SIMPLE SWITCHER®: LM46002PWP EVM by TI - Review

Table of contents

RoadTest: SIMPLE SWITCHER®: LM46002PWP EVM by TI

Author: alexev

Creation date:

Evaluation Type: Evaluation Boards

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: None.

What were the biggest problems encountered?: The size of the board and lack of fixing holes didn't made it a good demonstation/implementation candidate.

Detailed Review:





PRESENTATION:


  The Texas Instruments LM46002EVM evaluation module helps designers evaluate the operation and performance of the LM46002 wide-input voltage Simple Switcher® buck regulator. The device offers configurability in a 1-V to 28-V output voltage, synchronous rectification and a 200-kHz to 2.2-MHz adjustable frequency range. It also offers external frequency synchronization, power good (PG) flag, and a precision enable to program undervoltage lockout (UVLO) and internal compensation. The LM46002EVM is configured for an output voltage of 3.3 V/5 V and a switching frequency of 500 kHz.

 

UNBOXING:


  The package is well protected with plastic foam, electrostatic bag for the board, and also contains a short guide with links to TI website,  FCC regulatory info., warranty and another one with safety warnings and terms for usage (nothing fancy).


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    The one i've got is rated for an input from a 60V/2A DC power supply, so it's a good fit for small-medium power electronic applications. The biggest problem is finding a DC adaptor with a minimum of 1A, if not, i would have to use a regulated laboratory DC p.s.

    Had to add some wires aswell to I/O screw headers as i'm not a "solder the wires" guy (soldering always make the wire terminals break easily).



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     After a closer inspection over the board and over the TI datasheets, it seems that this is more of a hybrid evaluation-bread-board rather than a simple regulator, giving you the possibility to tinker with it by adding external components (reference voltage resistors and filtering caps as well as optional frequency tuning and voltage selection).





SPECS AND FEATURES:


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APPLICATIONS:

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ELECTRIC SCHEMATIC/EMI graph:

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TESTING AND MEASUREMENTS:



UNDER DEVELOPMENT

Anonymous
  • Update: special implemmentation of the "Simple Switcher" would regard powering of microrobotic applications for precise operation like gripping and cell manipulation.

  • I'm still testing it, it's a more complex board than i've anticipated. My testing is mainly on 2.0 usb hubs (5V regulated) in conjunction with a 12V2A DC adapter and for powering RPi wi-fi donge, mouse, keyboard, printer and an external HDD (the biggest problem for me yet - power consumption). All in all, i have to get a stable 5V power source with 500mA per usb port for powering everything i mentioned.

    Second stage of testing is measuring input/output voltage, ripple voltage, spikes and harmonics and voltage drops, to better highlight the precision and stability of the LM regulator.

    Third stage would be final implementation.

  • Bench power supply for the moment

  • Are you going to power it up and review it operationally, this is a nice unboxing and review of its published specifications but I look forward to seeing how others are testing this puppy and how well it performs for them

  • Ok. What did you use for 60 Hz DC 2 amp input? I like the pictures.image