Industrial motors are becoming popular, MCU architecture has multiple advantages

[Introduction] Although the field of motor control is not as popular as consumer electronics, in many applications, you must agree that the motor does have its existence, from the family to the industrial environment, without the need for a motor to drive the relevant Features. In the industrial environment, motors are an indispensable function. Keywords: motor STMicroelectronics MCU

Although the field of motor control is not as popular as consumer electronics, in many applications, you must agree that the motor does have its existence, from the home to the industrial environment, without the need for a motor to drive the relevant functions. In the industrial environment, motors are an indispensable function.

Yang Zhenglian, ST Product Marketing Manager. Photography: Yao Jiayang

ST (STMicroelectronics) product marketing manager Yang Zhenglian said that in the industrial field, the motor is hidden in a considerable number of applications, such as boilers, conveyor belts, intake, exhaust and cranes, for example. There is a need for a motor. As for our common robots, not to mention, each joint requires motor control, so industrial motors generally have quite strong growth momentum.

Yang Zhenglian also added that the design and discussion of brushless DC motors accounted for about 70% of the customer base in the current customer base. The reason is that brushless DC is relatively easy to control, not only low noise but also relatively energy-saving. It is well received in the field of home appliances in daily life, and the trend of brushless DC characteristics has begun to blow into the field of industrial motors.

However, in the face of many different chip architecture operators actively rushing into the industrial motor field, Yang Zhenglian believes that the MCU (microcontroller) architecture far surpasses FPGA (programmable logic gate) in terms of development difficulty, import cost and expansion capability. Array) architecture. For example, he pointed out that taking the conveyor belt as an example, the light is different in material and weight, and the smoothness, speed and accuracy of the conveyor belt will be different. This must be done through the adjustment of the parameters. MCU There is considerable advantage in the speed of adjustment in this regard.

Yang Zhenglian also bluntly said that because of the different processing capabilities of ARM's Cortex-M4 to M0, the corresponding motor system will also be different. Generally speaking, the fan or brushless DC motor adopts the M0 architecture, but it is sufficient. For motor systems with high cost or emphasis on parameter adjustment and accuracy, the M4 is the ideal choice. He further mentioned that because the motor has different system parameters in different application fields, in order to preserve the design flexibility of the system, it is unlikely that the MCU and the drive component (Driver) designed to drive the motor have the possibility of integration. .

Yang Zhenglian also agreed that the accuracy of current and voltage supply is indeed a matter of motor control, but he stressed that although the peripheral components of MOSFETs and IGBTs are of importance, digital control itself is the most important key, so The analog power circuit and digital control can still be distinguished from two levels, which is relatively simple. However, in the future, when power management is beginning to move toward digitalization, Yang Zhenglian revealed that it is also feasible to use MCU for power system management. In other words, if motor control is optimized, motor speed, angle accuracy and even power supply. On the supply side, the actual system design can be completed with two MCUs.