A Small-Scale CAN-Based PM BLDC Motor Control for Automotive Accessory Electrification and Electric Traction

Abstract

This paper presents the development of an experimental platform to test a real-time controller for a small Permanent Magnetic Brushless Direct Current (PM BLDC) motor using a Controller Area Network (CAN) communication bus. The CAN communication bus transmits and receives information between modules to control the speed, acceleration/deceleration, and rotational direction of the motor. The design consists of five major hardware components: single chip microcontroller, three module boards, PM BLDC motor, logic-input quad driver, and a power logic level gate driver. Microcontroller software is developed to perform eight major functions: controller initialization, service interrupt generation, switch, display, power converter, CAN communication, pulse width modulation control, and actual motor speed measurement. The motivation of this work is to acquire a better understanding of the PM BLDC motor control and CAN system in a laboratory setting. This work is important because electric drivetrain, accessory electrification, and the CAN communication system are key elements in electric and hybrid electric vehicles.