Texas Instruments (TI) has
rolled out a family of floating point controllers aimed at boosting real-time
performance of high-end industrial motors in motion control applications.
Known as Delfino C2834x, the new family
of 32-bit microcontrollers is said to offer more precise control of motor
torque and acceleration because it employs a 300-MHz core, 32-bit floating
point unit and up to 516 KB on-chip random access memory (RAM).
"In servo
drives, customers are looking to improve efficiency and they want to get better
control over multiple motors," says Keith Ogboenyiya, microcontroller manager
for advanced embedded controllers at TI. "With this, they can do it with a
single controller."
TI
engineers say their new devices could help with real-time control applications
for two reasons: math performance and interrupt latency. They claim the new
devices can do a 32-bit multiply/accumulate in a single cycle, which could be
beneficial in executing control algorithms packed with math calculations. They
also say the C2834x incorporates special hardware that enables the
controllers to quickly handle multiple interrupts, which is critical to
enabling them to work without getting bogged down.
The
addition of 65-picosecond (ps) high resolution pulsewidth modulation (PWM)
modules could also boost precision in motion control applications, the company
says.
"Having 65
picoseconds of resolution means that you've got that much more granularity to
turn on and off your PWM," Ogboenyiya says. "In many applications, such as
motor control, it gives you more resolution, which directly affects motor
performance, torque and acceleration."
TI is targeting the new
microcontrollers at families of motors because it says the new CPUs are
code-compatible with previous devices. That in turn could allow motor makers
to incorporate a single code base across a family of motors and drives. As a
result, TI engineers foresee the basic technology being applied to permanent
magnet and brushless DC motors, as well as servo drives. "Having a system that
is scalable from the high end to the low end is a plus because it saves on
R&D dollars and software resources," Ogboenyiya says.
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