for three-axis motion control. (Image source: Analog Devices)

This functionally complete module supports linear and S-shaped ramps for closed-loop operation with optional encoders for each of the three axes. The TMCM-3351-TMCL also offers numerous general-purpose digital and analog inputs and outputs. For communications, RS-485, CAN bus, USB, and RS-232 serial interfaces are available.

Software tools critical to evaluation-board productivity

The evaluation boards are supported by the Trinamic Motion Control Language-Integrated Development Environment (TMCL-IDE). This graphical user interface (GUI) provides tools for easily setting parameters, visualizing data in real time, and developing and debugging standalone applications.

The TMCL-IDE displays various dialog boxes for diagnostic tasks (Figure 6) and includes an overview of the connected motion controller and driver chips. This overview window pops up immediately after connecting the evaluation kit for the first time. The window displays the current status of the connections, while the second tab of the dialog lets users select basic settings or reset the module to factory defaults.

Figure 6: The TMCL-IDE GUI simplifies the setup, configuration, and performance analysis of the various motor driver ICs under real loads when used with the associated evaluation boards. (Image source: Analog Devices)

Conclusion

Modern motion control ICs and their algorithms are highly sophisticated and must deliver outstanding performance across multiple motor criteria, including precision, reliability, and efficiency. Using evaluation boards and supporting software, designers can fine-tune these controllers in parallel with the rest of the design effort to deliver optimized motor performance despite load variations and transients.

Related Content

1. TMC5130-EVAL Evaluation Board Manual
2. TMC4671-EVAL Evaluation Board
3. TMCM-3351 Hardware Manual
4. TMC4671 BOB Description
5. USB-2-RTMI_V20 Description
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7. How to Adapt Solenoid and Stepper Motor Drivers for Industrial Applications