H-Bridge 6 Click is a compact add-on board that contains a DC motor driver for automotive applications. This board features the VNHD7008AY, an H-bridge motor driver for automotive DC motor driving from STMicroelectronics. The VNHD7008AY, features an undervoltage shutdown, load current limitation, overload active power limitation, overtemperature shutdown, and more. This Click board™ also contains the PCA9538A, a low-voltage 8-bit GPIO expander for communication between MCU and motor driver. H-Bridge 6 Click is suitable for automotive motor control applications like automotive brushed DC motor, or in applications such as body control module (BCM), car-seat control, and others.

H-Bridge 6 Click is supported by a mikroSDK compliant library, which includes functions that simplify software development.

H-Bridge 6 Click is based on the VNHD7008AY, a DC motor driver for automotive applications that integrates a full protected dual high-side driver and protection for the external power MOSFETs from STMicroelectronics. This Click board™ can interface the MCU to select the motor direction and the brake conditions via input signals on INA and INB pins, but also possesses a MultiSense pin for a motor-current monitor. Two selection pins (SEL0 and SEL1) are available to address to the MCU the information available on the MultiSense pin. It operates from a single power supply input labeled as VBATT in a range from 4V to 28V which can be directly connected to a DC voltage supply. Also, this device is fully protected against supply under-voltage, output overcurrent, and device overtemperature events.

NOTE: To Power-On the VNHD7008AY from Stand-By Mode, it is recommended to toggle INA or INB or SEL0 or SEL1 pins from 0 to 1 state to come out from Stand-By Mode. Also, toggle the PWM pin from 0 to 1 state with a delay of 20μs to avoids any overstress on the device in case of an existing short-to-battery situation.

H-Bridge 6 Click communicates with MCU through a well-known 8bit I/O expander the PCA9538A from NXP Semiconductor using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface with a maximum frequency of 400kHz. The VNHD7008AY also allows the choice of the least significant bit (LSB) of its I2C peripheral address by positioning SMD jumpers labeled as ADDR SEL to an appropriate position marked as 0 and 1. In addition to this feature, this Click board™ also contains additional functionalities routed to the PWM, AN, and RST pins on the mikroBUS™ socket. The PWM pin, up to 20 kHz, allows to control of the speed of the motor in all possible conditions, whiles the AN pin labeled as MS allows monitoring the motor current, provides a voltage proportional to the battery value, and the information on the temperature of the VNHD7008AY. The RST pin has retained its reset function by default.

This Click board™ is designed to be operated with both 3.3V and 5V logic voltage levels that can be selected via VCC SEL jumper. This allows for both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs to use the I2C communication lines properly. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library that contains easy to use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

• Interface: I²C, PWM
• Compatibility: mikroBUS™
• Dimensions: 57.15 x 25.4mm
• Input Voltage: 3.3V or 5V
• Supply Voltage: Min. 4V, Max. 28V
• Maximum Output Current: Internally Limited
• Operating Temperature Range: Min. -40°C, Max. +150°C

• Schematic
• PCA9538A Datasheet
• VNHD7008AY Datasheet
• mikroSDK
• GitHub