Toshiba Extends Support for Efficient Embedded Motion Control with Compact, 32-Bit ARM Micro and Dedicated Starter Kit

Designed for use with three-phase brushless DC and induction motors, the TMPM374FW microcontroller will suit industrial and home appliance applications requiring efficient and accurate field oriented control of fans, pumps and compressors. An integrated hardware vector engine and single-channel programmable motor drive output ensure precision control and rapid response without additional hardware, CPU overhead or time-consuming software development.

Supplied in a compact 10mm x 10mm 44-pin LQFP package and operating from a single 5V supply, the TMPM374 integrates the 80MHz ARM Cortex-M3 core with 128Kbytes of high-efficiency NanoFlash memory; 6Kbytes of RAM; the vector engine; Toshiba’s proprietary PMD3+ programmable motor drive technology; and a 12-bit analogue-to-digital converter. The ADC offers a sub-2µs conversion speed. Eight-channels of 16-bit timer, a watchdog timer, 3-channel SIO/UART and on-chip voltage regulator are also provided in addition to power on reset and oscillation frequency detector functionality. The latter is particular relevant to home appliance designs as it fulfils the basic requirements for the EN/IEC 60730 and 60335 (Class B) safety standards that apply to this class of equipment.

Toshiba’s PMD3+ technology comprises a three-phase PWM generator, dead time controller, protection circuit and ADC timing network and allows complete control of a three-phase motor through a simple register setting. The hardware-based vector engine manages the three-phase current input from the ADC, executes the FOC control algorithm and generates the appropriate PWM gate signals for the inverter. A total processing time of just 9µs (at a core frequency of 80MHz) means that the hardware VE block offers significant performance improvements when compared with a software-based vector control algorithm running on a host microcontroller.

To support the development of applications based on the TMPM374 Toshiba has announced a dedicated modular Starter kit for the microcontroller, which provides everything needed for ‘out-of-box’ evaluation and prototyping. The kit’s contents includes a TMPM374 evaluation board, a 24V three-phase BLDC motor, a suitable drive board, a power supply and a variety of software and documentation including a board support package, source code and application notes.

Using the kit’s PC-based graphical user interface designers can configure key motor parameters and manage and monitor factors such as speed, current and torque. The kit also makes it simple to adapt the design for use with a different motor by using other modules or the customer’s own drive stage.