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Renesas is combining its experience in applied motor control, particularly for consumer and industrial applications, with the power of the Arm processor ecosystem, to offer a hardware, tools, and software solution to solve the challenges faced by design engineers.
The solution is in three parts: An Arm-based microcontroller with extensive specialist features for high-precision motor control; evaluation board with which designers can rapidly explore practical motor-control strategies; and a software development environment in which they can use worked examples and extensive libraries to produce motor control code.
This article introduces the RA6T1, the first MCU group for motor control of the Arm-based RA Family, which was launched in October and is now in production, and its solutions.
The RA6T1 MCU
The RA6T1 group supports motor control applications, providing Cortex-M4-level performance with ready-to-use motor control software. Its PWM timer and advanced analogue circuits make it easy to implement high-precision and safe motor control while minimizing the design’s bill of materials.
The RA6T1 includes a 120MHz Arm Cortex-M4 processor with an associated floating-point unit, for high-accuracy computation. The part has 64kB of high-speed parity-protected SRAM, and either 256 or 512kB of flash memory for code. There is also 8kB of data flash memory.
The Evaluation System for RA6T1 Group
In the following, I will show you the RA6T1 Motor Control Evaluation System, which consists of the RA6T1 Renesas Solution Starter Kit (RSSK) and the Renesas Motor Workbench.
To begin with, I will give you a brief overview of the RA6T1 Motor RSSK and the Renesas Motor Workbench.
The RA6T1 motor RSSK is designed for motor control immediately after opening the box. It includes the RA6T1 MCU (Arm® Cortex®-M4 core @ 120MHz with 512KB Flash) CPU card, inverter board, and BLDC motor and cables. The power supply is not included. You will need to connect to your own power supply, separately.
The Renesas Motor Workbench enables engineers to take advantage of the company’s experience in motor control. It is particularly useful in implementing sensorless vector control of brushless DC motors at high efficiency and low cost. This complex control method can be challenging for beginners to work with, but the tool includes standardized procedures and tutorials to simplify the process. Renesas Motor Workbench can display waveforms, like an oscilloscope, as well as motor control variables while driving the motor.
By using the Analyzer and Tuner functions, it is possible to improve the efficiency of your motor control equipment during development. Sample software, application notes (sensorless vector control), schematics, and more can be obtained from the RA6T1 motor RSSK product page.
Next, let's take a look at how to use the RA6T1 Motor Control Evaluation System in three simple steps.
Step 1: Set up your hardware
- Check the jumper pin settings on the RA6T1 CPU card.
- Connect the motor and various cables.
- Connect the stabilized power supply, the motor moves.
After powering on, the rotation direction can be changed by moving the volume resistance of the inverter board.
Step 2: Software Downloads
- The RA6T1 CPU card is equipped with an on-board debugger.
- When writing a sample program, it is possible to write by connecting the RA6T1 CPU card and PC using s USB cable connection.
- The sample program is available on the RA6T1 motor RSSK product page.
Sample programs are available in a buildable state. After launching the project, you can immediately write the sample program to RA6T1.
Step 3: Renesas Motor Workbench Installation
- The Renesas Motor Workbench is available for download from the RA6T1 motor RSSK product page.
- The downloaded file contains an installer, which you can install.
- The hardware setup is completed by connecting the RA6T1 CPU card and the inverter board with a cable and connecting the inverter board and PC with a USB cable.
The setup of the evaluation environment is now complete.
What did you think? With Renesas' RA6T1 Motor Solution, it's easy for anyone to get started with motor control evaluations. I hope you'll give it a try.
For information to help you with your motor control design using a RA6T1 MCU, please visit:
RA6T1 motor RSSK product page: https://www.renesas.com/ra/rssk-ra6t1
RA6T1 product page: https://www.renesas.com/ra/ra6t1
RA6T1 motor RSSK introduction video: https://www.renesas.com/support/videos/ra6t1-motor-control-rssk-intro.html
RA6T1 motor RSSK setup video: https://www.renesas.com/support/videos/ra6t1-motor-control-rssk-setup.html
Note: The RA6TI will soon be available for purchase at RS, check back for updates.