DSCs with free motor FOC algorithm

DSP, Micros & Memory

14 May 2008 DSP, Micros & Memory

Microchip has released 10 new 28- and 44-pin 16-bit digital signal controllers (DSCs) for motor control designs requiring increased memory, performance or enhanced peripherals, while obtaining cost and size savings by using lower pin-count devices. Also released is 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 newly announced devices come in packages as small as 6 x 6 mm, and offer up to 128 KBytes of Flash memory for 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 new devices feature 16-bit digital-to-analog Converters (DACs) which can be used for motor noise reduction strategies or audio messaging. A user-selectable 10- or 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is also available on-chip. In 10-bit mode, the ADC features up to four sample-and-hold circuits that can be triggered simultaneously - especially useful for synchronised sampling strategies to improve control loop performance.

All of these new DSCs have a flexible three-phase PWM controller, plus two additional PWM outputs on a separate time base which are ideal for PFC since that requires a control loop that is over 30 times faster than a typical motor control loop. PFC is increasingly required for mains-powered motors and Microchip has issued a software solution published as application note AN1106 that can be downloaded from the company's website. The new devices also feature two quadrature encoder interfaces for position-sensing applications.

For demonstration and development, the new PICtail Plus Motor Control daughter card provides an interface between the general-purpose Explorer16 Development board and existing motor drive power modules.

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DSCs with free motor FOC algorithm

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