Blog

CNC Fun: Powering up a Roland EGX-300 Desktop Engraver

shabaz

Introduction The Roland EGX-300 is an ancient (several decades old) CNC machine intended for applications such as engraving door signs. It cannot handle material larger than 305 x 230 mm. The machine has the footprint of a washing machine, and is abo...
- 2 Aug 2025
Replacement alternative to an NTE263 power transistor

colporteur

I am in need of an NT 263 darlington-pair power transistor. The component is responsible for providing a variable output on a DC model train power pack. I have had limited success in finding something at a reasonable price for a Canadian. I...
- 22 Feb 2023
Poll Seeking Feedback on the Information Provided on Semiconductors for Motor Drives

rscasny

I am seeking your feedback to determine how relevant the information provided on the following page is for an engineer. Here's the link. Semiconductors for Motor Drives Thank you In Advance Randall--element14 team
- 20 Apr 2022
Benefits of Infineon's AURIX™︎ TC4x MCU's for automotive electric-electronic (E/E) architectures

Randy Scasny

The proliferation of connected vehicles has made them vulnerable to security challenges as it is hard to unite automotive and security systems in real-time. The automotive industry lacks the competence in software engineering to satisfy functional an...
- 8 Mar 2022
Next-Generation Automotive Actuator and Sensor Microcontrollers

Randy Scasny

Actuators and Sensors are the crucial components for determining system performance. Systems in the automotive domain, such as power train applications, are prolific users of these devices. Sensors measure physical parameters such as temperature, flo...
- 8 Mar 2022
Hello Motor!

mbrown

Precision. Motor. Control. Enter those three words into your favorite search engine and you'll be happy to see hundreds of promising results. Most claim to demonstrate some combination of low-cost hardware platform, ease-of-use, and precision. W...
- 13 Apr 2021
Mitsubishi Releases FR-E800 Series Variable Frequency Drive

rscasny

Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc. released the newest addition to its lineup of variable frequency drives, the FR-E800 Series. The micro-drive features a built-in PLC, and will include safety functionality meeting IEC 61508 standards and support v...
- 15 May 2020
ABB introduces ACS6080 drive with MP3C technology for high performance motor control

rscasny

ABB has expanded its drives offering to include the ACS6080 medium voltage (MV) drive for critical applications. The new drive introduces a breakthrough control technology, developed by ABB, that brings high performance motor control to demanding pro...
- 15 May 2020
HighPowerMotorFeatherWing - a motor driver board for the JECCbot mini and other robots

bernhardmayer

Robot platforms like the Open Source Outdoor Robot platform JECCbot mini need a decent motor driver board. The requirements are quite standard and should be similar with every other robot platform: Requirements drive two motors with m...
- 24 Feb 2020
Trinamic Stepper Motor Controller TMC2300 - C++ Custom Firmware Pt 3: Try to Replicate Evaluation Kit Conversation

Jan Cumps

Follow up from Pt 2: Wire Up and Comms Analysis: I don't have good news yet. Even though the data I send looks like the data I captured from the evaluation kit, I haven't been able to get an answer from the TMC2300.Because I've made ...
- 16 Feb 2020
Trinamic Stepper Motor Controller TMC2300 - C++ Custom Firmware Pt 2: Wire Up and Comms Analysis

Jan Cumps

I'm road testing Trinamic TMC2300 EVAL KIT (2-PH Stepper Motor). It's their latest design that targets battery powered devices.In this post: part 2 of a custom program to control the driver over UART.This series of posts is an attempt to use the TMC2...
- 16 Feb 2020
Trinamic Stepper Motor Controller TMC2300 - C++ Custom Firmware Pt 1: Datagram Classes

Jan Cumps

The firmware has drastically changed between this post and the next. I'm not updating what I've changed here, and left the firmware attached. For those interested, it can show the evolution of a design in progress.The biggest change is that w...
- 9 Feb 2020
Trinamic Stepper Motor Controller TMC2300 - Evaluation Kit and IDE Functionality, basic functionality

Jan Cumps

I'm road testing Trinamic TMC2300 EVAL KIT (2-PH Stepper Motor). It's their latest design that targets battery powered devices.In this post: use the kit and software to evaluate the driver.This series of posts reviews the IDE functionality with the d...
- 7 Feb 2020
Trinamic Stepper Motor Controller TMC2300 - UART Interface

Jan Cumps

I'm road testing Trinamic TMC2300 EVAL KIT (2-PH Stepper Motor). It's their latest design that targets battery powered devices.In this post: the UART protocol used to control the driver.This post reviews the lowest level of integration with the devic...
- 26 Jan 2020
A Primer on Direct Torque Control

rscasny

Electric motors are often at the spearhead of modern production systems, whether in metal processing lines, robotic machining cells, or building and office automation systems. The motors we see today have certainly benefited from advances in electric...
- 13 Sep 2019
Get Your Motor Spinning with i.MX RT Crossover Processors

kjachim

Motor control is not a new topic, but like most technologies, it continues to evolve. Luckily, NXP has a broad portfolio of MCUs to support the next-generation of motor control designs. For example, many new products enabling some form of...
- 9 Apr 2019
Sensorless FOC of AC Induction Machines

simonj

Although efficiency is key these days there are more niches for the AC induction motor to fit in as you may think. Most of the induction machines are tied to the grid to run on a more or less precise and constant speed but by adding intelligent elect...
- 21 Jun 2017
Who controls your drone?

simonj

Born out of a combination of personal enthusiasm for drones and customer questions on low inductance or modular permanent magnet motors I did some test with some of these machines. For my own drone design I chose the AGM MT3510 which can easily consu...
- 14 Jun 2017
Do you know your motor?

simonj

InstaSpin promises to “Spin your motor in minutes” but how can I spin my three phase motor in minutes if I do not even know what its parameters are? So let’s start with identifying your machine. InstaSpin offers an automated identification process to...
- 9 Jun 2017
FOC Motor Control - Can it be good if it is easy?

simonj

I work for Texas Instruments since 2013 and throughout my career I was doing customer support for our motor control products so I wanted to share some of my experience and insights in the solution offerings of TI. If you look at the TI motor con...
- 8 Jun 2017
Current Shunt Op-Amp Selection

simonj

Any motor control solution requires a more or less precise measurement of the phase currents. Especially sensorless motor drives for three phase motors rely heavily on accurate measurement results. The easiest and hence most common method to measure ...
- 30 May 2017