Motor drive demonstration powered by gallium nitride

4th May 2021

Alex Lynn

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EPC has announced the availability of the EPC9146, a 400W motor drive demonstration. The EPC9146 power board contains three independently controlled half bridge circuits, featuring the EPC2152 monolithic ePower Stage with integrated gate driver, 80V maximum device voltage, 15A (10 ARMS) maximum output current.

It can operate under full load with PWM frequency up to 3MHz. The inverter board measures just 81x75mm and achieve an efficiency of greater than 98.4% at 400W output power.

The EPC9146 can be paired with individually designed mating boards allowing the user to control the power board directly through various mainstream microcontroller boards leveraging existing resources for quick development. The EPC9146 can be configured to support multiple applications including three-phase motor drives for robotics, drones, e-bikes, e-scooters, multiphase interleaving buck converters, and full-bridge converters.

“eGaN FETs and integrated circuits provide the fast switching, small size, and low cost needed to further reduce the size and weight of BLDC motors, reduce audible noise, improve torque for faster reaction times, and increase efficiency,” said Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC. “The EPC9146 is an ideal example of the capabilities of the integrated power stage, EPC2152, to expand the application areas that can take advantage of the design simplification and performance improvements that GaN offers.”

The EPC9146 demonstration board is priced at $326.52 each.

The EPC9146KITA which also includes the microcontroller mating board featuring Microchip’s dsPIC33EP-MC digital signal controller (DSC) is priced at $555.98 each.