For three-phase BLDC motor control
Toshiba Electronics Europe is engineering sample shipments of the AEC-Q100 compliant TB9M030FG, a new addition to the smartMCD series that integrates a microcontroller (MCU) and motor driver. The product is suited to low-speed, sensorless field-orientated control (FOC) of brushless DC (BLDC) motors used in automotive applications, including electric water pumps, oil pumps, fans, and blowers
These automotive systems have become increasingly electrified, and so the motors used need to achieve higher efficiency, lower noise, and a more compact form factor. Additionally, as the number of installed electronic control units (ECUs) increases, reducing component count and minimising board space have become increasingly important.
These trends are driving demand for highly integrated devices that combine an MCU and a motor control gate driver. Sensorless control of three-phase BLDC motors poses challenges in accurately detecting rotor position at low speeds, increasing demand for high-performance sensorless FOC technology capable of delivering stable control from a standstill.
The TB9M030FG integrates a 32-bit MCU with an Arm Cortex-M0 core, 63kB flash memory, 12kB of ROM and 4kB of RAM. The gate driver controls and drives the N-channel power MOSFETs for three-phase BLDC motor operation. The product also includes a local interconnect network (LIN) transceiver and a power system that operates at automotive battery levels. This integrated part is housed in a QFP48 package, measuring 9mm x 9mm, allowing engineers to realise more compact system designs and reduce component count.
The product incorporates Toshiba’s vector engine co-processor, which supports short FOC cycle times, minimises CPU workload, and software program size in motor control applications. Toshiba’s sensorless control technology also enables position FOC control from zero speed through the low-speed range when used with optimised PM-Synchronous motors, such as three-phase BLDC motors with magnetic anisotropy in the rotor, helping to generate reluctance torque due to differences in magnetic reluctance within the motor.
Compared with the conventional high-frequency injection method, this approach can eliminate noise caused by harmonic injection, leading to quieter motor operation and enabling more advanced, sophisticated motor control, making the product suitable for a variety of automotive motor applications.
Toshiba is set to expand its SmartMCD series lineup by incorporating functions required for automotive systems, contributing to the miniaturisation of automotive systems and reducing component count.
