Renesas Simplifies Safe and Power-Efficient Sensor-Less Brushless DC Motor Control Design for Industrial and Home Appliances

Highly Integrated Motor Control ICs and Starter Kit Improve Motor Efficiency by 35 Percent, Reduce Board Size by Up to Half, and Accelerate Motor Control Application Development

TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BLDC–Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today expanded its motor control solutions portfolio with two system-in-package (SiP) solutions to simplify brushless DC (BLDC) motor control design for a wide range of cordless battery-powered applications such as power tools, drones, water pumps, vacuums, cleaning robots, fans, and other systems. Combining multiple functions into an SiP solution, the new RAJ306001 and RAJ306010 motor drive ICs deliver improved low-speed or high-speed rotation and high torque control compared with competitive solutions while minimizing required board space and reducing solution cost. This results in a turnkey design for easy, efficient, and safe BLDC motor control.

The RAJ306001 and RAJ306010 are single-package motor control ICs that control three-phase BLDC motors used in a wide range of battery-powered devices. The ICs integrate an RL78/G1F microcontroller (MCU) and pre-driver into an 8x8mm QFN package. The highly integrated SiP form factor allows customers to eliminate as many as 30 external components shrinking the solution area by up to 50 percent and with lower control system costs.

Designed with heat management in mind, the new ICs feature self-aligned dead time (SADT) to prevent the shoot through and offer adjustable pre-driver output current capacity – up to 500mA – to drive large-capacity MOSFETs, which makes heat dissipation design easier . This allows the ICs to drive MOSFETs at the optimum switching timing – reducing FET switching margin times to approximately 1/10 the time compared with conventional systems and enabling highly efficient motor drive control with reduced heat generation.

“Cordless devices offer many conveniences for users, and with the prevalence of motor-based devices such as power tools cutting the cord, demand is high for motor control solutions that deliver higher output levels, long-term operation, and safety improvements while adhering to size and cost constraints,” said Chris Stephens, Vice President of Communications & Motor Control, Industrial and Communications Business Division at Renesas. “Smaller ,lighter, and more reliable with long life than brushed DC motors, BLDC motors are a very effective solution to these challenges, and we are excited to introduce our new sensor-less motor control ICs, which pack the increased control, high-precision, and high-efficiency levels customers require in a smaller package.”

Domel, Inc., a global supplier of electric motors, vacuum motors, blowers, and components, is integrating Renesas’ new motor control IC technology into a cordless vacuum system.

“By combining Domel and Renesas technologies, we can provide customers complete, competitive and innovation solutions,” said Peter Korošec, President and CEO at Domel. “Our collaboration with Renesas allows us to offer our customers complete vacuum motor systems with best-in-class in performance, quality and reliability such as our first venture – a cordless vacuum solution with over 300W air power performance using our new BLDC vacuum motor and Renesas’ motor drive and battery management solutions that operates up to an hour at full speed between charges.”

The RAJ306001 or RAJ306010 ICs can be combined with Renesas’ complementary analog and power offerings to create comprehensive solutions for a variety of motor control applications. These “Winning Combinations” showcase the unique capabilities of the new motor control ICs, and the breadth and depth of Renesas’ product line-up for applications such as the 24V Cordless Blender and Portable Power Tools. Winning combinations using the RAJ306001 and RAJ306010 will help customers further optimize their solution in terms cost and space critical for these applications.

Key Features of the RAJ306001 and RAJ306010 Motor Control ICs

• Renesas MCU and pre-driver integrated into a single 8×8 mm QFN package, including a charge pump, linear regulators, current detection, programmable slew rate control and BEMF detect circuitry for sensor-less operation
• High integration optimizes board space and reduces control system BOM costs
• Supports operating ranges from 6-30V (RAJ306001) and 6-42V (RAJ306010)
• SADT generator allows MOSFETs to run cooler while maintaining high efficiency
• Sensor-less motor control enables stable operation from low-speed to high-speed rotation and could eliminate the Hall ICs
• Integrated safety functions, including IEC 60730 safety standard support, can detect errors and halt the motor if an error occurs

A new Renesas Solution Starter Kit (RSSK) is also available for developers working on a motor control solution using the RAJ306010 ICs. The new easy-to-use RSSK features a complete evaluation environment that includes a development board, motor, and reference firmware, offering easy motor control debugging and allows customers to immediately begin evaluating their motor control design, executing real-time analysis and tuning to accelerate development.

Availability

The RAJ306001 and RAJ306010 Motor Control IC and RAJ306010 RSSK are available now from Renesas’ worldwide distributors. For more information, please visit: renesas.com/motorcontrolics.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Contacts

Americas
Don Parkman

Renesas Electronics Corporation

+ 1-408-887-4308

don.parkman.xh@renesas.com