World's First Outer Loop Control IC Released For Brushless DC and DC Brush Motors

Performance Motion Devices, Inc. (PMD) today announced the availability of Juno® Outer Loop Control ICs, new members of the Juno family of Velocity & Torque Control ICs which provide functions for spindle control, centrifuge control, precision torque control, and a wide variety of other liquid handling and laboratory automation applications. Juno outer loop control ICs are available in a 64-pin TQFP package measuring 12x12 mm. These ICs are available immediately and are priced from $23 depending on motor type controlled and quantity.

The Juno Outer Loop Control IC is a brand-new type of control IC that capitalizes on recent trends in digital logic integration and intelligent algorithm development. This IC is ideal for controlling pressure, temperature, liquid level, magnetic bearings, chemical reaction rate, and other 'outer loop' quantities for medical, industrial, and military applications.

The figure above illustrates a typical application, in this case for a ventilator, where the speed of a Brushless DC (BLDC) motor turbine directly affects the measured chamber pressure. A control host sends a stream of pressure commands to the Juno IC which executes its outer loop function to maintain the desired pressure. The Juno Outer Loop Control IC monitors system parameters at up to 10 kHz, allowing it to tackle even the most demanding control applications.

"PMD's new Juno Outer Loop Control IC is a completely novel product that answers the growing call for integrated control ICs that apply advanced algorithms to control pressure, temperature, chemical reactions, and other critical applications. By integrating outer loop control with motor velocity and torque control functions, what previously may have required as many as three separate ICs can now be achieved in a single compact IC package,“ says Chuck Lewin, Founder and CEO of PMD.

Features and benefits of Juno Velocity Control ICs include:

• 3-phase Brushless DC and DC Brush control
• Programmable outer loop and velocity loop functions
• Deadband and Biquad filtering
• Field Oriented Control (FOC) and Current Loop
• High/low switching bridge amplifier control signals
• Leg current sensing for minimum noise
• Performance trace with filtering enables adaptive control

All Juno Outer Loop Control ICs are available immediately and are priced from $23 depending on motor type controlled and quantity. Juno Developer Kits start at $195.  For more information on Juno Velocity and Torque ICs, visit pmdcorp.com/juno.