TI's new Stellaris® ARM® Cortex™-M microcontroller motor control kit spins
and tunes three-phase brushless motors in minutes
New motor control kit combines a high-performance Stellaris®
microcontroller with TI's innovative InstaSPIN™-BLDC solution
Press Release
December 12, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Adding to its growing portfolio of motor control solutions,
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced a new motor control kit for spinning three-phase brushless
motors with a Stellaris® Cortex™-M3 microcontroller (MCU). The new
DK-LM3S-DRV8312 motor control kit features a 32-bit Stellaris
LM3S818 microcontroller and
DRV8312 motor driver
to spin sub-50V, 6.5A three-phase brushless DC (BLDC) motors in minutes.
The easy-to-use kit is a low-cost solution for high-volume motor control applications, including low-voltage fans, blowers,
pumps, tools and compressors. For more information, visit www.ti.com/stellaris-motor-pr-lp.
The Stellaris LM3S818 controlCARD module included in the kit has the required firmware pre-programmed
in flash memory to run TI's new InstaSPIN™-BLDC solution out-of-the-box, along with other customer-developed applications,
when plugged into the DRV8312 motor driver base board.
The InstaSPIN-BLDC solution is an innovative and free
back-electromagnetic field (EMF) technique that spins any motor in seconds without knowledge of any motor parameters.
Unlike traditional back-EMF zero crossing techniques, InstaSPIN-BLDC extends sensorless operation down to lower speeds
and exhibits high immunity to miscommutation caused by rapid speed changes.
Reliable motor start-up has been demonstrated over a wide range of conditions, including full torque.
Features and benefits of the Stellaris motor control kit:
• The controlCARD module with Stellaris LM3S818 MCU features 50 MHz performance, 64 KB flash,
8 KB SRAM and 6 PWM generators, allowing developers to create complex motion control designs with a tiny footprint
• DRV8312 motor driver provides the highest current output in its class, delivering up to 6.5A, without the need
for a costly external heat sink. It is a reliable, fully protected motor driver with cycle-by-cycle over-current,
over-temperature, cross-conduction and under-voltage protection, reducing design complexity and board space and
ensuring higher system reliability
• Kit includes a 24V three-phase BLDC motor operating at up to 3.5A continuous
• Supporting software includes StellarisWare® software with TI's IQmath Library for easy fixed to floating point
conversion and InstaSPIN-BLDC software for quick and reliable motor start-up on any motor
• Accelerate system design with intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) powered by third party Crosshairs Embedded.
Customize the existing GUI or create your own with easy drag and drop development by downloading Crosshairs Interface Designer.
Pricing and availability
Developers can get started immediately with the DK-LM3S-DRV8312 development kit for $299 USD
at www.ti.com/stellaris-motor-pr-es.
Those who have already purchased the DRV8312-C2-KIT,
which includes the DRV8312 and C2000™ Piccolo™ MCU, can swap out the existing controlCARD with
the Stellaris LM3S818 controlCARD module for $49 USD at
www.ti.com/stellaris-motor-pr-es2.
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