Microchip launches AVR EB family Of microcontrollers to reduce NVH in BLDC applications
As electronic devices evolve, more motors are being utilised across consumer, automotive and industrial markets. Many designers select brushless DC (BLDC) motors to increase device longevity and lessen noise, vibration and harshness. Historically, achieving these benefits required sophisticated control algorithms and waveforms that were outside the capability of cost-optimised controllers. Microchip has launched its AVR EB family of microcontrollers (MCUs) to offer a solution for addressing NVH and efficiency in a wide variety of cost-sensitive applications.
AVR EB MCUs can adjust speed, timing and waveform shape—creating sinusoidal and trapezoidal waveforms—to improve the smoothness of motor operations, reduce noise and increase efficiency at high speeds. These adjustments can be made on the fly, with near-zero latency, using the AVR EB MCU’s unique set of on-chip peripherals that enable multiple functions with minimal programming. The result is a reduction in code complexity, faster response to changes in operating conditions and lower overall BOM cost since several tasks, such as reading environmental sensors and serial communication, can be performed independent of the CPU. Additionally, the devices’ small form factor (as small as 3 mm x 3 mm) enables them to be mounted directly to the motor for a compact control solution.
“Many of the problems observed in a wide range of devices, from automotive seat motors to cooling fans in data servers, are caused by a low-quality, low-cost controller that can’t reliably reduce vibration and smooth motor function,” said Greg Robinson, corporate vice president of Microchip’s 8-bit MCU business unit. “The AVR EB family of MCUs can increase system smoothness and energy efficiency, without resorting to a higher-cost control solution.”
