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Demo board of a freely programmable, double H-Bridge

Video showing details of the demo board.


The PCB shown in the video was provided to me by PCBWay. You can commission your own circuit board on their website:
https://www.pcbway.com/
By purchasing via the specified affiliate links, you support HOITG without any additional costs for you - thanks!


About the board

Another chapter (including video) on the assembly of the PCB is available on my second project "How Open Is This Gadget?"

Dotieren von Halbleitern
Figure 1:
In my series on "Physical Computing" chapters on motor controls should not be missing. These start with switching transistors and then of course quickly lead to H-bridges. Since the switching states of more than just one transistor have to be taken into account in these circuits in order to understand how they work, I designed a demo board that uses LEDs to make the invisible visible.
N-Kanal und P-Kanal MOSFET
Figure 2:
There are two H-bridges on the board, each consisting of four MOSFETs. There is a red and a green LED next to each of these transistors. If the relevant transistor is switched on, the green LED lights up, if the transistor is switched off, the red one lights up.
Anschließen eines N-Kanal und eines P-Kanal MOSFETs
Figure 3:
8 control pins of the microcontroller are required for a total of 8 transistors. The yellow LEDs show the switching states of the GPIOs used as outputs. If the relevant pin is at HIGH level, the connected LED lights up.
All LEDs can be disconnected from the circuit using jumpers.

Changes on the layout

Spannungsmessung am P-Kanal MOSFET
Figure 4:
Controlling a stepper motor works as intended, but since I didn't just want to show "what can be done", but also explain "how it works", the circuit board layout wasn't perfect. So let's take a look at the changes I implemented after my first tests:
Accross the resistor, that is implemented as a current sensor, a voltage drop of significantly less than 5V occurs in normal operation, something the ATMega328 microcontroller can handle without any problems. However, I would also like to use the board to demonstrate cases that are outside of the normal operating conditions and there can drop below the full supply voltage of 12V and more. Since the microcontroller would be destroyed if this voltage were applied, I soldered a 4.3V zener diode and two other resistors to each of the two current sensors on the back of the board. However, I would also like to use the board to demonstrate cases that are outside of the normal operating states at which up to the full supply voltage, which is usually more than 7V, might drop accross the resitor. Since the microcontroller would be destroyed if this voltage was applied to a GPIO, I soldered a 4.3V zener diode and two more resistors to each of the two current sensors on the back of the board.
P-Kanal MOSFET ausgeschaltet
Figure 5:
I had to cut the tracks running from the current sensor directly to the microcontroller on top of the board.
P-Kanal MOSFET eingeschaltet
Figure 6:
Two cables on the bottom side now lead from the Z diodes to the two analog inputs (green).
Another change adresses the control pins of the transistors:
Since not all microcontroller pins have hardware pulse width support, I swapped two of these output pins, which makes programming much easier. Again, I had to cut through the tracks on the circuit board and reconnect the pins on the bottom side with two more wires (white).
P-Kanal MOSFET an Mikrocontroller mit positiver Versorgungsspannung als Bezugspotential
Figure 7:
Then I found cheap mini voltmeters on the internet and quickly came up with the idea of installing them on the circuit board as well.
P-Kanal MOSFET per Mikrocontroller eingeschaltet
Figure 8:
To hide their wire routing, I drilled 3 holes in the board.
P-Kanal MOSFET per Mikrocontroller ausgeschaltet
Figure 9:
Each of the mini voltmeters is fed with electrical energy by a battery, independently of the H bridge's supply voltage. One battery for all voltmeters will not work, because in doing so, short circuits would be caused on the board.
The bottom side of the PCB no longer looks as tidy and professional as the top - this is where the tinkerer in me comes back to daylight!

It should be programmable

P-Kanal MOSFET an 5V Versorgungsspannung, LOW-Level am Eingang
Figure 10:
"Physical computing" means that the hardware is programmable. This demo board uses an ATmega328P microcontroller. I took this from my Arduino UNO and put it on the socket of the PCB. So that the microcontroller can still be programmed via the UNO board without having to swap the chip between the UNO board and the PCB, I joined pins 0, 1, reset and ground with a four pin connector.
P-Kanal MOSFET an 5V Versorgungsspannung, HIGH-Level am Eingang
Figure 11:
If these pins are connected to the UNO board, the microcontroller can be programmed and data can be exchanged via the USB interface.

Design files

P-Kanal MOSFET an 12V Versorgungsspannung, LOW-Level am Eingang
Figure 12:
The current hardware version is V1.3
You can get the design files created with KiCAD as Download package (4.5MB).

Components:

4x Q1, Q3, Q5, Q7 P-Channel MOSFETs: IRF9540N
4x Q2, Q4, Q6, Q8 N-Channel MOSFETs: IRF540N
2x IC1, IC2 4-Fach Op-amp: L324N
1x LM7805 5V linear regulator
1x C1: 0.1μF
1x C2: 33μF Elektrolytical
2x C3, C4: 15pF
7x C5 - C11: 0.1μF
65x R1 - R65: 1.5kΩ
7x R66 - R72: 510Ω
7x R73 - R79: 100Ω
1x Potentiometer: 100kΩ
9x Schottky Diode D1-D8, D41: SB5100
8x Zener diode D9 - D16: 12V
9x Zener diode: D42 - D50: 4.3V
8x LED 5mm D25 - 32: Red
15x LED 5mm D17 - D24, D51 - D57: Green
8x LED 5mm D33 - D40: Yellow
56x Jumper + 2 pin male pinheaders, 2.54mm
2x 3 Pin header, male 2.54mm
4x 4 Pin header, male 2.54mm
1x 5 Pin header, male 2.54mm
2x 14-Pin Socket
1x 28-Pin Socket
1x 16MHz Crystal
7x Push buttons SW1 - 7 1x Arduino UNO (with removeable ATmega328)

Sourcing parts

When buying components via the affiliate partner links I have listed in the table (or through the banners on my pages) you help to keep my my projects going - many thanks!
Clicking on the links does not mean you have to buy - you can simply browse through the pages ;-)

Of course, supporting my freely accessible educational platform without shopping but by making a donation or becoming a Patreon also works. Many thanks to everyone who already sent me an obol!

If you know more MOSFETs that are good for amplifying signals of 5V or 3.3V GPIOs or common, cheap power diodes, please leave a comment on this page.

Part Online shops Remark
IRF9540 IRF9540 on eBay.com

IRF9540 on eBay.co.uk

IRF9540 on Amazon com

IRF9540 on Amazon UK
P-Channel MOSFET ID -23A, VDS -100V, VGS ±20V
MOSFET IRF540N IRF540N on eBay.com

IRF540N on eBay.co.uk

IRF540N on Amazon com

IRF540N on Amazon uk
N-channel MOSFET ID 30A, VDS 100V, VGS ±20V
Not fully compatible to 3.3V without preamplifying stage.
Schottky diode SB5100 SB5100 Schottky on eBay.com

SB5100 Schottky on eBay.co.uk

SB5100 on Amazon com

SB5100 on Amazon uk
Flyback diode 5A, 100V, pulse current up to 150A
LEDs LED assortments on eBay.com

LED assortments on eBay.co.uk

LEDs on Amazon com

LEDs on Amazon uk
LEDs with forward currents of about 20mA are inexpensive, low current LEDs have a better efficiency and are brighter when switching with GPIOs directly.
Resistors Resistors on eBay.com

Resistors on eBay.co.uk

Resistors on Amazon com

Resistors on Amazon uk
5% Carbon film resistors are inexpensive and good enough for experimenting with LEDs.
Zener diode 10V Zener diode 10V on eBay.com

Zener diode 10V on eBay.co.uk

Zener diode 10V on Amazon com

Zener diode 10V on Amazon uk
Protecting gate pin from overvoltage. 500mW are sufficient.
Arduino UNO Arduino UNO on eBay.com

Arduino UNO on eBay.co.uk

Arduino UNO on Amazon com

Arduino UNO on Amazon uk
The version with the removeable ATmega328 on a socket.




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