The STSPIN Smart Actuator reference design integrates motor control, sensors and edge artificial intelligence

     STMicroelectronics' EVLSPIN32G4-ACT Edge AI Motor driver reference design is based on the STSPIN32G4 intelligent three-phase motor driver, which reduces the development difficulty of intelligent actuators. St's wireless industrial sensor node, the STWIN.box(STEVAL-STWINBX1), integrates motor control, real-time analysis of environmental data and iot connectivity. These two circuit boards can be directly interconnected to speed up system development.

     EVLSPIN32G4-ACT integrates motor control system innovation with data science and its applications to achieve breakthroughs in motor control performance, ensuring both environmental protection and profitability. STWIN.box's high-quality sensors capture the status information of the actuator engine, while high-speed data logging capabilities help create advanced solutions based on edge AI and machine learning. Environmental data and control data integration can show system engineers exactly how an application is performing, help identify anomalies, and enable data-driven algorithms to provide troubleshooting and performance optimization guidance.

     The STSPIN32G4 integrates a smart gate driver with power management capabilities and the STM32G4 microcontroller (MCU). The development kit also includes a 48V/5A three-phase motor inverter stage, as well as software for connecting sensor modules and application development software to help users create autonomous mechanisms capable of intelligently responding to events such as temperature changes, air pressure, sound, motion, ultrasonic signals, and more.

     The STSPIN32G4 motor driver enables IoT and IIoT devices to achieve compact installation space and low power consumption. Target applications include factory and building automation systems, servo drives, and domestic and industrial robots. The STM32G431 embedded MCU has peripherals for controlling three-phase BLDC motors, including four ultra-fast comparators, three operational amplifiers, and two sets of advanced PWM timers and 12-bit ADCs. The device also includes a bootstrap diode, a DC/DC converter, and a low-voltage drop regulator that converts motor power into a power rail that powers the gate driver and MCU without the need for an external circuit.

     The EVLSPIN32G4-ACT can drive 12V, 24V, 36V or 48V motors up to 250W. Electrical protection features such as overheat, undervoltage, overvoltage and overcurrent are available to help application designs achieve lower material costs and smaller sizes. Users can choose from six-step or vector control (FOC), sensorless or sensorless rotor position detection, and three-shunt resistance or single-SHunt resistance current measurement.

     The STWIN.box module can be directly connected to the driver board to power on. The sensor node includes the STM32U5 ultra-low power microcontroller, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC transceivers, as well as a variety of industrial-grade ST MEMS sensors, including, Also on the board is an additional high-performance accelerometer, a 6kHz bandwidth three-axis digital vibration sensor, and a high-precision two-axis inclinometer with a built-in MLC core. Onboard environmental sensors include digital barometers and I²C/SMBus temperature sensors. There are also digital and analog MEMS microphones on the board to capture audio and ultrasound, respectively.

     Software includes data logging firmware and software kits, Bluetooth Low Energy applications, and Python software development kits (SDKS). These software components can be easily integrated into typical data science workflows, making it easy for data scientists to design edge AI and machine learning solutions. The High-speed Data Logger (FP-IND-DATALOGMC) supports real-time monitoring and is able to capture and label high-resolution, time-stamped data sets composed of motion control algorithm data and external sensor data.

     The reference design utilizes the described features and complete supporting software to integrate ST sensors and three-phase motor drive technology to bring edge AI to motion control applications. Users can place AI close to the main motion controller, creating devices with intelligence and decision-making capabilities, enabling industrial automation, smart appliances, and all applications requiring intelligent drive to process data and perform actions faster and more efficiently.