One key part of every vehicle is the actuation. As we use a direct current motor it is reasonable to use an IC with integrated H-Bridge.

For our first module we used the MC33887 from freesacale. That IC is an H-Bridge with current load feedback and controls inductive loads with continuous currents up to 5 A.

Unfortunately we have to use the 54-pins SOICW package of the MC33887 which is very difficult to handle.

Another drawback of this simple module is the high number of connection pins: 13!

The current module contains its own microcontroller (mc_module) and uses the MC33486 from freescale.

This IC is not a full H-Bridge but a dual high-side side which is cabable to controls inductive loads with continuous currents up to 10 A.

The integrated microcontroller is used to connect this module to a CAN-Bus network.

So every actuation command or ervery status feedback (e.g. current power consumption) is a single CAN message.

Furthermore, the available I2C interface is used to simulate failures (e.g. direction of an actuation command is inverted).