Motor Drives, Robotics & Controls

Current

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: How to run the ACT72350 BLDC motor example

Optimizing BLDC Motor Control Through System Simulation

Siddharth Mohan, Sr. Design Engineer

Why BLDC motors? Electric motors are responsible for roughly 50% of the world’s total electrical energy consumption, according to the European Commission1. Improving motor efficiency not only reduces operational costs but also plays a vital role in lowering global CO₂ emissions. Among available motor te

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/30/2025

X-FAB Expands 180nm XH018 Process with New Isolation Class for Enhanced SPAD Integration

X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE, the leading analog/mixed-signal and specialty foundry, has released a new isolation class within its 180nm XH018 semiconductor process. Designed to support more compact and efficient single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) implementations, this new isolation class enables tighter fun

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/19/2025

Renesas Brings USB-C Rev. 2.4 Support to New Ultra-Low-Power RA2L2 Microcontroller Group

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the RA2L2 microcontroller (MCU) group with ultra-low power consumption and the industry’s first support for the new UCB-C Revision 2.4 standard. Based on a 48-MHz Arm Cortex M23 processor, th

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/10/2025

High-Efficiency GaN Inverter Brings GaN Power to Medium-Voltage Motor Drives

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the release of the EPC9196, a high-performance 25 ARMS, 3-phase BLDC motor drive inverter reference design powered by the EPC2304 eGaN® FET. The EPC9196 is specifically designed for medium-voltage (96 V – 150 V) battery-powered motor drive applications, in

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/10/2025

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Cobotting into the Future

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Welcome to the June issue! We’re less than a month away from the official start of summer, so it’s time to kick back, relax, and give maximum effort (because we haven’t had the summers off since we were kids). But hey, it’s fine to live (and relax) vicariously through our kids, right? We’re

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Electrical Motors Get Powered Up with GaN

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Welcome to the June issue of Power Systems Design Europe. June marks the end of the first half of the year, and so far it has been a busy year for the industry. Personally I’ve been to both APEC in Atlanta and PCIM in Nuremberg, finding out about the latest innovation in the industry. I’ll be writing about th

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: The 8/20 µs current waveform is widely used to test overvoltage devices and originates from UL 1449

Designing to Protect: Industrial Motor Drive Circuits

Jennifer Joseph, Vice President Bourns Protection Division and Jed Boyer, Power Applications Engineer, Bourns

Motor drive circuits employed in a wide range of today’s industrial, commercial, and consumer applications are responsible for controlling the speed, torque, and position of electric motors, enabling precise motion and energy efficiency. However, motor drives are often exposed to electrical threats such as

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: Melexis’ Tactaxis® technology supports the move towards more human-like robotics that can operate closely with humans in applications ranging from industrial cobots and domestic service robots

Unlocking Robotic Intelligence

Julien Ghaye, PhD, Product Line Manager, Robotics at Melexis

As the robotics industry advances into increasingly sophisticated roles, especially within service and humanoid applications, the need for machines that interact with their environments almost as naturally as humans has never been greater. While intelligent control systems lay the foundation for autonomy and pr

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: Current- and voltage-sensing accuracy impacts how precise robotics can perform tasks

Advanced Current and Voltage Sensing Enables Ultra-Precise Robots

Kia Rahbar, marketing manager for isolated converters, Texas Instruments

Robots have become commonplace in industrial applications. However, up until now, their usage has been restricted to tasks that do not require the highest levels of precision. It is hard to imagine a humanoid robot being asked to attempt to thread a needle, or a collaborative robot (cobot) to handle fragile it

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: Comparing power outputs for discrete and IPM MOSFET/IGBT and GaN solutions

The Benefits of GaN in Motor Drive/Inverter Designs

Di Chen, Director of Business Development & Technical Marketing, Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD)

Although gallium nitride (GaN) has been discussed as an interesting solution for inverters and motor drives for ten years, there have been very few real applications of GaN in this sector to date. However, now that GaN has been proven in other applications, such as chargers, its value proposition is now being se

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: 600W washing machine drive built with silicon IGBTs

Motor Drive ICs With Performance, Protection & Bi-Directional Sensing

Llew Vaughan-Edmunds, Senior Director Product Management and Marketing, Navitas

Electric motors and drives are estimated to consume about 45% of the total electricity generated worldwide. That’s equivalent to more than 12,000 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, or about 1,000 times the total output of China’s 5 GW Xinjiang solar farm (the world’s largest), which was connected to the gr

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025

Kevin Parmenter, Director, Applications Engineering. TSC, America

Robotics, Motor Drives and Controls

Kevin Parmenter, Director, Applications Engineering. TSC, America

As of 2023, the global market for motors and drives for robotics was valued at approximately $6.8 billion. It is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% by 2030, fueled by the widespread adoption of automation technologies across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics, ac

. . . Learn More

Date:

06/01/2025