Embedded motion control modules optimise power

22nd March 2021

Alex Lynn

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TRINAMIC Motion Control, now part of Maxim Integrated Products, has introduced two new sets of slot type, embedded motion control modules and development tools that feature a real-time, sensor-free control technology. These complete controller/driver modules keep the motor control system’s communications traffic low by processing real-time critical functions on-board and offloading demand on the system processor.

The control technology optimises the power drawn by industrial motors, reducing wasted power by 50% and enabling the use of three times bigger industrial stepper and brushless direct current (BLDC) motors (up to 7A).

Two-Phase Bipolar Stepper Solutions: The 5A RMS TMCM-1230 and 6.5A RMS TMCM-1231 are integrated single-axis controller/driver slot type modules. Each powers 2-phase bipolar stepper motors and they share the same form factor and pinout for easy exchange. Both modules employ Trinamic’s sensor-free technology to detect the power demands of the motor in real time, and then instantly adjust the current, reducing power by more than 50% compared to competitive solutions.

Field Oriented Control Solutions: Trinamic also offers the 5A RMS TMCM-1637 and 7A RMS TMCM-1638 field-oriented motor controller/driver slot-type module that add Hall and ABN encoder capability for field oriented control (or vector control). These modules support single-phase direct current (DC) motors, two-phase bipolar stepper motors and three-phase BLDC motors.

Free Integrated Development Environment (IDE): To rapidly evaluate system performance and speed time to market, design engineers can use Trinamic’s free IDE software together with the single-axis TMCM-BB1 or four-axis TMCM-BB4 baseboards controlled with the TMCM-0930-TMCL microcontroller module.

Key advantages

Less Power and Cost to Drive Bigger Motors: Integrated critical control reduces compute demand on the processor while reducing wasted drive power by 50 percent – permitting use of larger motors.
Easy Upgrade: The modules share the same form factor and pinout for easy exchange without rewiring to an external baseboard.
Accelerate Time to Market: Intuitive integrated development environment helps the designer develop and test the system quickly.

“Offloading the processor of real-time critical calculations leaves processing power for other critical components driving intelligence to the edge, such as sensors, encoders, and cloud-based data transfers for status and health checks,” said Jonas Proeger, Director of Business Management at Trinamic. “Combined with the flexibility of a shared, swappable form factor, the modules offer an easy and straight-forward solution for powerful control of up to three times bigger motors.”

All products are available now. Pricing and ordering information are available through Trinamic authorised distributors.