TEKNIK ELEKTRONIKA

Texas Instruments has introduced the first in a new series of scalable evaluation platforms for motors driver devices. The DRV8412 evaluation kit includes all of the hardware and software needed to operate two brushed DC motors, or a single stepper motor consuming up to 6 A continuous or 12 A peak at 50 V. Potential applications include medical pumps, gate openers, stage lighting, textile manufacturing tools, and industrial or consumer robotics.

  

This 'out of the box' motor control and driver kit includes a DRV8412 motor driver, a real-time control C2000 Piccolo microcontroller controlCARD module, a quickstart GUI, full development source code, the Code Composer Studio (CCStudio) integrated development environment (IDE), two brushed motors, and one stepper motor.

 

A modular control architecture lets designers choose the right level of processing performance for the intended application. In addition to the C2000 controlCARD module, more TI MCU options will be available in 2011.

 

The DRV8412 motor driver with integrated MOSFETs provides up to three times lower on resistance than competing solutions, enabling operating efficiency levels up to 97%, as well as 6 A continuous (12 A peak) current capacity at 50 V with no need for a heat sink. The DRV8412 motor driver also includes advanced on-chip protection, including cycle-by-cycle overcurrent, overtemperature, and undervoltage protection, to reduce design complexity and board space while increasing higher system reliability.

 

C source code and a user-friendly GUI demonstrate voltage and current control of one or two brushed DC motors, as well as speed and index control of a stepper motor, including operation with up to 128 microsteps.

 

Image: Texas Instruments

 

 

More info

Texas Instruments evaluation kit web page



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Car drivers must be able to react quickly to hazards on the road at all times. Dashboard-mounted cameras help keep drivers alert. At the VISION trade fair in Stuttgart, researchers are presenting this system from November 9-11, 2010, in Hall 4, Stand C72.

Those who do a lot of driving know how tiring long car trips and night driving can be. And a simple fraction of a second can decide the difference between life and death. According to the German Road Safety Council e.V. (DVR), one in four highway traffic fatalities is the result of momentary driver drowsiness. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Ilmenau, Germany, have developed an assistant system that tracks a driver's eye movements and issues a warning before the driver has an opportunity to nod off to sleep.

 

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