Project Milestones

Creating a Three-phase motor controller

LeafTech identified 4 major milestones for our project. Each one building upon the previous in order to provide the best result for our client.

ST Nucleo Board Testing

Controlling a small brushless DC motor with an STMicroelectronics development board. This small scale testing allowed us to gain an understanding of the switching signals required to run a larger motor.

1/4 Horsepower LabVolt Motor

Running a 1/4hp LabVolt motor with STmicroelectronics software, Nucleo and a TMC6200 Breakout Board. The Breakout board acted as a miniature scale version of the printed circuit board that we developed, and allowed for refining the motor control algorithm at the same voltage as we would get from the battery.

Printed Circuit Board design

Completing the printed circuit board was the third milestone. Every component was carefully selected to ensure we could run our high power motor without damaging the board.

Full Scale Motor Testing

Full scale motor testing began once the printed circuit board testing was complete. With our motor drawing over 100 Amps per phase, testing was a challenge to complete. We measured voltage, current, frequency and temperature to ensure that our motor controller operated as it was specified to do