A Low Voltage BLDC Motor Drive Inverter Using a Monolithic GaN ePowe(TM) Stage
Conference: PCIM Europe digital days 2020 - International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
07/07/2020 - 07/08/2020 at Deutschland
Proceedings: PCIM Europe digital days 2020
Pages: 7Language: englishTyp: PDF
Authors:
de Rooij, Michael; Perez, Brandon; Zhang, Yuanzhe (Efficient Power Conversion, USA)
Qiu, Henry (Efficient Power Conversion, China)
Abstract:
Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are a popular choice and are finding increasing application in robotics and drones. Such applications have special requirements such as lightweight, small size, low torque ripple, and precision control. To address these needs, inverters powering the motors need to operate at higher frequency, but require additional filtering to prevent excessive losses, EMI generation, and excess mechanical wear related to high frequency common mode and induced current flow. GaN FETs and IC’s offer the ability to operate at much higher frequencies in hard-switching topologies without incurring significant losses. In this work we introduce a new monolithic GaN half-bridge ePower Stage IC that is capable of 1 MHz switching and up to 15 ARMS load current per phase. This very high frequency reduces filtering requirements thus reducing size and weight in addition to ensuring high precision control needed for robotics.