Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP), a leading provider of
microcontroller and analog semiconductors, today announced 10 new 28-
and 44-pin 16-bit Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) for motor control
designs requiring increased memory or performance, or enhanced
peripherals, while obtaining cost and size savings associated with lower
pin-count devices. Microchip also announced today a new motor control
development platform based on the popular Explorer 16 development board.
Additionally, Microchip announced five motor control software solutions
for: Power Factor Correction (PFC), sensorless Field Oriented Control
(FOC) of a PMSM motor, sensorless FOC of an ACIM motor, sensorless
control of a BLDC motor using Back EMF filtering and sensorless BLDC
control with Back-EMF Filtering Using a Majority Function.
The 10 dsPIC33 Motor Control Family devices announced today bring
Microchip’s total count of DSCs with on-chip,
3-phase motor control PWMs to 36 devices—the
largest motor control DSC portfolio in the industry. The newly announced
devices are offered in 28- and 44-pin configurations, and come in
packages as small as 6x6 mm. They offer up to 128 Kbytes of programmable
Flash memory to accommodate large proprietary algorithms, such as
observer motor control models, integration of motor control algorithms
with system-level control, communication stacks such as CAN, and graphic
libraries for displays.
Two of the motor control devices contain Digital-to-Analog Converters
(DACs) which may be useful for motor noise reduction strategies or audio
messages. A user-selectable 10- or 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter
(ADC) is available on chip. The 10-bit ADC mode features up to four
Sample & Holds that can be triggered simultaneously, which is especially
useful for sensorless control strategies to gain improved loop
performance from synchronized sampling strategies.
All of the new motor control DSCs feature two quadrature encoder
interfaces for applications with rotor position sensors. Additionally,
they all have a flexible three-phase PWM controller, plus two additional
PWM outputs on a separate time base for PFC, since PFC requires a loop
that is typically over 30 times faster than that required for motor
control.
“Three trends are creating tremendous demand
for advanced motor control solutions,” said
Sumit Mitra, vice president of Microchip’s
Digital Signal Controller Division. “First is
the requirement for more energy efficient motors; second, the increased
competitiveness of markets incorporating electric motors is forcing the
consideration of new control strategies; and third, the cost of DSCs has
declined to the point that control strategies impractical a few years
ago have become today’s reality.”
Libraries
PFC is becoming increasingly required for line-connected motors.
Microchip has issued a software solution for PFC that can be downloaded
from Microchip’s Web site (search for
application note AN1106 for the description and source code download).
For advanced, cost-sensitive motor control applications, sensorless
strategies may be the preferred approach. Microchip offers four new
software solutions addressing these needs. Sensorless FOC software for
controlling PMSM motors is available and described in application note
AN1078. FOC software for controlling ACIM motors is contained in
application note AN1162. This software is advantageous for applications
that benefit from high efficiency coupled with excellent torque control,
such as air conditioning or refrigeration compressors, or washing
machines. Also available are two new sensorless BLDC software solutions—application
note AN1083 “BLDC Control Using Back-EMF
Filtering” and application note 1160 “Sensorless
BLDC Control with Back-EMF Filtering Using a Majority Function.”
These application notes are expected to be popular for cost-sensitive
BLDC applications, such as automotive fuel pumps and appliances.
Motor Control Development Environment
The new PICtail™ Plus Motor Control daughter
card (part # AC164128) provides an interconnect interface between
Microchip’s ubiquitous Explorer 16
Development board (part # DM240001) and Microchip’s
well-established High Voltage (part # DM300021) or Low Voltage (part #
DM300022) Power Modules. The Explorer 16 Development Board, PICtail Plus
Motor Control daughter card, appropriate power module, MPLAB®
ICD 2 in-circuit programmer/debugger (DV164005) and Microchip’s
free MPLAB IDE integrated development environment comprise a complete
motor control development environment. This motor control development
environment supports the dsPIC33 motor control family and has been
developed to support sensor and sensorless control methodologies.
“Our development platforms were designed with
flexibility in mind,” said Richard Fischer,
manager of Applications Engineering for Microchip’s
Digital Signal Controller Division. “It was
clear from the beginning that our customers would be dealing with a
large variety of motor types, control strategies and operating
environments, which drove the flexibility we added to our motor control
development tools.”
Pricing and Availability
The 10 new motor control DSCs range from $2.85 to $4.18 each in
10,000-unit quantities. These DSCs are sampling now and are expected to
be available for volume production in 2CQ08. The motor control software
and related application notes are available today as a free download
from the Microchip Web site. The PICtail Plus Motor Control daughter
card is available now for $125 and includes a dsPIC33FJ256MC710 plug-in
module for use in the Explorer 16 development board. For additional
information, contact any Microchip sales representative or authorized
worldwide distributor, or visit Microchip’s
Web site at www.microchip.com/DSCMOTOR.
Microchip Customer Support
Microchip is committed to supporting its customers by helping design
engineers develop products faster and more efficiently. Customers can
access four main service areas at www.microchip.com.
The Support area provides a fast way to get questions answered; the
Sample area offers free evaluation samples of any Microchip device;
microchipDIRECT provides 24-hour pricing, ordering, inventory and credit
for convenient purchasing of all Microchip devices and development
tools; finally, the Training area educates customers through webinars,
sign-ups for local seminar and workshop courses, and information about
the annual MASTERs events held throughout the world.
About Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) is a leading provider of
microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product
development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for
thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in
Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along
with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the
Microchip website at www.microchip.com.
Note: The Microchip name and logo, PIC, dsPIC, and MPLAB are
registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the USA and other
countries. PICtail is a trademark of Microchip Technology Inc. in
the USA and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned
herein are the property of their respective companies.
Photos and Block diagram available through editorial contact.
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