1.1BOOSTXL-ULN2003 Dual Stepper Motor Driver BoosterPack Overview
The BOOSTXL-ULN2003 provides an easy-to-use development board to interface with up to two unipolar
stepper motors using any Launchpad in the Launchpad Ecosystem. This user’s guide details a hardware
description of the BoosterPack, how to interface the BoosterPack with external hardware, various modes
of operation, and additional features.
The BOOSTXL-ULN2003 allows for the control of eight high-current (up to 500 mA per channel), high
voltage (up to 30 V), sink outputs. These outputs are controlled either through a serial (3-pin) or parallel
(8-pin) mode. Using the BOOSTXL-ULN2003 in serial 3-pin mode allows for control of two unipolar
stepper motors while only requiring 3 General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins, ultimately allowing for
flexibility in design and reduction in the number of GPIO pins required.
The BOOSTXL-ULN2003 can not only be used to provide an interface to unipolar stepper motors, but also
can be used in the following applications.
•Relay Driving
•Solenoid Driving
•LED Driving
•High-Voltage Logic Level Shifting
For additional information regarding these applications, see What is a Peripheral Driver? Applications and
Design Considerations.
The Boosterpack is not limited to one specific application at a time, but can be used for all of these
applications simultaneously. For example, one BoosterPack could enable driving one stepper motor,
driving one relay, driving two LEDs, and shifting a 3.3-V logic signal to a 24-V logic signal at the same
time.
User's Guide
SLCU002–September 2016
Figure 1. BOOSTXL-ULN2003 Connected to MSP-EXP430F5529LP
SLCU002–September 2016
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BOOSTXL-ULN2003 Dual Stepper Motor Driver BoosterPack Hardware
Figure 5 details a block diagram of the BOOSTXL-ULN2003 BoosterPack. The 40-pin BoosterPack
header allows the BoosterPack to be interfaced with any LaunchPad in the MSP430 LaunchPad
ecosystem. See ti.com/launchpad for a list of all available MSP430 LaunchPads. A row of four switches
allow the user to choose between a parallel, direct-drive (8-pin) mode and a serial (3-pin) mode of control
of the ULN2003A.
The ULN2003A is a 7-channel Darlington pair array that is used to drive motors, solenoids, LEDs, or
relays. See the ULN2003A product folder for additional overview regarding this device. The CSD17571Q2
is a TI N-Channel NexFET Power MOSFET that is paired with the ULN2003A in order to enable an eighth
output channel. See the CSD17571Q2 product folder for additional overview regarding this device. The
SN74HC595 shift register enables the 3-pin control mode, ultimately reducing the number of GPIOs
required for driving eight output channels. See the SN74HC595 product folder for additional overview
regarding this device. See Section 4 for additional information on how to select between 3-pin mode and
8-pin mode.
Hardware Description
Figure 5. BOOSTXL-ULN2003 Block Diagram
SLCU002–September 2016
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BOOSTXL-ULN2003 Dual Stepper Motor Driver BoosterPack Hardware
The signal assignment on the BoosterPack pin connectors is shown in Figure 6. The J1-J4 descriptions on
the BoosterPack follow the J1-J4 convention for the Launchpad ecosystem. See ti.com/launchpad for
further description of the 40-pin BoosterPack standard.
Only the outer two pin columns, J1 and J2 (highlighted in red below) are required for BoosterPack
operation, the inner 2 columns, J3 and J4, are provided to pass signals from any 40-pin Launchpad to
other BoosterPack boards that may require these pins. The additional headers, J0, J5, and J6 are for
interfacing with other development boards. See Section 3.3 for details regarding connecting to other
development boards.
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(1) Pins with no name/description are not connected. Pins with the same name/description are shorted together.
(2) *~ These pins are not required for BoosterPack operation.
(3) * These pins are not connected out of the box. To enable control of this board through these pins, see
Section 4.3.1.
(4) ~ This pin is connected to IN4 out of the box. This allows for channels IN1-IN4 to be driven directly using 8-
pin parallel mode. A resistor is connected to protect the line from bus contention if 3-pin mode is being used
and this pin is being used for another purpose.