Motor control with NXP microcontrollers

Electric motors drive motion in all kinds of applications, from washing machines and exercise treadmills to the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems in commercial buildings. The drawback is that they can consume quite a bit of energy. Refrigeration for homes and offices accounts for nearly 10% of the world's energy usage, and roughly 60% of all the electrical power generated in the US is consumed by electric motors.

Designers are using 32-bit MCUs to add sophisticated motor control to their systems, and thereby improving efficiency, reducing cost, and saving energy. In consumer appliances, for example, the trend is away from motors that cycle on and off (and require high starting torque) and more toward smaller, electrically-controlled motors that operate continuously, at a slower speed, and adapt their torque (and speed) to maintain the desired performance. These new, electrically-controlled motors save power and, as an added bonus, reduce maintenance and extend service life because they use fewer mechanical components.

Design challenges for electric motors include finding ways to improve accuracy, increase speed, reduce power consumption, limit electromagnetic interference (EMI), lower cost, and expand the number of tasks the system can perform. NXP's 32-bit ARM MCUs meet all of these challenges. They offer ample performance with integrated options specially tailored to motor control:

• All the ARM MCUs integrate general-purpose PWMs for basic motor control.
• Five families offer dedicated motor-control PWMs (LPC43xx, LPC18xx, LPC17xx, LPC32x0, LPC29xx).
• Four families offer a Quadrature Encoder Interface (QEI) for very accurate orientation, feedback, and control (LPC43xx, LPC18xx, LPC17xx, LPC29xx).
• Four families offer 6-channel PWMs for control of three-phase motors (LPC21xx, LPC22xx, LPC23xx, LPC24xx).
• Two families offer the proprietary State Configurable Timer (SCT) subsystem, which is comprised of a timer array with a state machine enabling complex functionality including event-controlled PWM waveform generation, ADC synchronization, and dead time control. This timer subsystem gives embedded designers increased flexibility to create user-defined waveforms and control signals (LPC43xx, LPC18xx).

Many of today's motor-control applications use 8- or 16-bit MCUs or DSPs. Designers looking to upgrade to 32-bit performance will find plenty of choices in NXP's portfolio. Our MCUs offer a range of motor-control options, in a wide variety of formats:

• Package sizes from 48 to 320 pins
• Memories from 8KB to 1MB of flash, with flashless options
• Clocks from 1kHz to 267MHz
• DSP capabilities with the LPC4300 Cortex-M4 series
• Integrated ADCs in 10- and 12-bit formats
• Built-in peripherals, including Ethernet, USB, LCD, and CAN

Below, are NXP's ARM MCUs featuring dedicated PWMs for motor control and Quadrature Encoder Interfaces (QEIs):

Product(s)	ARM Core	Motor Control PWM (# Channels)	Quadrature Encoder Interface	State Configurable Timer
LPC43xx	Cortex-M4	9
LPC18xx	Cortex-M3	9
LPC17xx	Cortex-M3	6
LPC32x0	ARM926EJ	9
LPC29xx	ARM968E-S	24

Click for datasheet. Click More... to access full product/package information.

• Refine These with the ARM Cortex-M3 Core MCUs Parametric Filter

Click for datasheet. Click More... to access full product/package information.

• Refine These with the ARM9 Core MCUs Parametric Filter

The LPCXpresso Motor Control Kit, developed in partnership with Embedded Artists, is ideal for prototyping your motor control project or when you wish to learn more about motor control. The board can be directly controlled by LPCXpresso LPC1114/LPC1343/LPC1768 target boards. With this universal platform, it is possible to control BLDC, BLAC, stepper, and dual-brushed DC motors. The kit comes with the LPCXpresso Motor Control Board, an LPCXpresso LPC1114 target board with LPC-Link JTAG (supported by the LPCXpresso IDE), a BLDC motor with hall sensors, and a 24V/60W power supply. The kit is available through NXP's distribution network.

• Embedded Artists LPCXpresso Motor Control Kit Multimedia Presentation

• Sample Code Bundle for LPC213x/LPC214x Peripherals using ARM's RealView (Mar 8, 2006)
• Sample Code Bundle for LPC213x/LPC214x Peripherals using Keil's μVision (Dec 18, 2008)
• Sample Code Bundle for LPC23xx/LPC24xx Peripherals using Keil's μVision V1.60 (Mar 10, 2009)
• TN0700x Sample Code V1.00 (Jun 22, 2007)

	Introduction to NXP's LPC4300 advanced peripherals Training Module: ARM Cortex-M4 based LPC4000 Family © November 2010; English; Ordering Code: Not Orderable
	Motor Control using NXP's LPC2900 © February 2009; English; Ordering Code: Not Orderable

• Microcontrollers USB Support
• Microcontrollers LCD Support
• Microcontrollers Ethernet Support

Software from NXP referenced on this page is provided AS-IS by NXP Semiconductors. NXP Semiconductors does not support or warrant the software contained herein for any purpose other than for informational use.

	Microcontrollers ARM selection guide NXP Microcontrollers Selection Guide © October 2011; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 17187
	Cortex-M microcontrollers selection guide Broaden your options © July 2011; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 17129
	Microcontrollers 8-bit selection guide The choice for embedded technologies © December 2010; English; Ordering Code: Not Orderable

	带以太网、USB、CAN和12位ADC的Cortex-M3微控制器 采用Cortex-M3™内核的100 MHz、32位LPC1700系列微控制器 © October 2009; Simplified Chinese; Ordering Code: Not Orderable
	带有USB、CAN、LIN、5V ADC和马达控制的ARM968微控制器 基于ARM968™内核的125 MHz、32位LPC2900系列微控制器 © October 2009; Simplified Chinese; Ordering Code: Not Orderable
	带有高达256-KB SRAM、以太网接口、USB接口和LCD控制器的ARM9微控制器 恩智浦 208-MHz、32-位ARM926EJ-S处理器LPC32x0系列 © March 2008; Simplified Chinese; Ordering Code: Not Orderable
	ARM9 MCUs with up to 256-KB SRAM, Ethernet, USB, and LCD controller NXP 266-MHz, 32-bit ARM926EJ-S processor LPC32x0 © August 2008; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 16605
	ARM968-based microcontrollers with USB, CAN, LIN, 5V ADC and Motor Control 125 MHz, 32-bit Microcontrollers with ARM968™ core, LPC2900 series © September 2008; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 16628
	Cortex-M3 based microcontrollers with Ethernet, USB, CAN and 12-bit ADC 120 MHz, 32-bit Microcontrollers with Cortex-M3™ core, LPC1700 series © December 2009; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 16846
	Fast time-to-market for motor control NXP LPCXpresso Motor Control Kit © September 2011; English; Ordering Code: 9397 750 17179