DRV11873EVM: 1.5A, 3-Ph Brushless DC (BLDC), 5 ~ 16V

The DRV11873EVM is a complete solution for evaluating the DRV11873 12-V, three-phase, sensorless BLDC motor driver. It includes a TLC 555 timer configured to supply a PWM to the DRV11873, a potentiometer to adjust the speed of the motor by varying the duty cycle of the PWM, a jumper on the FG pin to allow the use of an external pull-up resistor, and a jumper on the RD pin to indicate that the motor has entered a lock protection state.

The DRV11873EVM also has a jumper on the FR pin to select forward or reverse and a jumper on the FS pin to vary for high- or low-speed motor applications. Power can be provided externally, up to 16 V, through the power header. The PWM, RD, FG, and GND signals are all brought out to surface mounted test points.

The DRV11873EVM is configured so that connections to only the motor and power supply are required.

The DRV11873EVM uses a combination of headers for the application and monitoring of power. For the EVM, only a single power-supply rail is necessary. Minimum recommended Vin for the EVM is 5 V and maximum is 16 V. Please see the datasheet for the DRV11873 for complete voltage range information of the driver itself.

The overcurrent threshold setup pin sets the current limit for the device and is connected to a 3.3-kΩ resistor (R3) on the DRV11873EVM. This sets the current limit at 2 A for the DRV11873. This resistor can be replaced and a new current limit set using Equation 1. Please see the datasheet for the DRV11873 for more information on the overcurrent threshold setup pin.