STMicroelectronics EVAL-L9958

Overview

EVAL-L9958 from STMicroelectronics is an evaluation board for the L9958 high-current motor driver IC, designed to validate DC and stepper motor control in safety-critical automotive and industrial systems. It supports 4 V–28 V supply, delivers up to 8.6 A load current, enables SPI-configurable current regulation (2.5 A–8.6 A in 4 steps), and provides real-time diagnostics including short-circuit-to-battery, short-circuit-to-ground, overtemperature, and open-load detection.

For engineers reviewing the EVAL-L9958 datasheet, EVAL-L9958 pinout, EVAL-L9958 application, or EVAL-L9958 equivalent, this board serves as a ready-to-use hardware platform for rapid prototyping of motor control firmware, validation of SPI-based diagnostic response, and interoperability testing with SPC5 Discovery+ boards and LabVIEW GUIs under both 3.3 V and 5 V logic levels.

Technical Context

The EVAL-L9958 implements a direct hardware interface to the L9958 dual H-bridge motor driver, exposing all control (SPI, EN, DIR, DI) and feedback (diagnostic flags, current sense) signals via test points and jumpers. It integrates an on-board 5 V/1.5 A regulator to power external logic and includes dual LEDs for real-time monitoring of VBatt presence and enable status.

Compatible with standalone operation or integration into SPC560P-DISP and SPC5 Discovery+ ecosystems, the board accepts firmware-driven SPI commands for current threshold selection, fault clearing, and status polling-enabling full functional verification without custom PCB design.

Key Specifications

Availability

EVAL-L9958 is available at Aetrix Electronics and suitable for automotive ECU validation, industrial motion control prototyping, and academic motor drive curriculum development requiring stable component supply and documented reference hardware.

Supply support for EVAL-L9958 includes scheduled delivery planning, volume procurement assistance, BOM continuity management, traceable sourcing, and lifecycle availability coordination for OEM customers, industrial embedded developers, connected-device designers, and electronics production programs.

Manufacturer

STMicroelectronics is a global semiconductor leader headquartered in Geneva, designing and manufacturing microcontrollers, power ICs, sensors, and analog/mixed-signal devices for automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

The EVAL-L9958 belongs to ST's motor control evaluation platform family, developed specifically to accelerate functional safety-compliant motor driver validation and reduce time-to-demonstration for ISO 26262-relevant applications.

FAQ

Does EVAL-L9958 require an external heat sink?

No. The board is designed for operation up to 8.6 A without external heatsinking under typical ambient conditions, leveraging the L9958's internal thermal protection and the board's copper pour layout optimized for conduction cooling. Thermal derating curves are provided in the L9958 datasheet for extended duty cycles.

Can EVAL-L9958 be used with non-ST microcontrollers?

Yes. The board accepts standard 3.3 V or 5 V SPI commands and digital control signals (EN, DIR, DI). Users must implement correct timing and command framing per the L9958 register map; no ST-specific firmware or bootloader is required for basic operation.

What software tools are officially supported for EVAL-L9958?

ST provides LabVIEW-based GUI for PC-connected evaluation and SPC5Studio-integrated application examples for SPC56 Discovery+ boards. Firmware source code and register-level documentation are publicly available on st.com, enabling porting to custom toolchains.

How are diagnostic faults reported and cleared on EVAL-L9958?

Faults are reported via SPI-readable status registers (e.g., FAULT_BAT, FAULT_GND). Each fault condition sets a dedicated bit; clearing requires writing to the FAULT_CLEAR register. No hardware reset is needed-diagnostics remain active during normal operation and persist until explicitly cleared.