Designed for fast, easy, and high-precision motor control, NXP’s LPC1500 MCU series can control sensored and sensorless motors. It also can control more than one motor at once.
The MCUs are designed for brushless dc (BLDC) motors, permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), and ac induction motors (ACIMs) commonly found in products such as large home appliances, HVAC, industrial pumps, and generators. They are also well suited for industrial applications requiring high-precision data sampling and real-time control, such as digital power and instrumentation.
Based on ARM’s Cortex-M3 processor, the LC1500 series includes two 12-bit, 12-channel, 2-Msample/s analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs), four comparators (for fast-response over-current/voltage monitoring and protection), and four flexible SCTimer/pulse-width modulation (PWM) timers to provide up to 28 PWM channels in a tightly coupled analogue and timing subsystem. An on-chip quadrature encoder interface (QEI) is included too.
The devices come with efficient firmware for motor control and easy GUI-based tuning tools. Available reference design kits include baseboards, motors, and the company’s free firmware for PMSM (sensored and sensorless) and sensored BDLC motors.