Quick and easy low-cost control of three-phase motors

Developers can control three-phase motors in minutes with the new ultra-low-cost C2000 Piccolo F2806x InstaSPIN-MOTION LaunchPad development kit from Texas Instruments (TI). It provides a modular, quick-launch development tool containing everything needed - MCU, emulation and, for the first time, InstaSPIN-MOTION software - for engineers to easily and effectively design complete real-time motion control systems with optimized sensored or sensorless motion control. Built on TI’s established InstaSPIN-FOC motor control solution, InstaSPIN-MOTION is uniquely designed to reduce controller tuning to a single parameter, optimize complex motion sequences and track desired trajectories with unmatched accuracy across operating ranges. The C2000 InstaSPIN-MOTION LaunchPad incorporates all features from the previously introduced InstaSPIN-FOC LaunchPad in addition to new InstaSPIN-MOTION features, enabling developers to take their designs to the next level, says the company. “With the introduction of our C2000 Piccolo F2806x InstaSPIN-MOTION LaunchPad, we are making it even easier for our motion control customers to experiment with and implement our proven InstaSPIN-MOTION and InstaSPIN-FOC control solutions,” said Chris Clearman, worldwide manager, motor control solutions, TI. “Our trusted InstaSPIN and LaunchPad solutions - the result of more than 20 years of TI’s investment in motion control technology - enable customers to create differentiated products and accelerate time to market.” Features : 1 - Eliminate motion control challenges in traditional motor systems by utilizing the integrated 90-MHz C2000 Piccolo TMS320F28069M microcontroller (MCU) with on-chip InstaSPIN-MOTION motion control technology. 2 - Leverage InstaSPIN-MOTION SpinTAC components from LineStream Technologies embedded on the ROM of the C2000 F28069M MCU to: IDENTIFY: Ensure optimum control by automatically identifying the real inertia and friction of the system. CONTROL: Minimize effort and reduce complexity with single coefficient tuning. Rapidly test and tune position and/or velocity control from soft to stiff response, defining a controller gain that typically works across the entire operating range of an application. The controller actively estimates and cancels system disturbances in real time, providing maximum performance. MOVE: Produce run-time optimized motion profiles based on start and target position or velocity and system limitations for acceleration, jerk and motion trajectory type. PLAN: Quickly combine various MOVEs with state-based logic. 4 - Achieve sensorless torque or velocity control with the FAST™ algorithm-based sensorless control as well as InstaSPIN-FOC and InstaSPIN-MOTION projects. 5 - Obtain sensored velocity or servo position plus velocity control with encoder feedback and InstaSPIN-MOTION projects. Watch this video to see how this exact technology was used to create a complete two-axis CNC machine with three unique motion profiles in less than one week. 6 - Isolated, real-time JTAG debugging with the on-board XDS100v2 USB to JTAG (and UART) for accessing most input/output pins of the InstaSPIN-MOTION-enabled Piccolo MCU. 7 - Pair with the $49 DRV8301 motor drive BoosterPack for a complete 240W three-phase, brushless DC motor and motion control solution. It includes an intelligent gate-driver, 1.5A step down buck converter, power MOSFETs with NexFET power MOSFET technology, and current sense amps in a small form factor. 8 - Begin software development easily with a free version of TI’s Code Composer Studio integrated development environment. 9 - Quickly and easily evaluate and develop full InstaSPIN-MOTION-based applications using the hardware design package (gerbers, schematics and BOM) and motor control library (modules, drivers, system examples, documentation) included in the MotorWare software infrastructure, which offers latest in C object-oriented and API-based coding techniques and 100+ lab-based projects with robust documentation that lets you explore the features of InstaSPIN-MOTION. MotorWare also offers a customizable universal GUI to instrument any MotorWare project. Third-party support from Altair and Plexim provides more software programming options, says the company.