Product category: Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Luminary Micro | Subject: Luminary Micro Reference Design Kits
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 10 April 2007
MCUs and design
kits simplify motion control
Luminary Micro's two new Reference Design Kits (RDKs) demonstrate variable speed AC induction motor control and stepper motor control
Luminary Micro has released two new Reference Design Kits (RDKs) using the company's Stellaris microcontrollers (MCUs) designed specifically for motion control applications such as those found in HVAC systems, industrial conveyer systems, liquid pumps, printers, robots, and CNC and other milling machines.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 10 April 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The two kits demonstrate variable speed AC induction motor control and stepper motor control, and complement the recent launch of five new Stellaris MCUs featuring powerful motion control functionality.
These new parts represent the first time that real-time motion control has been integrated into an ARM-based MCU.
Together with the new reference design kits, the new MCUs ease the complexity of motion control designs for OEMs and slash the associated time to market and software development costs.
The power subsystem for each motion control design features power semiconductors from Fairchild Semiconductor.
'The motion control industry is a 'nearly invisible' industry, in that it is ubiquitous in everyday applications but nearly unseen'.
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BPM Microsystems now provides device programming support for Luminary Micro's Stellaris family of ARM microcontrollers across its entire line of production equipment
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The future of the MCU market
Jean Anne Booth, Chief Marketing Officer of Luminary Micro, discusses the fragmentation and impending consolidation of the MCU market
'While many recognise that power and control must come together for the basic functions of motor control, the complexity of optimising those functions together is often underestimated', said Luminary Chief Marketing Officer Jean Anne Booth.
'So while the market potential is great, the challenges facing motion control OEMs are even greater: energy efficiency, complexity of applications, time to market, and software development costs'.
'Bringing an ARM architecture to the motion control industry, and particularly the Stellaris implementations of the Cortex-M3 architecture, addresses not just one of these challenges, but all of them'.
AC induction motors are widely used in appliance and residential applications, in what the industry traditionally refers to as 'white goods'.
The reliability and simplicity of AC motors also makes them popular in industrial applications, such as residential and light commercial HVAC.
Stellaris microcontrollers enable advanced variable speed control that improves efficiency and enables new areas of application.
The RDK-ACIM design features a Stellaris LM3S818 microcontroller and drives three-phase AC induction motors up to 750W.
Consumer preference and governmental mandates for energy efficiency are driving the need for more computationally complex control algorithms for variable speed AC induction motors.
The space vector modulation implemented in the AC induction motor reference design increases motor efficiency to nearly 100%, thereby consuming significantly less power.
'Reducing energy consumption has become a global concern, with the United States and China as the largest consumers of energy in the world', added Luminary's Booth.
'More than half of the worldwide electrical output is used to generate motion, and with overall consumption projected to increase dramatically over the next two decades, designing with an energy-efficient, fully integrated MCU with an ARM core, combined with energy management, appeals to OEMs struggling to meet government mandates for energy efficiency improvements'.
Stepper motors are widely used in printers, scanners, and automation applications.
One of the few classes of motor that features high starting torque and precise motion without the aid of sensors, the stepper motor's capabilities have established it as the motor of choice in countless electronic and automation products.
The RDK-Stepper demonstrates advanced control of bipolar stepper motors using the Stellaris LM3S617 microcontroller and Fairchild power semiconductors.
Its primary application is driving NEMA17, NEMA23, and NEMA34 stepper motors rated at up to 80V at 3A.
Stepper motors are usually controlled either by a dedicated control chip that lacks programmable intelligence, or by a microcontroller, such as Stellaris, that uses a basic unipolar scheme.
Luminary Micro's stepper motor reference design performs direct high-performance software-based chopper control using the Cortex-M3 microprocessor, enabling the designer to add additional software features without compromising motor performance.
Both the RDK-ACIM and the RDK-Stepper feature everything needed to evaluate and develop motor control designs.
Both kits include the main control circuit board, graphical control program for Windows, power and USB cables, quick start guide, software source code, schematics, BOM, and Gerber files.
The AC Induction motor reference design includes an Inverter-Duty 186.425W three-phase AC motor (0-5400rev/min).
The Stepper Motor reference design kit includes a NEMA23 Stepper Motor.
Both kits ship with multiple motion control algorithms loaded into flash, enabling engineers to evaluate motor and system performance through the graphical user interface (GUI) within 10 minutes of opening the box.
The GUI allows designers to configure motor capabilities and safety parameters, test controls and effects, and to understand tradeoffs in the end motor system design.
The GUI also allows users to monitor system statistics easily, with visual indicators showing processor performance, bus voltage, and motor currents.
The five new Stellaris family members were announced in February 2007 at the Embedded World trade show in Nuremberg, Germany, and have been optimised to support the complex algorithms necessary for efficient energy-saving motion control applications.
The MCUs are referenced by part numbers LM3S317, LM3S617, LM3S618, LM3S817, and LM3S818.
As with all Stellaris family members, these MCUs are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, the microcontroller member of the ARM Cortex processor family.
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