Allegro Industries A89301 User manual

APEK89301
A89301 Evaluation Board User Guide
UM-A89301, Rev. 2
MCO-0000616
April 3, 2023
DESCRIPTION
The A89301 evaluation board is designed to aid system
designers in evaluating the operation and performance of the
A89301 motor controller IC. This user guide provides step-
by-step instructions on how to use the A89301 evaluation
board to program the Allegro A89301 motor controller IC.
In addition, this document contains feature descriptions that
are not shown in the A89301 datasheet.
FEATURES
• USB communications to allow a GUI to control the
device via I2C
• Programs devices to control a motor
EVALUATION BOARD CONTENTS
• APEK89301GES-01-T evaluation board
Table of Contents
Description .......................................................................... 1
Features ............................................................................. 1
Evaluation Board Contents.................................................... 1
Using the Evaluation Board ................................................... 2
Other Operating Features of A89301 .................................... 34
Schematic ......................................................................... 38
Layout .............................................................................. 39
Bill of Materials .................................................................. 40
Related Links..................................................................... 41
Application Support ............................................................ 41
Revision History................................................................. 42
Figure 1: A89301 Evaluation Board
Table 1: A5947GET Evaluation Board Configurations
Configuration Name Part Number
APEK89301GES-01-T A89301GESSR

2
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
USING THE EVALUATION BOARD
Equipment Required
• Motor
• Voltage supply to power motor
• Standard A Male to Mini B Male USB cable (not included)
• Personal computer for USB control
• Software; see Related Links
Step 1: Make Evaluation Board Connections.
A. Connect USB cable to computer.
B. Connect power cables to VBBIN and GND.
C. Set the switch to U1 PROG.
D. Set JMP2 to upper position.
E. Do not connect motor phases SA, SB, SC yet.*
F. Turn on power to rated voltage.
* The default settings in the A89301 may not be appropriate, which could cause damage to the IC or motor. Settings should be verified
before connecting a motor.
AB
C
D
E

3
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 2: Launch the GUI.

4
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 2: Launch the GUI. (continued)
B. If you see this error message,
install the USB to I2C chip driver
(FTDI D2XX). Check USB cable
connecon.
C. Make sure the power supply is
ON, and the switch is set to ‘U1
PROG’.
D. Try talking to the IC again. (As I2C_SDA
is shared with funconal mode FG pin, it
is possible the rst aempt failed because
the FG is pulled low).
To guarantee this won’t happen again in
the future, disable the FG funcon:

5
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 3: Load saved parameters, if previously saved.
Device parameters can be saved to a file. If a file for this (or similar) application has been created, open that file. Verify the Allegro-
only bits in the file are their default values.
B.
C.
E. F.
A.
D.

6
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 4: Configure the basic parameters.
Note: These numbers do not need to be very accurate; use the best estimation. There is fine tuning later in the process.
The number of pole pairs. For example,
12 pole motor: input 6 pole pairs.
See NOTE 1 to determine the number of poles.
The supply voltage that motor will be
working at. For example:
•Computer fan, 12 V power supply:
input 12 V.
•Supply voltage speed control, range
8 V to 24 V: input 24 V.
•Lithium baery system, voltage
11.1 V to 12.6 V: input 12 V.
Expected motor speed at ‘Rated Voltage’,
normal load condion, and 100% control
demand.
For example, pedestal fan, 1300 rpm with
blades and 1450 rpm without blades:
input approximately 1300 rpm.
Motor operaon current under ‘Rated
Voltage’, with normal load condion.
Rated Voltage, Rated Speed, and Rated
Current must be consistent.
Motor phase to center tap resistance,
measure phase to phase R and divide by
two.*
*Be sure to use an accurate mmeter. A ber oon may be to
apply a current through the motor, measure voltage across it, and
calculate resistance.
In the “Advanced” page, there is a
parameter defining the current sensing
resistor value. Program this value
appropriately.

7
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 5: Start the motor.
A. Connect motor phase A, B, and C.
B. Keep ‘Set speed demand via I2C’ checked.
C. Select the speed demand to 50%, and click Toggle Run/Stop.
The motor should start spinning.
If it does, go to step 9.
If not:
Doesn’t move at all,
go to step 6.
Shook a li�le bit
then stopped, go
to step 7.
Spun more than 5
cycles and stopped,
go to step 8.

8
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 6: If motor does not move at all:
A. Look at the LED indicator
connected to the Fault pin,
and follow the fault table to
determine the root cause.
B. If the LED is o, connect a current probe and
voltage probe to the motor outputs and check
if there is any current / voltage output to the
motor phase. If there is voltage but no current,
check motor phase connecons.
C. If the fault indicator LED is showing the “zero speed demand”, double
check the I2C speed demand seng is correct.
D. Toggle Run/Stop to retry startup.

9
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 7: If motor shakes a little and stops:
B. If it is OCP, check the phase output
wire connecons.
C. Otherwise, it is likely lock
detecon. If so, lower/slow down
the acceleraon seng. Note there
are two acceleraon ranges.
D. Toggle Run/Stop to retry the startup.
A. Look at the LED indicator
connected to the Fault pin,
and follow the fault table to
determine the root cause.

10
Allegro MicroSystems
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103-3353 U.S.A.
www.allegromicro.com
Step 8: If motor spins more than 5 cycles and stops:
B. The problem is likely lock detec�on. If so,
go to the Standby / Protec�on page and
disable all the lock detect features.
C. Toggle Run/Stop to retry the startup.
A. Look at the LED indicator
connected to the Fault pin,
and follow the fault table to
determine the root cause.
D. One by one, enable each lock detect
feature to determine which is the cause of
the fault and which can be re-enabled.