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Silabs SimpleFOC motor control with BLE example

This repository contains the example application to demonstrate the SimpleFOC closed loop speed control operation with BLE communication. The application accepts BLE connection from a mobile phone and receives commands via Serial Profile Protocol (SPP).

Hardware requirements

Hardware Setup

Arduino Nano Matter

A dedicated interface board setup connecting the Motor - Power Stage - Nano Matter. Jump wires can be used as well to connect the boards.

hw_setup

Connect the Arduino Nano Matter board to the DRV8305EVM according to the board pin mapping (phase outputs, PWM inputs, and Hall sensor connections).

MC Wiring

Wiring Table: Arduino Nano Matter to BOOSTXL-DRV8305 & BLDC Motor

This table describes the connections between the Arduino Nano Matter, the TI BOOSTXL-DRV8305 driver board, and a 3-phase BLDC motor with Hall sensors.

From (Nano Matter Pin) To (DRV8305 BoosterPack Pin) BLDC MOTOR Function / Description
3.3V 3V3 HALL/ENC Supply* 3.3V Power; the BoosterPack provides 3.3V through an LDO
GND PowerSupply GND HALL/ENC sensor GND Common Ground
N/A PowerSupply 24V N/A Power supply for power stage 4.4 to 45 V, consider motor power
A0 ISENA N/A Phase A current sense
A1 ISENB N/A Phase B current sense
A2 ISENC N/A Phase C current sense
A3 VSENA N/A Phase A Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A4 VSENB N/A Phase B Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A5 VSENC N/A Phase C Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A6 VSENVPVDD N/A DC BUS Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A7 nFAULT N/A Fault indicator, specific FAULT status can be obtained through the status registers
D0 (MOSI1) SDI N/A DRV8305 SPI connection, configuration and status reading (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
D1 (MISO1) SDO N/A DRV8305 SPI connection, configuration and status reading (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
D2 (SCK1) SCLK N/A DRV8305 SPI clock, configuration and status reading (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
D3 (SS1) SCS N/A DRV8305 SPI chip select, configuration and status reading (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
D4 N/A HALL B or Encoder B Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
D5 N/A HALL A or Encoder A Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
D6 PWMHA N/A PWM Phase A High-Side Gate Signal
D7 PWMLA N/A PWM Phase A Low-Side Gate Signal
D8 PWMHB N/A PWM Phase B High-Side Gate Signal
D9 PWMLB N/A PWM Phase B Low-Side Gate Signal
D10 PWMHC N/A PWM Phase C High-Side Gate Signal
D11 PWMLC N/A PWM Phase C Low-Side Gate Signal
D12 ENGATE N/A Enable DRV8305 gate driver
D13 N/A HALL C or Encoder Index Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
N/A PHASE U PHASE U Motor phase connection
N/A PHASE V PHASE V Motor phase connection
N/A PHASE W PHASE W Motor phase connection

Important Notes:

  • Power: Ensure the DRV8305's PVDD and GVDD jumpers are correctly set for your motor's voltage. The power supply should be rated at least twice the motor’s nominal power. The BoosterPack can supply the Nano Matter if it is not connected to USB.
  • Rotor sensor: Some Encoder or Hall sensors might require 5V supply, ensure proper level shifting if required.
  • SPI: The SPI connection (nSCS, SPI_CLK, SPI_MOSI, SPI_MISO) is used to configure the DRV8305 driver IC (e.g., set gain, fault parameters). It is optional for the examples. The examples are using the default gate driver configuration. Only needed if you wish to change the default gate driver configuration (e.g., dead time, fault parameters).

SparkFun Thing Plus Matter

A dedicated interface board setup connecting the Motor - Power Stage - SparkFun Thing Plus Matter. Jump wires can be used as well to connect the boards.

hw_setup

Connect the SparkFun Thing Plus Matter board to the DRV8305EVM according to the board pin mapping (phase outputs, PWM inputs, and Hall sensor connections).

MC Wiring

Wiring Table: SparkFun Thing Plus Matter to BOOSTXL-DRV8305 & BLDC Motor

This table describes the connections between the SparkFun Thing Plus Matter, the TI BOOSTXL-DRV8305 driver board, and a 3-phase BLDC motor with Hall sensors.

From (SparkFun Thing Plus Matter) To (DRV8305 BoosterPack Pin) BLDC MOTOR Function / Description
3.3V 3V3 HALL/ENC Supply* 3.3V Power; the BoosterPack provides 3.3V through an LDO
GND PowerSupply GND HALL/ENC sensor GND Common Ground
N/A PowerSupply 24V N/A Power supply for power stage 4.4 to 45 V, consider motor power
A0 VSENC N/A Phase C Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A1 VSENB N/A Phase B Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A2 VSENA N/A Phase A Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A3 ISENC N/A Phase C current sense
A4 ISENB N/A Phase B current sense
A5 ISENA N/A Phase A current sense
A6 VSENVPVDD N/A DC BUS Voltage sense (Optional, not mandatory to run examples)
A7 N/A N/A N/A
A8 nFAULT N/A Fault indicator, specific FAULT status can be obtained through the status registers
D0 N/A HALL B or Encoder B Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
D1 N/A N/A N/A
D2 N/A N/A N/A
D3 N/A HALL A or Encoder A Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
D4 PWMHA N/A PWM Phase A High-Side Gate Signal
D5 PWMLA N/A PWM Phase A Low-Side Gate Signal
D6 PWMHB N/A PWM Phase B High-Side Gate Signal
D7 PWMLB N/A PWM Phase B Low-Side Gate Signal
D8 PWMHC N/A PWM Phase C High-Side Gate Signal
D9 PWMLC N/A PWM Phase C Low-Side Gate Signal
D10 ENGATE N/A Enable DRV8305 gate driver
D11 N/A HALL C or Encoder Index Motor sensor connection (Hall configuration in examples)
N/A PHASE U PHASE U Motor phase connection
N/A PHASE V PHASE V Motor phase connection
N/A PHASE W PHASE W Motor phase connection

Important Notes:

  • Power: Ensure the DRV8305's PVDD and GVDD jumpers are correctly set for your motor's voltage. The power supply should be rated at least twice the motor’s nominal power. The BoosterPack can supply the SparkFun Thing Plus Matter if it is not connected to USB.
  • Rotor sensor: Some Encoder or Hall sensors might require 5V supply, ensure proper level shifting if required.

Software Setup

Requirements

  1. Arduino IDE

  2. Silicon Labs Arduino Core

    • Open Boards Manager in Arduino IDE.

    • Search for Silicon Labs and install the latest version (2.3.0 or newer).

    • If not found, add this URL under Preferences → Additional Boards Manager URLs:

      https://siliconlabs.github.io/arduino/package_arduinosilabs_index.json

  3. SimpleFOC

    • Use SimpleFOC 2.3.6 or later
      • Note: At the time of writing the 2.3.6 version is not yet available. Use the development branch until the release. Development branch
      • Download the development branch as a zip.
      • Unzip the downloaded library and copy the library folder ("Arduino-FOC-dev" or similar) to the Arduino library folder. (Arduino/libraries)
      • In this case the steps below are not needed.
    • Open Library Manager in Arduino IDE.
    • Search and add Simple FOC library

  4. Silabs BLE Stack

    • In Arduino IDE go to "Tools/Protocol stack" and select BLE (Silabs)

  5. (Optional) SimpleFOC Studio or web viewer

Build

Build with Arduino IDE

  1. Open the .ino file in Arduino IDE.
  2. Select your Arduino Nano Matter or SparkFun Thing Plus Matter board.
  3. Verify (Compile).

Build with Arduino-CLI

There are multiple ways to build the project.

  • Use the build-all.sh to build the image for all the available boards
    • Note: "build-all.sh clean" removes all the build directories
  • Use the build.sh from the project folder (projects/efr32_ble_velocity_6pwm) to build the image for all the available boards
    • Note: You can build separate images with "build.sh nano_matter" or "build.sh thingplusmatter" commands
    • Note: You can remove the build directories with "clean.sh" script.

Build with Docker

  1. Install Docker: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/
  2. Build a docker image. (Default platform is x86_64, use "--platform=linux/amd64" if needed) 
       docker build -t efr32-ble-velocity-6pwm-build-env:latest .
  3. Run the docker image 
       docker run --rm -v .:/workspace efr32-ble-velocity-6pwm-build-env:latest /bin/bash -c "cd /workspace && bash build-all.sh"

Flash and Run

Arduino IDE

  1. Open the .ino file in Arduino IDE.
  2. Select your Arduino Nano Matter or SparkFun Thing Plus Matter board.
  3. Compile & upload.
  4. Open the Serial Monitor (115200 baud)
  5. (Optional) Connect with monitoring tools.
    1. Modification of the example code is necessary to enable monitoring feature. (Note: Monitoring decreases the performance)
    2. Enable Monitoring

Note: If step 3 was successful but nothing appears on the serial monitor the bootloader might be missing. Go to Tools and make sure OpenOCD is selected for the Programmer. To flash the bootloader use the Burn Bootloader option. After the process is done, continue with step 3.

Arduino-CLI

  1. (Optional) Setup udev rules to access openocd (Linux)
    • Add the following rule file to /etc/udev/rules.d/93-arduino.rules 
      SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2544", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0001", GROUP="plugdev", TAG+="uaccess"
    • Reload udev rules 
      sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger
  2. Program bootloader (target: SiliconLabs:silabs:nano_matter or SiliconLabs:silabs:thingplusmatter, port: serial port) 
       arduino-cli burn-bootloader -b <target> -p <port> --programmer openocd
  3. Upload sketch (target: SiliconLabs:silabs:nano_matter or SiliconLabs:silabs:thingplusmatter, port: serial port) 
        arduino-cli upload -b <target> --build-path "/path/to/build/" -p <port> --programmer openocd

Example Commands

Send commands to control the motor:

M50    # Run clockwise at 50 rad/s
M-50   # Run counter-clockwise at 50 rad/s
M0     # Stop motor

Commands can be sent via the serial or the BLE interface. The command structures are the same on both interfaces.

BLE Connection Setup

Scan for BLE devices using Simplicity Connect application. In the list of detected devices, identify the one named in the format motor_xxyyzz, where xxyyzz corresponds to a portion of the device's Bluetooth address. The figure on the side shows an example of scanning the device we tested. To establish a connection with the device, the user must click the Connect button.

ble_scan

The device details are displayed in the adjacent image. Users may rename the Service and Characteristic fields for easier identification. To begin sending commands, choose the Write option. To receive messages from the device, enable the Notify option.

ble_scan

The image below illustrates the screen after selecting the Write option. At this point, users can input commands, as presented above, to be transmitted to the device for execution. Note: Append the value 0x0A (LF) or 0x0D (CR) at the end of the line to terminate a CLI command.

ble_scan

References

Contributing

Please follow the CONTRIBUTING guideline.

License

See the LICENSE.md file for details.

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Reference design for a Bluetooth Low Energy motor control project

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