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Programmable motor controller

 

I have started to work on a motor controller project in 2006, just before my University studies.

The idea was to design a multi channel DC motor controller, based on a PC.  It was first dedicated to the motor control of an agricultural machinery, and later, the specification was extended and so it became a multichannel, universal DC motor controller. 

The 4 channel version has been used for a mobile robot drive, for the Hungarians on the Mars competition.

The current HW version is the 3th generation of this motor controller.

This version is not for sale, it is just a reference design. 

Some improvement potentials:

 - Different DC connectors (poke-yoke) are recommended for the different input voltages.

 - The microcontroller is obsolete, I would use a 32 bit ARM Cortex M4 or M7 uC for this purpose.

- Today I would use resettable fuses or electronics overcurrent protection. 

- Probably today instead of the D pack MOSFETS 5x6mm Power SO-8 or 3.3x3.3mm package MOSFETS would do the job. Also, by increasing the voltage the max. output power could be increased.

 

Specification:

 

Voltage: 6V..15V

4 channels 

Power: 4x15Vx10A=4x150W=600W max.

Optical isolated drivers

ATXMEGA128 Controller

uC closed loop speed control

USB<>UART communication

Command line interface

Overcurrent protection

Compact (100mm x 160mm)

4 I/Os, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 2x UART, FLASH 24FC512, 2 USER LEDS

Control mode: closed loop (PI) speed control.

 

 

Photos

FIGURE 001 The motor control box, front

FIGURE 002 The motor control box, rear

FIGURE 003 The PCB

FIGURE 004 The motor control box and the PCB

FIGURE 005 The motor control PCB, 4 layers