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DC Motor Driver
Fundamentals

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TECHNICAL NOTE

INTRODUCTION

Electric motors have been with us since the early 19th commutator is a set of contacts attached to the armature shaft
century, when Hungarian physicist nyos Jedlik produced that keeps reversing the direction of current flow in the
the first continuously rotating DC motor, made possible by armature as it turns, thus ensuring that the motor continues
his invention of the commutator. By the early 20th century to turn.
electric motors revolutionized industry and agriculture and While motors are mechanically rather simple, the terms
made possible such labor saving consumer applications as that describe them can be confusing. In mechanical terms
washing machines and refrigerators. Today electric motors the rotating part of motor is called the rotor; the stationary
power everything from giant cruise ships to implantable part is the stator. In electrical terms the power producing
medical devices. part of the motor is called the armature; depending on the
There are many different types of motors, but they all design the armature can be either the rotor or the stator. The
contain three basic elements: an armature, a field magnet, field is a magnetic field component of the motor; again this
and a commutator. The armature is a conductive coil that in can be either the rotor or the stator and it can be either an
most cases is attached to a rotating shaft and surrounded by electromagnet or a permanent magnet. In general literature
a field magnet, which can be either a field winding or these terms are often used interchangeably, which can be
permanent magnets. Current passing through the armature confusing.
creates a magnetic field that is opposed to the field current, There are two basic types of DC motors: brushed and
resulting in an electromotive force (EMF) that causes the brushless, with subsets of each (Figure 1). Well discuss
shaft to rotate, generating mechanical torque. The each in turn.

Figure 1. Motor Components

BRUSHED DC MOTORS

The brushed DC motor is the simplest and the earliest more coils connected to a segmented commutator which is
electrical motor design. While it has a number of contacted by brushes connected to the DC power supply
disadvantages, is inexpensive and is still used widely for (Figure 2).
torque control and variable speed applications. DC power is conducted through the brushes and
The brushed DC motor consists of a few simple commutator, and the current through the coil creates
components: stationary stator composed of field coils a magnetic field. This field is opposite to the magnetic field
(wound field) or two hemispherical permanent magnets of the permanent magnets in the stator, causing the armature
(PM); an internal rotating armature consisting of two or to rotate. Mechanical commutation changes the direction of

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC, 2014 1 Publication Order Number:

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the current and a rotational motion is generated. With perform better. However, extreme drops in temperature can
a two-pole motor the commutator causes the current to potentially increase the viscosity of the lubricants, causing
reverse in direction every half cycle, causing the motor to the motor to run at a higher current.
continue to rotate.
The speed of the motor is directly proportional to the Wound-field Brushed DC Motors
voltage applied, while the torque is proportional to the There are two basic types of brushed DC motors: those
current. You control the speed of a brushed DC motor by whose stator consists of field coils and those that use
simply varying the voltage applied to it; to reverse it, just permanent magnets in the stator instead. There are three
reverse the polarity of the applied voltage; and to stop it turn types of wound-field coils (Figure 3):
off the voltage. Shunt wound, in which the field coils are connected in
parallel with the armature coils via the brushes
(Figure 3A);
Series wound, in which the field coils are in series with
the coils in the armature (Figure 3B); and
Hybrid, with separate field coils where one is in series
and the other is in parallel with the armature coils
(Figure 3C).
A B C

f f
M f M f M 1 2

Figure 2. Brushed PM DC Motor

Figure 3. Field Coils: (A) Shunt, (B) Series, (C) Hybrid
Brushed DC motors have some advantages over other
designs:
Brushed PM DC Motors
They are simple and inexpensive; Until the development of neodymium magnets brushed
They dont require complex drive electronics; permanent magnet (PM) DC motors were only able to
Their speed is a direct, linear function of the armature handle small loads. Today they are commonly used in fairly
voltage; large commercial and industrial applications and are
Because of their simplicity and low cost typically half dominant in fractional-horsepower applications. In
the cost of brushless DC motors of the same size commercial use since 1886 they are still the most commonly
design cycles are shortened. used DC motors in the world.

However, theyre not without some notable drawbacks: Driving Brushed DC Motors
The brushes tend to wear out because of continuous Driving brushed DC motors is straightforward in
friction. The brushes and springs need replacing from principle but not quite so simple in practice. For the simplest
small applications you can run the motor directly from
time to time;
a power source and use a potentiometer to control the speed
The commutator needs periodic cleaning or
and a switch to reverse its direction. If the motor is to be part
replacement; of an embedded application you need a driver IC and some
Arcing is ever present and causes EMI that can interfere control logic.
with nearby electronics; Figure 4 is a block diagram of ON Semiconductors
The rotors inertia may be an issue, and the commutator LB1938FA single-channel, forward/reverse brush motor
makes the motor larger than its brushless counterpart; driver IC that provides low-saturation outputs for use in
Heat generated by coil rotation is always an issue. low-voltage applications. The motor is driven by an H
bridge that is protected by spark killer diodes, since this is
The environment in which a brush DC motor is used can a brushed motor. The logic circuitry in the control block
also greatly affect the lifetime of the motor. Dry, warm determines the speed and direction of the motor as dictated
environments may increase the wear of the brushes and by the CPU. The LB1938FA provides forward, reverse,
quicken the breakdown of the commutator and bearings. brake, and standby modes controlled by two input signals.
Running a brush DC motor in a cooler environment along Its designed for use in notebook computers, digital cameras,
with external cooling by forced air may cause the motor to cell phones, and other portable equipment.

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C1 = 0.1 to 10 mF

VCC
1

IN1 60 kW
2

80 kW

CONTROL BLOCK
OUT1
7
CPU
M

IN2 60 kW
6
3
80 kW OUT2

S-GND
4

8
P-GND

Figure 4. Motor Components

BRUSHLESS DC MOTORS

Where brushed DC motors have a very long history, (ECMs) in contrast to mechanically commutative brushed
BLDC motors only came into their own in the 1960s. BLDC motors.
motors are considerably more efficient than brushed DC BLDC motors need sophisticated electronic control
motors; they last a lot longer; and they deliver more torque circuitry as well as some way to continuously determine the
per weight. position of the rotor. The position of the rotor can be
By moving the permanent magnets to the rotor and driving determined either by a Hall effect sensor or by measuring
the field coils with transistors you can eliminate the brushes changes in the back EMF (BEMF) at each of the armature
in DC motors along with their disadvantages (inrunner coils as the motor rotates.
configuration, the most common). Alternatively the Whereas the speed of brushed DC motors is determined
armature coils can form a fixed core with the permanent by the applied voltage, the speed of BLDC motors is
magnets revolving around them and driving the motor shaft determined by the frequency at which it is switched. The
(outrunner). In either case the coils are stationary. BLDC motors are driven by PWM pulses as shown in Figure 5.
motors are referred to as electronically commutative motors

Minimum Speed PWM Control Variable

Setting Rotation Speed Mode Full Speed Mode
VTH Voltage
2.5 V
RMI Voltage

CPWM
0.5 V

0V
ON
On Duty

OFF

Figure 5. PWM Drive for a BLDC Motor

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There are three basic types of BLDC motors: Single-phase BLDC Motors
single-phase, 2-phase, and 3-phase. The operating principle Single-phase BLDC motors consist of two parallel
in each case is the same. Instead of a mechanical commutator armature windings driven by an H bridge under PWM
changing the magnetic polarity of the rotor coils, transistors control. The output from a single Hall sensor continuously
continuously change the phase of the stator coils to keep the reverses the direction of the current flowing through the
motor rotating. Single-phase BLDC motors are found in armature coil, keeping the motor rotating (Figure 6).
low-power applications; 2-phase motors are more often Single-phase motors are simple to drive, requiring little
used in medium power ones. Three-phase BLDC motors are more than a single chip such as the LB11970RV
typically used to power disk drives and DVD players. Each single-phase full-wave driver and a few capacitors.
type has different characteristics that best suits it to
2-phase BLDC Motors
particular applications as shown in the Table 1.
Two-phase BLDC motors are slightly more complex. The
Table 1. BLDC MOTOR CHARACTERISTICS armature now consists of four coils and the field contains
four pairs of permanent magnets. The armature coils are
Single-phase 2-phase 3-phase
paired, giving 2-phase motors more torque than their
Cost Good Excellen Fair single-phase counterparts. Two-phase BLDC motors are
Silent Good Fair Excellent typically used in low-end non-critical applications such
Efficiency Good Fair Excellent large cooling fans, so they can dispense with sophisticated
control circuitry in place of bipolar transistors and
constant-voltage, constant-current drivers. As a result
2-phase BLDC motors are stronger and cheaper, if noisier
and less efficient, than other BLDC architectures. The
ON Semiconductor LB1868M is a good example of
a 2-phase BLDC fan motor driver.

Figure 6. Single-phase BLDC Motor Control

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3-phase BLDC Motors sensors are typically placed on alternate stator coils that
With 3-phase BLDC motors there are six commutation respond to the passage of the rotating permanent magnets on
states affecting three sets of armature coils. Three Hall the rotor (Figure 7).

Figure 7. 3-phase BLDC Motor

Figure 8 shows how information from the Hall sensors is BLDC motor is pulsed more frequently than a single-phase
used to control the current going to the motor. The output motor, the motor displays less vibration and be controlled
from the Hall sensors drives logic circuitry that determines more precisely. ON Semiconductors LB1976 is 3-phase
the switching timing; this is then passed through gate drivers brushless motor driver utilizing Hall sensors.
to the power transistors that drive the motor. Since a 3-phase

Figure 8. 3-phase BLDC Motor Drive with Hall Sensors

It is also possible to control a 3-phase BLDC motor comparators to determine the phase of each winding; others
without the use of sensors by determining the BEMF signal require the use of an external MCU. ON Semiconductors
from each coil as shown in Figure 9. This is accomplished LB11983 3-phase sensorless motor driver IC integrates
by comparing the motors induction voltage with the rotor position detection with startup, timing, switching,
midpoint of the voltage to each of the three coils. The results thermal shutdown, and saturation control without the need
of this feedback is amplified, fed into a rotor position for MCU control. For more complex circuits other drivers
detection circuit, and each of the three sets of coils is then may outsource motor speed and acceleration to an MCU.
pulsed 120 degrees apart. Some controllers use simple

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Figure 9. 3-phase Sensorless BLDC Motor Drive

BLDC circuits relying on BEMF to determine rotor In this case they will typically start the motor from an
position have a problem at startup when there is no BEMF. unknown position and quickly get it operating in phase.

STEPPER MOTORS

Not all applications require the motor to rotate freely; There are three basic types of stepper motors: permanent
stepper motors advance the rotor in finite increments and magnet, variable reluctance, and hybrid.
want the shaft to stay fixed until moved again. They have no Permanent magnet stepper motors use permanent
brushes or contacts; they are synchronous DC motors with magnets for rotors and laminated steel stators. These
magnetic fields electronically switched to rotate the are the lowest resolution steppers.
armature magnet around, converting digital pulses into Variable reluctance steppers offer high resolution but
mechanical shaft rotation. They are the mechanical exhibit no detent torque; they are rarely used anymore.
equivalent of DACs, converting digital steps into analog
angular displacement.
Hybrid steppers combine high-resolution of variable
reluctance with the detent torque available and
A stepper is a synchronous DC motor that divides a full
rotation into a discrete number of steps; the number of steps permanent magnet stepper motors. They might be
or phases is equal to the number of electromagnets considered the best of both worlds.
arranged around a central gear shaped core (Figure 10). By Two-phase stepper motors are the most commonly used
controlling the current to these magnets the motor can be configuration. They come with two types of windings
turned by precise angle. unifilar and bifilar:
Unifilar steppers have two windings per phase. Theyre
difficult to drive because the coil current direction
needs to be reversed; and one drawback is that only half
the number of windings are energized at any time.
Stepper motors with a unifilar winding have 4-5 lead
wires.
Bifilar steppers have one winding per phase. This gives
them a size and weight advantage compared to unifilar
motors since the amount of copper in the winding is
roughly half the size. They are easy to drive because
there is no need to change the current direction in the
windings. This configuration simplifies transferring
current from one coil to another. Stepper motors with
a bifilar winding have 6-8 lead wires.
Figure 10. Hybrid Stepper Motor

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M M M

(a) (b)

Figure 11. Unifilar (a) vs. Bifilar (b) Wings

Driving Stepper Motors case closed loop control is highly desirable in contrast to
Stepper motors are typically driven by H bridges, one per open loop absolute positioning based on counting steps.
winding, with the output being under PWM control. The Finally, adaptive speed control enables stepper motor to
rotation angle is proportional to the number of pulses, and close the valve as quickly as possible despite the fact that the
the rotational speed is proportional to the frequency of the load may increase as it closes; this is made possible by
pulses. sensing the increase in BEMF and increasing the frequency
Stepper motor applications are typically more stringent of the pulses to the motor accordingly.
than those for continuously rotating motors, so tighter The ON Semiconductor AMIS-30624 (Figure 12) is
control is necessary. Stepper motors move from step to step a single-chip micro-stepping motor driver that incorporates
by alternatively turning electromagnets on off in sync; this the features mentioned above. The position controller is
revolves the rotor around the stator tooth by tooth or configurable for different motor types, positioning ranges,
step-by-step. By going full steps this can cause noise and and parameters for speed, acceleration, and deceleration.
vibration and possibly overshoot and skip steps (step-out), Integrated sensorless stall detection stops the motor when
losing awareness of position. Micro-stepping addresses that running into a stall; this enables silent yet accurate position
issue, energizing the windings together in such a way that the calibrations during a referencing run and allows semi-closed
rotor moves through several sub-positions or micro-steps loop operation when approaching mechanical and stops.
for each step. Targeted for small positioning applications in the
If an action such as quickly closing a valve requires the automotive, industrial, and building automation markets,
stepper motor to traverse numerous steps, then both stall the AMIS-30624 incorporates both high-voltage analog
detection and in stop detection become important. In this circuitry and digital functionality on the same chip.

Figure 12. AMIS-30625-D Block Diagram

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Advantages and Disadvantages On the other hand obtaining these advantages involves
Like any other mechanical or electronic device stepper some trade-offs:
motors have both advantages and disadvantages. Among the If control is not optimized step-out may occur;
advantages are: Vibration and noise can be problematic;
Position and speed are subject to open-loop control; Theyre not as efficient as other BLDC motors.
They are easily controllable by a digital signal from an
MCU; The application will of course dictate whether or not
They are highly durable, without brushes or a stepper motor is indicated; if so the proper choice of motor
commutators. driver can alleviate or even effectively eliminate any
potential problems.

SELECTING MOTOR DRIVERS

As with any other design choosing a motor driver is best To select a BLDC motor driver you need to consider the
done using a top-down approach. First ask yourself: following questions:
1. What is the intended application and purpose? 1. Is speed control by an external signal required?
2. What is the most appropriate type of motor If yes, what is the method of speed control by
single phase, 3-phase, 3-phase sensorless, stepper, thermistor, voltage, or direct PWM?
DC brush, etc.? 2. What does the customer request for an output
3. What is the range of supply voltages? signal? The rotation detector (RD) signal is the
4. What is the output or drive current? error signal when the motor is locked. The
frequency generator (FG) signal outputs the
Besides the range of supply voltage and output current rotation count of a rotor.
you need to answer a few more questions before deciding on 3. What other functionality is requested current
the appropriate type of motor for your intended application: limit control, Hall bias control, lock protection,
etc.?
To select a brushed DC motor driver you need to
determine:
1. First, find out whether speed control, or fixed
forward/reverse drive is required. If yes, what is
the method of speed control by thermistor,
voltage, or direct PWM?
2. What is motor driver power? Is it integrated or
pre-drive type?
3. What are additional features fault protection or
current sense method?

Figure 14. Selecting a BLDC or Stepper Motor Driver

To select a stepper motor driver you need to know:

1. What is the micro-step resolution 1/2 step,
1/4 step, 1/8 step, etc.?
2. What is the control input type parallel, clock,
serial, I2C, etc.?
3. What other functionality is requested
over-current protection, power saving, TSD, set
Figure 13. Selecting a Brushed Motor Driver current software function, warning output, etc.?

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Once youve clarified your needs and outlined your which features hundreds of motor drivers, at least one of
parameters, you can do a parametric search for motor drivers which is likely to suit any given application.
on ON Semiconductors website at www.onsemi.com,

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