MC33887 Motor Driver

Support Motor controllers/drivers and motors
1

Dear All,

I have a Pittman GM9413-4 Gearmotor that I would like to control. It has a max current draw of 1.44A. I originally wanted to have PWM control for the speed…but the motor runs very slowly (13 RPM with no load), so I don’t think this is necessary.

However, I do want a controller where I can specify the direction from a PLC. I also would like current sensing so I can tell if the motor is stalling or not.

I have been looking at the MC33887 Motor Driver Carrier and I believe it will work for me. I will be controlling it from a PLC. It looks like I will need a 5V and 12V line for the control logic and motor. I will also need PLC outputs for IN1 and IN2. How exactly is the direction chosen? If one is HIGH and the other is LOW it will go that direction?

Also, it says D1 and D2 can disable the motor driver. If I want to stop/start the motor from the PLC do I need to change both these pins? Or can I leave one HIGH and just change one of them.

It looks like I can leave the FS pin disconnected and EN needs 5V. The current feedback can go straight to my analog input at the PLC. Hopefully I am getting the wiring correct.

Thanks.

2

Hello, Leonhart.

It sounds like the MC33887 will work for you. I recommend you also consider the MC33926, for which we also have a carrier board. The MC33926 is the direct replacement for the MC33887 that is better in almost every way. It adds a invert pin which lets you control a motor with only two digital logic pins and has a wider acceptable logic voltage range. It is also a newer part, so it probably has less chance of being discontinued in the near future. I think our documentation for the part on its product page is a little better too.

To answer your control questions, I recommend looking at the truth table in the datasheet for the driver chip. This truth table explains what will happen when the inputs are at different states.

- Ryan