Microchip offers free field oriented control algorithm for new low-cost motor control Digital Signal Controllers
		Microchip has announced 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. Microchip has also announced 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.
Key Facts: • 10 New 28- and 44-pin Motor Control Digital Signal Controllers • Up to 128Kbytes of Flash; 3-Phase PWM Controller and Separate PWM • New PICtail™ Plus Motor Control Daughter Card for Explorer 16 Board • Software for Power Factor Correction; Field Oriented Control and Back EMF Filtering

The 10 new devices bring Microchip’s total count of motor control DSCs featuring 3-phase motor control PWMs up to 36 devices. The newly announced devices come in packages as small as 6x6 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-Analogue Converters (DACs) which can be used for motor noise reduction strategies or audio messaging. A user-selectable 10- or 12-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is also available on chip. In 10-bit mode, the ADC features up to four Sample & Hold circuits that can be triggered simultaneously - especially useful for synchronized sampling strategies to improve control loop performance.

All of the new motor control 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 Microchip’s Web site. The new devices also feature two quadrature encoder interfaces for position-sensing applications.

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.

For demonstration and development, the new PICtail™ Plus Motor Control daughter card (part number AC164128) provides an interface between Microchip’s general-purpose Explorer16 Development board (part number DM240001) and Microchip’s existing High Voltage (part number DM300021) or Low Voltage (part number DM300022) Motor Drive Power Modules. Used with the MPLAB® ICD 2 in-circuit programmer/debugger (DV164005) and Microchip’s free MPLAB Integrated Development Environment, these tools comprise a complete motor control development environment supporting the whole dsPIC33 motor control family for both sensor and sensor-less control algorithms.

The application notes and related software are all available today as free downloads from the Microchip Web site.

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