TI Rolls out 32-Bit Motor Controller

Texas Instruments (TI) hasrolled out a family of floating point controllers aimed at boosting real-timeperformance of high-end industrial motors in motion control applications.

Known as Delfino C2834x, the new familyof 32-bit microcontrollers is said to offer more precise control of motortorque and acceleration because it employs a 300-MHz core, 32-bit floatingpoint unit and up to 516 KB on-chip random access memory (RAM).

"In servodrives, customers are looking to improve efficiency and they want to get bettercontrol over multiple motors," says Keith Ogboenyiya, microcontroller managerfor advanced embedded controllers at TI. "With this, they can do it with asingle controller."

TIengineers say their new devices could help with real-time control applicationsfor two reasons: math performance and interrupt latency. They claim the newdevices can do a 32-bit multiply/accumulate in a single cycle, which could bebeneficial in executing control algorithms packed with math calculations. Theyalso say the C2834x incorporates special hardware that enables thecontrollers to quickly handle multiple interrupts, which is critical toenabling them to work without getting bogged down.

Theaddition of 65-picosecond (ps) high resolution pulsewidth modulation (PWM)modules could also boost precision in motion control applications, the companysays.

"Having 65picoseconds of resolution means that you've got that much more granularity toturn on and off your PWM," Ogboenyiya says. "In many applications, such asmotor control, it gives you more resolution, which directly affects motorperformance, torque and acceleration."

TI is targeting the newmicrocontrollers at families of motors because it says the new CPUs arecode-compatible with previous devices. That in turn could allow motor makersto incorporate a single code base across a family of motors and drives. As aresult, TI engineers foresee the basic technology being applied to permanentmagnet and brushless DC motors, as well as servo drives. "Having a system thatis scalable from the high end to the low end is a plus because it saves onR&D dollars and software resources," Ogboenyiya says.

TI Rolls out 32-Bit Motor Controller A