MECHATRONICS LAB

ME 140L
DC MOTORS

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/elemag.html
http://www.physclips.unsw.edu.au/jw/electricmotors.html#ACmotors

I. INTRODUCTION TO ELECTROMAGNETISM
A. Conventional Current Flow versus Electron Flow

B. Permanent Magnets: Magnetic Fields and Flux

Magnetic fields are produced by electric currents in a conductor

Permanent Magnets: (microscopic currents) magnetic fields are

represented by "lines of flux"—drawn from N-pole to S-pole

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B. Electromagnets: Magnetic Fields and Flux
Current in a wire generates a magnetic field B
(concentric lines of magnetic flux) around the
wire—right-hand rule with thumb in the direction
of conventional current.

Coiled wire: flux lines form one large

magnetic field >>field around a straight
conductor

Iron core at the cener of the coiled

wire increases strength of magnetic
field (by orders of magnitude).

Iron core has less resistance to the

lines of flux than air.

Electromagnet: coil of wire with

a steel core.

Basis for electric motors:

Reversing the direction of current in
an electromagnet switches the
polarity of the magnetic field.

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C. Electromagnetic Laws

1. Coulomb’s Law (18th century): Charges attract/repel

Electric force on positively-charged particles: directly proportional to the

product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them.

where ε0 = permittivity of space

2. Lorentz Force Law (19th Century): forces from magnetic and electric
fields on moving positive charge

Electric force: in the direction of the electric field for positive charge q.
Magnetic force: perpendicular to plane containing the velocity v of the
positive charge q and the magnetic field B (cross product)
F = qvB sinθ
where θ is the angle between the velocity and the magnetic field.

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3. Faraday's Law (19th Century): electric potential
Change in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire causes an
electromotive force (emf) to be ‘induced’ in the coil.
emf: not a force but a voltage (represents energy per unit charge) —but
the term emf is retained for historical reasons.
emf voltage is proportional to the rotation speed and the current is
proportional to the torque generated: if linear → V = K1 Ω and i = K 2 τ

Emf (voltage) can be induced in three ways:

• Change the number of magnetic lines enclosed by a stationary loop
or coil—Transformer
• Move a conductor across a stationary magnetic field—DC
generator
• Move magnetic field across a stationary conductor—AC generator

COIL/CONDUCTOR
Induced emf across a coil is proportional to the time rate of change of
magnetic flux enclosed by the coil.
Induced emf between the ends of a conductor is proportional to the time rate
at which magnetic flux is cut by the conductor.

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INTRODUCTION TO DC MOTORS
From Introduction to Electromagnetism
• Polarity of electromagnet changes with change in polarity of applied
voltage
• Interacting magnetic fields on charges produce forces (Lorentz)
• Changing magnetic fields produce electromotive force (emf voltage)
that is proportional to the time rate of change of magnetic flux
(Faraday)
Basic Operation of DC Motors
Brushless DC Motor: consider two stationary stator electromagnets (EM)
and one rotating rotor/armature permanent magnet (PM) as a simple motor
• Use current to make EM1 create a north pole and EM2 a south pole.
In Fig. A, the PM poles are located near their like poles of the EMs
(N-N, S-S). From Coulomb’s law, like magnetic poles repel each
other, causing the PM to turn.
• After rotating, the force of attraction between the unlike poles keeps
the PM rotating. The rotating magnet continues to turn until the unlike
poles are lined up (Fig. B).
• Now reverse the direction of currents in the EMs (using Hall-effect
sensors as a switch) to reverse the polarity of the two EM coils, then
the poles would again be opposites and repel each other. (Fig.C).

Brushed DC Motor: consider two stationary stator permanent magnets (PM)

and one rotating rotor/armature electromagnet (EM)—must be able to change
polarity of rotating electromagnet.

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A. Brushed DC Motor (armature switches polarity)

• Rotating electromagnet rotor (armature)

Polarity must be changed: Commutator with brushes does switching
• Stationary permanent-magnet stator

See animation: http://www.physclips.unsw.edu.au/jw/electricmotors.html#ACmotors

Principle of Operation
Consider a motor with only one armature conductor (half of conductor is
black, other half is white) connected to two sides of a commutator (split
cylinder).
Position 1—white half connected to+ terminal of applied DC voltage.
Holes (+charge) flow from the white half and towards the black half
(opposite to arrow shown in diagram which shows electron flow)
Lorentz: Force on + charge is cross product of velocity & magnetic
field—white half force down, black side force up—rotates
Faraday: emf is induced in conductor moving in magnetic field (min.
enclosed flux but max dΦ/dt)

Position 2—conductor rotated 90o and is short-circuited by the brush

spanning the two adjacent commutator segments.
Lorentz: No torque since rXF=0 (sinθ=0)
Faraday: Conductor field (right-hand-rule) is lined up with the main
field from permanent magnets—emf is zero in conductor (max.
enclosed flux but min dΦ/dt)

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Position 3—holes flow from the black half and toward the white half.
Current reversal in the conductor—known as commutation.
Lorentz: forces black half down, white side up.
Faraday: emf is induced in wire

For one armature armature, when the conductor is perpendicular to the

magnetic field, there is no induced emf, and the emf slowly increases as the
conductor turns toward horizontal (maximum emf).

For a two conductor armature—the emf produced will be more ‘uniform’ in

strength—recall that V = K1 Ω

With multiple armature conductors, the emf produced would be very

uniform in strength to be proportional to angular speed.

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Construction of Brushed DC Motor

Control of DC Motor
Note: commutator takes care of switching to rotate the motor but how do we
change direction of rotation?
1. Control Direction of Rotation: H-bridge
H-Bridge: array of four switches/relays that control the flow of current to the
motor. By altering the combinations of these four switches, the voltage
(polarity) across the motor can be changed, and therefore control of the
direction of current flow and rotation of the motor.
• If switches A and D are closed, the motor is connected to the voltage
supply and rotates the motor in one direction.

Switches A and D closed—motor rotates in one direction

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 • If switches A and D are open and switches B and C are closed, the
voltage across the motor is switched around (polarity changed)—
motor rotates in opposite direction.

Switches B and C closed—motor rotates in opposite direction

2. Semiconductor H-bridges

Use BJT or Field Effect

Transistors (FETs) as switches.

The positive (high side) drivers are

current "sources": pnp transistors
and p-channel FETs are ideal.

The negative (low side) drivers are

current "sinks": npn transistors and
n-channel FETs are ideal.

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3. Control Speed: Pulse-Width Modulation

Question: Instead of having a variable voltage source to change motor

speeds, can we use a constant voltage source?

Answer: Switch the constant power source to the motor on-and-off very
quickly (1kHz-200kHz) so that the fraction of time that it is ‘on’ (average
power) can vary the motor speed and smoothly (due to inertia of motor and
high frequency switching).

• Pulse-width modulation (PWM) modulates the duty cycle (amount of

time power on) of a square wave to control the amount of power sent
to the motor—series of on and off pulses
• PWM uses counters to digitally encode an analog signal to determine
the duration of the duty cycle.
• The PWM signal considered digital because, at any given instant of
time, the full DC supply is either fully on or fully off.
• Given a sufficient bandwidth, any analog value can be encoded with
PWM. Common modulating frequencies range from 1 kHz to 200
kHz.

Three different PWM output signals are shown below:

a) 10% (on for 10% of the period, off the other 90%), b) 50% and c) 90%
PWM outputs encode three different analog signal values, at 10%, 50%, and
90% of the full strength.
Example, for a 12V supply and duty cycle of 10%, an average 1.2V analog
signal results.

PWM signals of varying duty cycles

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B. Brushless DC Motor (stator switches polarity)
Construction: Brushless DC Motors

• Stationary wound electromagnet stator (can be inside or outside

rotor)
• Rotating permanent-magnet rotor (armature)

Note: reverse arrangement compared to brush motors—no need for a

commutator and brushes

BUT must change polarity in the stationary stator electromagnets—an

intelligent solid state electronic controller does the sequencing

Note differences in number of stator pole windings

Switching Polarity of Stator Coils: Hall-effect sensors

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• The built-in sensors (typically three) detect the position of the rotor
magnetic field and are mounted such that they each generate a square
wave with 120 degree phase difference over one cycle of the motor.
• The amplifier drives two of the three motor phases with DC current
during each specific Hall sensor state.

Hall sensor-based commutation

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Appendices: H-bridge/PWM on ICs and in Controllers

Allegro A3995
DMOS Dual Full Bridge PWM Motor Driver

Features
ƒ 36 V output rating
ƒ 2.4 A dc motor driver
ƒ Synchronous rectification
ƒ Internal undervoltage lockout (UVLO)
ƒ Thermal shutdown circuitry
ƒ Crossover-current protection
ƒ Very thin profile QFN package

Description

The A3995 is designed to drive two dc motors at currents up to 2.4 A. Capable of drive
voltages up to 36 V, the A3995 includes two independent fixed off-time PWM current
regulators that operate in either fast or slow decay mode, as determined by the MODE
input. Internal synchronous rectification control circuitry is provided to improve power
dissipation during PWM operation.

Protection features include: thermal shutdown with hysteresis, undervoltage lockout

(UVLO) and crossover current protection. Special power-up sequencing is not required.

The A3995 is supplied in a 36 pin QFN package (suffix EV) with exposed power tab for
enhanced thermal performance. It has a 6 mm × 6 mm footprint, with a nominal overall
package height of 0.90 mm, and is lead (Pb) free, with 100% matte tin leadframe plating.

Functional Block Diagram

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