H-Bridge 7 Click Board™

How Does The H-Bridge 7 Click Board™ Work?

The H-Bridge 7 Click Board™ uses the DRV8876N IC, N-channel H-bridge motor driver from Texas Instruments, that operates from a supply voltage of 4.5V to 37V supporting a wide range of output load currents for various types of motors and loads. This device integrates an H-bridge output power stage that can be operated in control modes that is set by the PMODE pin setting. The device also integrates a charge pump regulator to support more efficient high-side N-channel MOSFETs and 100% duty cycle operation. The device operates from a single power supply input (VM) which can be directly connected to a battery or DC voltage supply. The nSLEEP pin (nSL pin on the mikroBUS™) provides an ultra-low power mode to minimize current draw during system inactivity. Also, this device is fully protected against supply undervoltage, charge pump undervoltage, output overcurrent, and device overtemperature events.

The H-Bridge 7 Click Board™ support different control schemes with the EN/IN1 and PH/IN2 pins. The control mode is selected through the PMODE pin with either logic low, logic high, or setting the pin Hi-Z (in this case PMODE is on the logic low level which means that the device is latched into PH/EN mode). PH/EN mode allows for the H-bridge to be controlled with a speed and direction type of interface.

In this configuration, Click board™ drives a bidirectional current through an external load (such as a brushed DC motor), and the H-bridge polarity and duty cycle are controlled with a PWM and IO resource from the external controller to the EN/IN1 and PH/IN2 pins. The device is then configured for the PH/EN control mode by tying the PMODE pin to GND. Some applications of DRV8876N includes brushed DC motors, solenoids, and actuators, but also can be utilized to drive many common passive loads such as LEDs, resistive elements, relays, etc.

An onboard SMD jumper, labelled as VCC SEL is used to set the voltage levels for the EN/IN1, PH/IN2, nFAULT, and nSLEEP pins of the DRV8876N. It allows for both 3.3V and 5V MCUs to be interfaced with the H-Bridge 7 Click Board™. More information about the DRV8876N can be found in the attached datasheet. However, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library that contains easy to use functions and a usage example that may be used as a reference for the development.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on H-Bridge 7 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Onboard settings and indicators

Maximum Ratings (Limiting Conditions)