Texas Instruments has sponsored the following story
Many motion control applications manage wide ranges of loads and speeds. Fans and conveyors, escalators and automotive windows, for example, all face these motion control challenges. Some applications, like medical or dental motor control, demand minimal disturbance in addition to varying speeds and loads.
To simplify the design challenges inherent in these applications, TI has developed InstaSPINTM MOTION, a motion software technology that combines their current InstaSPIN-FOCTM with the SpinTACTM motion control suite. InstaSPIN-MOTION is embedded on the 32-bit floating point C2000TM PiccoloTM microcontroller family.
InstaSPIN-MOTION controls motor torque, speed, and motion while allowing for single parameter tuning, complex motion, sequencing, and sensored or sensor-less rotor position feedback. The software provides the motor and motion control expertise, allowing the designer to focus on the application.
InstaSPIN-MOTION Architecture
InstaSPIN-MOTION = InstaSPIN-FOC + SpinTAC Motion Control Suite
The major advantages of embedding the software solution on C2000 Piccolo microcontrollers include:
i. simplifying the design
ii. accelerating the time to market for designs
iii. enhancing the performance of current designs
iv. cost
For example, TI application engineers worked with a customer that had design issues with their commercial exercise treadmill. Rather than replacing the existing motor, the company applied TI's InstaSPIN-MOTION technology.
The result was that the motor performance was improved for the entire speed profile range, solving the design problems without replacing the existing motor. The InstaSPIN solution was simple because of its single parameter approach to motor control tuning over the treadmill's entire range of operation. The engineers made a video of this application that shows the performance challenges and demonstrates the advantages of InstaSPIN technology for this application.
If you want to dig a bit deeper into how the InstaSPIN technology works, TI provides an extensive user's guide and technical reference as well as an introductory training video.
TI has also released the DRV8312-69M-KIT evaluation kit for working with control of three-phase brushless DC and brushless AC motors using InstaSPIN-FOC and InstaSPIN-MOTION. The sensor-less field-oriented-control (FOC) demonstrated in the evaluation board can be used in driving pumps, gates, lifts, fans, robotics, and automation applications.
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The included controlCARD is based on a C2000 Piccolo microcontroller and includes UART, SPI, and CAN connectivity. There is also a high-voltage and high voltage kit available, which uses all of the same software and documentation.
There are a wide range of applications based on the advantages of InstaSPIN and the C2000 microcontroller. The following chart sets out a few ideas.
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Application Characteristic Accurate speed control Undergoes multiple state transitions/dynamic changes |
Examples - Medical mixing |
By using the core algorithms of the InstaSPIN motor control technology embedded in the C2000 microcontroller ROM, designers have access to robust motor control across dynamic speed and load ranges. This eliminates the complex tuning of traditional PID-based controller approaches – actually replacing complex PID tuning with single-parameter tuning.
The advantages of InstaSPIN-FOC allow for designs with higher dynamic performance, higher efficiency, lowered acoustical noise, and lower cost with improved reliability, if implemented without sensors. The combination of the C2000 Piccolo microcontrollers and the InstaSPIN-MOTION software technology can address many current product shortcomings by enabling a high level of control capability very quickly.
Texas Instruments has sponsored promotion of their motion control solutions on ENGINEERING.com. They have no editorial input to this post - all opinions are mine. Bruce Schreiner