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Sunday, February 03, 2019

Microcontroller boost for high-temperature motor controls in the Internet of Things

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

Renesas Electronics has expanded its RX24T and RX24U families of 32bit microcontrollers with high-temperature-tolerant models for motor-control applications that require an expanded operating temperature range. 

As device form factors shrink, the heat challenge is growing for motor-control applications. In industrial machinery and office equipment, as well as home appliances that handle hot air and heated water, circuit boards are increasingly being mounted in high-temperature locations. 

For home appliances such as dishwashers or induction hotplates in particular, demand for designs with larger interior capacity or heating areas is increasing, which restricts the space available for circuit boards. The resulting shift toward circuit board design with a smaller surface area addresses the space constraints but also reduces the board’s capacity to disperse heat, causing the circuit board itself to become quite hot. To address these application needs, the high-temperature-tolerant controllers can operate in high-temperature spaces and on hot circuit boards. The new devices will provide greater flexibility for designers of products that operate in high-temperature environments, enabling the trend toward more compact devices to advance.

The RX24T G Version and RX24U G Version support operating temperatures ranging from −40°C to +105°C.

“Through the IoT, home appliances and industrial machinery are attaining greater functionality based on network connectivity and user interface enhancements and effective use of the limited interior space as well as the higher temperature environments are becoming major issues,” said Akira Denda, Vice President of Renesas’ Industrial Automation Business Division, Industrial Solution Business Unit. “The newest members of the RX24T and RX24U Groups provide the excellent function and performance that RX users have come to expect from their MCUs while addressing the heat tolerance requirements to support safe and flexible equipment design.”

Software can be developed using the RX24T and RX24U CPU cards combined with the 24 V Motor Control Evaluation Kit which enables developers to create motor control applications in less time.

The RX24T and RX24U features a maximum operating frequency of 80 MHz with peripheral functions for motor control such as timers, A/D converter, and analogue circuits that enable efficient control of two brushless DC motors by a single chip.

The RX24T G Version and RX24U G Version are available now in mass production. The RX24T covers 11 models with pin counts ranging from 64 to 100 pins and memory sizes from 128 KB to 512 KB. The RX24U covers six models with pin counts ranging from 100 to 144 pins and memory sizes from 256 KB to 512 KB. (Availability is subject to change without notice.)

www.renesas.com/products/microcontrollers-microprocessors/rx/rx200/rx24t.htmlhttps://www.renesas.com/products/microcontrollers-microprocessors/rx/rx200/rx24u.html.

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