Select Solutions

Processors

• C2000™ 32-bit Real-Time Controllers

  The C2000 platform of real-time controllers has been the industry leader in digital motor control since the inception of the TMS320F24x generation in 1996. In 2002 we debuted the F281x series based on the C28x DSP engine, becoming the first 32-bit architecture specifically built for high performance, math intensive power electronics control. Based on the C28x we have created a family of code compatible devices to meet application needs across performance, price, pin-out, and peripherals.

  C2000 MCUs are used in a variety of three phase motor applications, including; AC Servo Drives, precision motion controls, electronic power steering, HVAC compressors and blowers, industrial pumps, and appliances such as washing machines and refrigerator compressors.

  Customers using C2000 have enjoyed success because of C2000's:

  • Best in class capability to perform the precision calculations for sensorless operation and field oriented control (FOC)
  • Motor Control Library of fundamental software routines, with accompanying theory, documentation, and system examples
  • High speed, high precision on-chip analog to digital convertors and easy support for even higher speed or precision external ADCs
  • Feature-rich PWM generators and fault detection to support any system power topology
  • Graphical simulation, system development, and auto-code generation tools available from partners

  
• MSP430™ 16-bit Ultra-Low Power MCUs

  The MSP430 family of microcontrollers offer a wide portfolio of highly integrated MCUs that are ideal for stepper, DC and BLDC motor control applications. Customers have the option to select from low pin count or high pin count MCUs along with different communication and analog peripherals.

  The MSP430 MCUs offer many different communication peripherals such as USB2.0, SPI, I2C, IrDA and UART/LIN. Combined with timers that offer Capture/Compare/PWM outputs and a wide choice of analog peripherals such as Comparators, 10/12-bit ADC (up to 200 ksps), 12-bit DAC and 16-bit Sigma-Delta modules, these MCUs can be used to control stepper and DC motors in Printers, Fans, Antennas, Toys and many other applications.

  TI provides robust design support for the MSP430 Microcontroller including technical documents, training, tools, and software.

  Features

  Flash-based Ultra-Low Power MCUs featuring up to 25 MIPS with 1.8V - 3.6V operation. Includes an innovative Power Management Module for optimal power consumption, integrated Very-Low power Oscillator (VLO), internal pull-up/pull-down resistors, and low-pin count options.

  Ultra-Low Power, as low as:

  • 0.1 µA RAM retention
  • 0.3 µA Standby mode (VLO)
  • 0.7 µA real-time clock mode
  • 165 µA / MIPS active
  • Ultra-Fast Wake-Up From Standby Mode in <1 µs
  • Stellaris offers up to 4 fault condition handling inputs in hardware to enable low-latency shutdown
  • Up to 2 Quadrature Encoder Inputs (QEI) provide accurate positioning for closed feedback control
  • Real time, deterministic behavior

  
• Stellaris® 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3

  Texas Instruments is the industry leader in bringing 32-bit capabilities and the full benefits of ARM® Cortex-M3™-based microcontrollers to the broadest reach of the microcontroller market. Now with over one hundred and sixty compatible ARM Cortex-M3-based Stellaris microcontrollers and over thirty Stellaris evaluation, development, and reference design kits, Stellaris fits the performance, integration, power, and price-point requirements of nearly any industrial application.

  Stellaris with Cortex-M3 offers a direct path to the strongest ecosystem of development tools, software and knowledge in the industry. Designers who migrate to Stellaris will benefit from great tools, small code footprint and outstanding performance. Even more important, designers can enter the ARM ecosystem with full confidence in a compatible roadmap from $1 to 1 GHz. You will never need to change architectures again.

  The Stellaris Family of ARM® Cortex™-M3 microcontrollers features deterministic performance and IP especially designed for simultaneous advanced motion control and real-time connectivity, including up to eight full channels of control with dead-band generators providing shoot-through protection for applications such as 3-phase inverter bridges, fault-condition handling in hardware quickly providing low-latency shutdown, synchronization of timers enabling precise alignment of all edges, and hardware quadrature encoders enabling precise positioning sensing. Together with larger on-chip memories, enhanced power management, and expanded I/O and control capabilities, Stellaris MCUs are optimized for industrial applications requiring reliable connectivity, including Motor and Motion Control, Remote Monitoring, Factory Automation, HVAC and Building Control, Gaming Equipment, Medical Instrumentation, Consumer Appliances, CCTV Monitoring, and Fire and Security.

  

Interface

• Industrial Communications

  Complicate motor control applications often require communication busses in order to control and synchronize multiple motors with a main motion controller.

  Traditional analog RS-232/RS-485 interfaces remain popular choices for motor control applications. Looking forward, designers are integrating more advanced interfaces such as Ethernet, USB, and CAN, into their products. TI is committed to provide solutions for both traditional and emerging industrial interfaces. For example, TI recently introduced the ISO1050, the world's first isolated CAN transceiver.

  RS-232

  

  RS-485

  

  CAN

  

  High Voltage Digital IO

  

  
  

Isolation

• Digital Isolation

  Digital isolation is typically used in high voltage motor drives in between the control electronics and the high voltage gate drivers to protect the controller in case of mechanical or electrical faults in the power stage. Isolation is also often used in the voltage and current sense feedback, especially when using current shunts to directly measure the phase currents.

  TI offers a full line of digital isolation products based on a silicon dioxide (SiO2) isolation barrier technology. This barrier provides galvanic isolation of up to 4000V. The digital input signal is conditioned, translated to a balanced signal, and then differentiated across the isolation barrier. Across the isolation barrier, a differential comparator receives the logic transition information and sets a flip-flop in the output circuitry appropriately. A periodic update pulse is also sent across the barrier to ensure that the proper DC level is set.

  Used in conjunction with isolated power supplies, these devices prevent noise currents on a data bus or other circuits from entering the local ground, and interfering with or damaging sensitive control circuitry.

  Advantages to TI's Capacitive Digital Isolation:

  • Inorganic SiO₂ isolation barrier with proven stability over time, temperature and humidity
  • Differential signaling across the isolation barrier offers the best noise immunity to magnetic and electrical interference
  • Dual channel signaling internally with a fast AC path and secondary channel to guarantee DC stability ensures the best performance in all conditions

  

Power Stage

• Discrete A/D

  Discrete Analog-to-Digital converters (ADCs) are often used in high voltage or high precision motor control where the on-chip ADC in the micro controller does not offer enough performance or when using digital isolation to separate the sensitive control logic from high voltage power stage. Off-chip ADCs are also used when there is a need for higher simultaneously-sampling multiple analog inputs such as in chain or belt drives where the motor and load do not turn at 1:1 ratios or slippage and slack need to be detected.

  There are 2 main types of ADCs used in motor control applications, simultaneous-sampling Successive Approximation Register (SAR) converters and delta-sigma modulators. Simultaneous-sampling converters use multiple sample-and-hold circuits which are synchronized to a single digital input to precisely capture multiple analog inputs while maintaining their phase relationships which is critical to the accuracy of sin-cosine encoders, resolvers, or when measuring multiple phase currents at the same time.

  Delta-Sigma modulators are designed to be placed close to the sensor and produce a single bit digital data stream which can achieve 16-bit resolution after filtering in the controller or with an external filter like the AMC1210. TI offers a large portfolio of delta-sigma modulators designed for all types of current feedback in motor drivers (current shunt, magnetic and hall effect sensors). The single bit digital output generated by delta-sigma modulators make them a good choice for current measurement where digital isolation is used to protect the host controller.

  Advantages to TI's Discrete Analog-to-Digital Converters:

  • Simultaneously sample up to 6 channels with 16-bit resolution and up to 800kSPS per channel
  • Built on the latest analog process to maximize stability over time and temperature
  • Dual channel signaling internally with a fast AC path and secondary channel to guarantee DC stability ensures the best performance in all conditions
  • SPI Bus from the ADC or digital bit stream from the modulators can easily be isolated using TI's digital isolation technology to protect the controller or MCU from electrical faults in the power-stage and increase system reliability

  Simultaneous Sampling ADCs

  

  Delta-Sigma Modulators

  

  
  
• Gate Drivers

  A gate driver is a power amplifier that is designed to connect the control electronics to the power stage. It is designed to produce the high-current drive required to switch power MOSFETs and IGBTs.

  Gate drivers are typically used when the control electronics which generate the PWM signals cannot supply enough current to drive the input capacitance of the associated power semiconductor. Gate drivers can be implemented with discrete transistors or as dedicated gate-drive ICs.

  Some controllers integrate the gate driver on-chip, but for high voltage, high current applications discrete gate drivers offer several advantages. By moving the high current driver off-chip it allows the control electronics to run cooler and allows for the addition of galvanic isolation between the controller and power stage to protect it from mechanical or electrical faults.

  Advantages to discrete gate drivers:

  • Allows for smaller and cooler running controller electronics
  • Off chip gate drivers allows for increased reliability with the addition of galvanic isolation between the controller and the power stage
  • High current drive capability for switching much larger power stages than is possible with integrated gate drivers

  
• Integrated Motor Drivers

  A motor driver is a circuit that is intended to drive an electromagnetic machine, such as a brushed or brushless motor, stepper motor, or other electromechanical actuator.

  Motors typically require voltages and/or currents that exceed what can be provided by the analog or digital signal processing circuitry that controls them. The motor driver provides the interface between the signal processing circuitry and the motor itself.

  Motor drivers can be constructed from discrete components, completely integrated inside an IC, or may employ both discrete and integrated components. When current and voltage levels allow, integration of the entire motor driver inside a single IC generally provides the highest level of functionality at the lowest cost and physical size.

  In addition to providing high-voltage and high-current drive, motor drivers also often integrate some control circuitry, such as current regulation or digital state machines to operate the motor. Integrated motor drivers from TI also include multiple protection schemes, including short-circuit protection, over current protection, and overvoltage protection, to prevent system failures in the event of electrical or mechanical faults.

  Advantages to TI's DRV88xx integrated motor drivers:

  • Integrated pre drive and power stage capable of 5A peak current with 45V supply rails
  • Extensive on-chip protection including over current, over temperature, under voltage, and short circuit protection
  • Integrated control logic for current regulation, PWM generation, and micro-stepping indexer
  • Simple to use control interface requiring only a few pins to control (step / direction for stepper motors and phase / enable for DC motors)

  

  Advantages of TI's DRV84xx and DRV83xx integrated motor drivers:

  • Integrated pre drive and power stage capable of up to 24A peak current with 50V supply rail
  • Extensive on-chip protection including over current, over temperature, under voltage, and short circuit protection
  • Direct access PWM inputs to the bridge allow for custom commutation and control software from the host processor