Sensorless Stepper Motors Driver ICs - AMIS-30521 and AMIS-30522

AMI Semiconductor announced AMIS-30521 and AMIS-30522 stepper motor drivers ICs. The new motor drivers eliminate the need for switches, flyback diodes, Hall sensors, and many passive components, reducing component count and cost in dynamic motion applications. Application of this stepper motor drivers ranging from headlamp positioning systems and surveillance cameras to automated pick-and-place systems, textile machines, vending machines and stage lights.

Guido Remmerie, AMIS, stated:

A growing number of processing, automotive, security, and building automation applications rely on stepper motors to deliver dynamic motion…

These new miniature stepper motor drivers allow designers to quickly and easily implement dynamic motion applications with minimum component count and the lowest possible BOM cost….

AMIS-30521 and AMIS-30522 stepper motor drivers feature two embedded H-bridges capable of driving two-phase stepper motors with currents up to 1600mA. Host microcontroller can monitor the speed and load angle to detect blocked rotor and end-of-run conditions without the need for additional optical encoders, switches or sensors. These functions allow the designer to program the microcontroller to calculate rotor position, adjust current or speed as required to prevent step loss, detect stall detection. As a result, vibration and noise can be eliminated and motion control accuracy and reliability can be improved

Each of stepper motor drivers  is designed as a companion chip to be used in conjunction with a host microcontroller or DSP. Each IC offers an SPI interface and can take full control of the translation of NXT 'next-step' input pulses to deliver the appropriate PWM outputs to the motor coils. In addition, the AMIS-30522 stepper motor driver  incorporates a 50mA voltage regulator and watchdog for the external microcontroller. Both devices offer micro-stepping from full step down to 1/32, including compensated and non-compensated half steps. Embedded current sensing functionality further reduces component count by eliminating requirements for external current sense resistors.

The new stepper motor driver is currently available in a NQFP package (7mm x 7mm). The small package make it feasible for direct mounting onto the stepper motor. Despite their small size, the devices offer a comprehensive set of additional features including diagnostics and protection against under/over voltage, over-current, open/shorted coils, and over-temperature conditions. In addition to saving board space, .

Price of AMIS-3052x stepper motor driver is $4.65 (€3,66) each for 1K units

More info: AMI Stepper Motors Driver ICs