HPMhb-150A (high power h-bridge)

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to make you change anything, in fact I posted that I would prefer the Attiny as well. I have all the respect for everyone here contributing, especially projects like this one. All I wanted is to bring up an alternative method to do the same task. I didn't know that its already done and a functional part.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted!

@Frakk,

We used Attiny45 chip to reduce as much the required space on the board... !!! The whole watchdog circuit is nothing else but the Attiny45 itself ( a small DIP8 part !!).




If we did it with common comparator methods, we would need 4 - 6 times more space to do something nearly accurate as it is now...


We kept it simple and yet versatile...! :thbup:

Thanos

Some issues have been resolved and the full 16 MOSFET are soldered in. Testing without and with heatsinks tomorrow, hopefully no smoke and fumes!

R-eng

Man i cant wait to build this Pcb it look the business, its gonna be the answer a lot of my Driver options Cheers Guys

Just did a test of the HPMhb-150A running several minutes in rapid back-forth switching of the wiper motor, which unloaded can draw up to 7A under those conditions. The ambient temperature was 30'C, and the max I measured was 32'C at the primary MOSFETs and the heatsink sides. This with no fan attached.

Compared to what was occurring previously to this stage, the is the much hoped for success. :rofl: Now for some extended tests with various voltages, and then running the motors on my sim.

R-eng

Another extended test at 18.5V, this for 7 minutes duration applying very rapid motor direction reversals. The temps once again stabilized at 3-4'C above ambient. Then 2 minutes at 12.4V, and finally 4 minutes at 24.8V (125Ahr batteries).

The last test at 24V had an interesting, and at first disturbing result. At the 4 minute mark all of a sudden, the motor stopped, and I quickly disengaged power. The temps on the MOSFET/heatsinks/HIP driver were all at a few degrees above ambient...WTF! Check the 10A fuse...good. Reconnect and still the motor would not turn, but the LEDs on the output were functioning, so the HIP could not be damaged. Then after a couple of minutes elapsed I touched the motor and it was quite hot. I checked the temp and it was at 38'C. What could have been the peak temp when the motor shut down? These wiper motors have electronics internally doing I don't know what. Perhaps including thermal shutdown, which obviously occurred since they are 12V being driven at nearly 25V...not what they were designed for. I hooked up the second (same model) motor, and voila! it worked normally.

Well, this tells me that even though there was a malfunction at the motor, this did not damage any part of the HPMhb-150A. I still do not have the thermal and current protections active, so this I can consider a very positive result, even if it caused a temporary concern.

After the motor cooled sufficiently, it still would not run, so obviously the internal circuits it has, are damaged in some way. Good excuse to tear them out and see if the motor itself is still good...should be.

I think it is time to activate the thermal and current features from here on out.

R-eng

Hi
Meaby a silly question:i have found cheap 48v pmdc servo motors but they have'nt enuff cont.stall torque ,they ask 25 amp max.
will it be possible to couple 3 motors together and run them on one port
regards Ad

Something cool... My adapter for the ATtiny to program from the 40-pin socket, using PonyProg, is working perfectly. As a real plus, I don't even have to change the crystal and caps as set for the ATmega644 (or, 8535). Since the ATtiny firmware is using the internal oscillator both when brand new, and subsequently thereafter , it just completely ignores the external crystal! Very, very convenient. The first couple of times I actually changed it to 4MHz, but after reading the datasheet and getting my head around it, it appeared that I could do this, and sure enough, it does!

This keeps backwards compatibilty, and you can't beat the price; The cost of (2) -16pin DIPS and a bit of colored wiring, plus the free PonyProg software...sweet!

@ adgun
I'm not quite sure how everything would behave if multiple motors were connected in parallel. A motor represents a complex behavior of inductance, resistance, capacitance, back EMF, and ??? what else. Now we want to consider 3 on the same H-bridge? Anyone else with a thought?

At 25 amps max, a single DSMhb can handle 2 of those motors with the dual drives with ease, and it costs less than a third of the HPMhb-150A...you do the math. Not to mention if there were a really nasty failure with a motor or something, it would take out way less parts than the 16 (more expensive) MOSFET found in the HPMhb, even if it has great protection features (nothing is perfect :thbd: ).

The HPMhb-150A is meant for a very special purpose...to drive large H.P and Amperage motors (>35A). That is why the raw cost is about US$175 to IMHO, drive one motor. Not cheap, but the good things never are!

R-eng

Hi R-eng
Thanks for the reaction.
These motors are 25amp each, so Thanos bridge wont work.
I only asked it ,because i need 1,3NM cont. stall torque and need 3 48volt pmdc motors to do it.
But go on with your great project
Regards Ad

Yes they will! One per motor.

Another good update. Both the current and thermal monitoring/shutdown devices are now active. After a bit of fiddling with the firmware, it seems to function just as planned. The current is monitored every 20uS and the HPMhb-150A outputs are shut down if the user defined limit is breached. The thermal condition of one bank of MOSFET/heatsink is monitored every 5mS and is shut down once the user setting is breached, and auto-restarts when a 10% temp drop is reached. This allows for a brief recovery period to let things cool down.

The video link will show the thermal shutdown process which was set to a very low 36'C on the high side and 33'C for re-start. The readings on my temp sensor gun were remarkably close to this, and well within tolerances for both devices.

The next phase will be to connect it to my simulator and run it through a series of tests, starting in a couple of days.

http://s529.photobucket.com/albums/dd33 ... 10A-25.flv

R-eng

@ Raceray,

I took apart the damaged motor's electronics cover and found that I could bypass the internal components. The later allows the motor to complete a revolution after it is shut off, this to park the wipers at the base. Direct connection let the motor purrr like a kitten again...just as I suspected.

I bought them brand new and there was no coincidence to the failure, only that I burnt part of the electronic drive through abuse.

R-eng

R-eng,
How's the Testing coming along, is there a basic parts list for the HPMhb-150A yet as I would like to start collecting the parts for this project.

Senetor.

Well, this past month has been quite trying. A bunch of unexpected, tedious to sort out, and some really silly hiccups. And to top it off, the last 2 days were spent trying to figure out why the data from rFactor/X-sim was being sent out the serial port, but was not being received at the AMC. It turned out to be an ATmega644 which lost the plot, but only in that regard. In every other way it was performing correctly, including the ability to comm through the Data and Prog I/O ports. I finally gave in and installed another pre-programmed mcu and everything, including myself were very happy.

So the HPMhb-150A appears to be functioning extremely well and to design specs. It runs very cool, basically at ambient temp, at least with no loads attached to the motors.

Here is a link to the latest video showing it doing it's thing.

http://s529.photobucket.com/albums/dd33 ... ors24V.flv

Now onto the simulator in the next few days for some real tests!

R-eng

Hi R-eng !!!

That is excellent news!!! I'm glad you got it run so smooth. I liked the video very much. One point though, you should try to use the feedback potentiometers attached on the motors motion path (or rotation) to implement a true servo positioning loop.

Another point: Its not wise to overdrive 12v wiper motors with 24v !!!! Even unloaded you causing damage to their coil and excessive overheating of their mechanical parts, as they are designed for lower speeds.

I'm waiting feedback on the needed changes on the existing HPMhb boards, when possible... I need to test them too on my sim undel load, perhaps with more LCD screens and cockpit fully loaded with extra crap to see how it goes on its thermal aspect...

Thanos

hi!!!

I am a new user and i do not have much experience.
I make the project of Tronic's AMC motor motion-controller and work perfectly, but now, i build the simulator and i don`t have the H-Bridge for my motors.
My motors has to bear much weight and i need to make a H-bridge of 35v and 38A. One of these (HPMhb-150A) fit in my situation? Where can I get or build one of these H-Bridge?

Thanks for the help
Sorry for the english

The HPMhb-150A is still under development with testing of dual units driving a simulator right now. Don't expect any release files for at least 30 days.

As a cautionary note; This H-bridge is complex and tightly packaged, with some very fine pcb traces. It takes a skill level well above the DSMhb to construct. It is not for the novice to build, but rather a fairly accomplished assembler. There are many expensive parts that are a bit harder to procure, and if extreme care is not taken, you will get the funny smell of electronic death! The heatsinking in particular is quite complex and I will be looking at a simpler solution. It is a pro level project for sure. Had I chosen to design it my preferred way, it would have been with SMD parts, but as is, it uses standard thru-hole and dip design...my concession to a DIY project. Furthermore, all of the 16 MOSFET require soldering with high wattage solder iron (I used 60W) for much of the power section.

And you need one per each motor. $$$

This is not to shy anyone away from it, but it is not for amateur hour construction.

R-eng