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Product category: Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: TMS320F2810 and F2812
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 13 September 2004

Controllers enhance mobile machinery

Allowing OEMs to reduce design time while increasing system features and functionality, Sauer-Danfoss Plus 1 hardware modules are based on TMS320F2810 and F2812 digital signal controllers

Allowing OEMs to reduce design time while increasing system features and functionality, Sauer-Danfoss and Texas Instruments have collaborated to produce eight Plus 1 hardware modules based on TMS320F2810 and F2812 digital signal controllers. The F28x-based modules let OEM designers tap into 150MIPS of TI's leading digital signal processing (DSP) technology to develop high performance control systems for machinery functions such as transmissions, hydraulics and operator interfaces with lower running costs and longer service lives, while enjoying the peripheral integration and ease of use typically found in a microcontroller (MCU) based system.

In the competitive heavy equipment market, OEMs often turn to Controller Area Network (CAN) serial communications networks to meet their customers' ever-increasing standards in areas ranging from throughput based performance and operator safety to environmental regulations.

As part of the extensive system of easy-to-use software tools, powerful programming environment, input/output (I/O) modules, graphical terminals and joysticks software and hardware modules, the Plus 1 systems allows manufacturers of mobile equipment to design CAN based electronic control systems that provide fast closed-loop, real-time performance with increased reliability.

Using the Plus 1 system, design engineers can select from a library of software control object and modular control hardware to build a system scaled to their specific needs.

TI's DSP-based F2810 and 2812 controllers provide eight of these Plus 1 modules with an integrated processing core to control the system's transmissions, drivetrains and valve controls.

Functionality also extends to controlling equipment such as blades, grippers and buckets as well as hydraulic and electronic control steering.

'We needed a cost effective controller that could offer enough performance to implement complex control systems in software'.

'The F2810 and F2812 controllers provided us with 150MIPS to handle the most sophisticated algorithms while still oversampling analogue inputs for increased precision at the same time something we could not have achieved with most of the MCUs we considered', said Dan Ricklefs, Product Portfolio Manager, Sauer-Danfoss.

'F28x answered our needs: the high level of integration reduces our development time and costs while giving our customers the scalability and flexibility to build modular control systems with the exact performance, service and operating functions they require'.

By customising electronic controls for systems in software, OEMs allow customers greater flexibility in the overall operation of their machinery.

For example, designers can program industrial sweepers in different profiles, optimising them to operate in a quiet mode during the morning hours and in a high-performance mode during the afternoon.

Aside from this system noise level against performance profile, additional profiles for customisation include fuel efficiency against performance profiles and drive train aggressiveness profiles.

Because the design is done in software, operating parameters can be fine tuned for optimal machine performance.

F2810 and F2812 controllers' flexible system design was an immediate draw for Sauer-Danfoss.

Plus 1 enables the development of a wide scope of control-oriented products, with equipment applications in fields such as material handling, forestry, agriculture, construction, road building and utility vehicles.

The F28x controller's unique flexibility to control this range of design systems reduces board space and system cost, leading to simpler, more cost-effective designs.

In addition, minimising the number of different processors in the system lets the Sauer-Danfoss design teams focus on innovation and improvement, rather than on space constraints and issues stemming from design complexity.

Based on TI's C/C++ efficient 32bit TMS320C28x DSP core, F2810 and 2812 controllers integrate up to 128Kword of on-chip Flash memory for simple reprogramming during development and in-field software updates.

Optimised event managers include pulse-width modulation (PWM) generators, programmable general-purpose timers and glueless capture encoder interfaces.

The device also features an on-chip, 12bit analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC) with capable throughput of 12.5Msample/s and dual sample-hold, providing fast response for tight control loops.

In addition, all C28x DSPs are supported by a unique IQ math library.

This combination allows designers to port floating-point algorithms to a fixed-point processor in a matter of minutes, far surpassing the tedious and time consuming conversion of math algorithms in traditional fixed-point machines.

Five different on-chip standard communication ports, including CAN, provide simple communication interfaces to hosts, test equipment, displays and other components or networks.

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