Current sensing with the DRV8316

developement
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a custom FOC motor controller using the DRV8316CRQRGFRQ1, and I have some questions regarding how to properly implement current sensing with the SimpleFOC library.

The DRV8316 uses low-side current sensing with integrated current sense amplifiers, and outputs an analog voltage of the form:

SOx = Vref/2 ± Gain × Iout

So from what I understand, I need to:

  • Read the SOx signals using ADC

  • Subtract the offset (Vref/2)

  • Divide by gain (and shunt resistor?) to get current in amps

However, I’m a bit unsure about how this maps into SimpleFOC:

  1. Should I use LowsideCurrentSense or GenericCurrentSense?
    Since the DRV8316 already includes current sense amplifiers, I’m wondering if GenericCurrentSense is more appropriate, where I manually convert ADC readings to current.

  2. What should I use as the shunt resistance in LowsideCurrentSense?
    The driver doesn’t include internal shunt resistors (as far as I understand), so this depends on my external hardware. But since the output is already amplified, I’m unsure how to correctly set the parameters (gain vs shunt value).

  3. Timing / synchronization:
    For low-side sensing, I assume ADC sampling needs to be synchronized with PWM (when low-side MOSFETs are on).
    Does SimpleFOC handle this internally when using LowsideCurrentSense, or do I need to manage ADC triggering manually?

If anyone has experience using DRV83xx drivers (especially DRV8316) with SimpleFOC, I’d really appreciate some guidance or example setups.

Thanks!