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Trio of photocouplers drive industrial applications with lower power budgets

Wed, Jul 24, 2019

Three 15Mbits per second photocouplers from Renesas Electronics are designed to withstand the harsh operating environments of industrial and factory automation equipment. They have been developed in response to the trend for higher voltage, compact systems for safety standards and eco-friendly designs that require smaller ICs with lower power consumption. The RV1S9x60A family is claimed to have best-in-class low threshold input current (IFHL) ratings. The RV1S9160A (SO5) operates at 2.0mA, the RV1S9060A (LSO5) operates at 2.2mA and the RV1S9960A (LSDIP8) operates at 3.8mA.

Lower power consumption allows the RV1S9x60A photocouplers to suppress power supply heat generation. Operation at high temperatures, up to 125 degrees C (+110 degrees C for RV1S9960A) saves board space by allowing the photocoupler to be mounted near an IGBT or MOSFET power device. The devices are targeted at DC to AC power inverters, AC servo motors, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), robotic arms, solar and wind input power conditioners, and battery management systems for energy storage and charging.

The RV1S9x60A photocouplers feature high common mode rejection (noise tolerance) up to 50 kV/ micro seconds (minimum) to protect microcontrollers and other I/O logic circuits from high voltage spikes while transferring high-speed signals. The RV1S9x60A family also offers a variety of packages with the smallest footprint for each reinforced isolation (up to 690Vrms), and minimum creepage distances of 4.2 to 14.5mm to ensure safe operation.

The RV1S9160A, RV1S9060A and RV1S9960A photocouplers operate at low voltages, from 2.7 to 5.5V. Isolation voltages are 3,750Vrms (RV1S9160A), 5,000Vrms (RV1S9060A), and 7,500Vrms (RV1S9960A).

High temperature operation from -40°C to +125°C (RV1S9160A and RV1S9060A), and from -40°C to +110°C (RV1S9960A)

The supply current is 2.0mA (max), with a low pulse width distortion at 20 nanoseconds (max). Propagation delay is 60 nanoseconds max and propagation delay skew is 25 nanoseconds max.

The RV1S9x60A 15Mbits per second photocouplers are available now from Renesas Electronics’ worldwide distributors.

Renesas Electronics specialises in microcontrollers, analogue, power and SoC products for a range of automotive, industrial, home electronics, office automation, and information communication technology applications.

http://www.renesas.com

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Arrow Electronics signs agreement with Sensera for IoT location sensors

Wed, Jul 24, 2019

Real-time location and location-aware smart wireless sensor modules from Sensera are now available from Arrow Electronics, following a global agreement signing.

Sensera designs and manufactures end-to-end sensors and services for the IoT, which combines precise proximity detection and tracking in real time with smart IoT sensors.

The agreement ensures that Arrow’s IoT group will provide consultancy and assist with design and delivering sensing systems based on Sensera products, including system integration and deployment. The agreement covers Sensera’s IoT Solutions division and its MicroDevices division.

The distributor was already distributing Nanotron Technologies, Sensera’s IoT division, in some regions. Now, Arrow will provide Sensera’s entire product portfolio to its worldwide customer base for mission-critical applications. Arrow’s technical sales teams and field application engineers will provide customers with design-in and product support, adds the company.

Sensera is an IoT provider that delivers sensor-based products that transform real-time data into meaningful information, action and value. The company designs and manufactures hardware and software across the vertical technology spectrum from MEMS and sensors as well as wireless networked systems and software for the IoT.

Sensera’s MicroDevices division designs and manufactures specialised, high performance sensors, and modules.

Nanotron provides electronic location awareness products, to deliver precise position data augmented by context information in real-time.

https://www.arrow.com

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AI vision sensor encourages creativity

Wed, Jul 24, 2019

Robotics and open source hardware provider, DFRobot, describes its artificial intelligence (AI) vision sensor as user-friendly, with powerful algorithms and designed for click, learn and play to encourage creative projects.

The HuskyLens has several types of built-in image processing algorithms, allowing creators to start experimenting without requiring a deep understanding algorithms. DFRobot says that it is a time-saving device for experienced makers and an easy-to-use powerful tool for enthusiastic future makers.

The pre-installed algorithms in HuskyLen are designed for facial recognition, object recognition, object tracking, line following, colour detection, and tag detection. Users can also switch between algorithms with a single click. Algorithms like line-following and tag recognition can be activated simultaneously. The company gives the example that once applied to a small robot, it can not only follow a line but can also determine in which direction to turn.

HuskyLens can improve its abilities through learning. With a single click, the device can learn new objects, faces, and colours. By holding down the button, HuskyLens can continually learn the target, from different perspectives and at various ranges. The AI camera carries a 2.0-inch display, which means users do not have to connect to a PC for monitoring performance.

CEO, Ricky Ye, said: “HuskyLens has been designed with creators and makers in mind and has infused the latest AI technology with compact design and exceptionally fast processors to ensure that users are only limited by their imagination”.

HuskyLens is compatible with a range of microcontrollers including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LattePanda, and micro:bit.

The company has introduced a KickStarter project.

DFRobot is a robotics and open source hardware provider that is dedicated to creating innovative, user-friendly products for the maker community and for innovation. DFRobot collaborates with multiple tech giants, including Intel and Microsoft, and has a product catalogue of over 1,000 components and widgets including sensors, robotic platforms, and communication modules.

http://www.dfrobot.com

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ANPC inverter design secures ‘sweet spot’ for PV

Mon, Jul 22, 2019

According to Infineon Technologies, the use of an advanced neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter design supports an even loss distribution between semiconductor devices, compared with traditional three-level neutral-point-clamped topologies. The company has used the ANPC topology for its hybrid SiC and IGBT power module EasyPack 2B in the 1,200V family. It is claimed to optimise ‘sweet spot’ losses of Infineon’s CoolSiC MOSFET and TrenchStop IGBT4 chipsets respectively, with increased power density and a switching frequency of up to 48kHz. The inverters are suitable for the needs of new generation 1,500V photovoltaic and energy storage applications, adds Infineon.

The ANPC topology supports a system efficiency of more than 99 per cent. Implementing the hybrid Easy 2B power module in, for example, the DC/AC stage of a 1,500V solar string inverter allows for coils to be smaller than with devices with a lower switching frequency. This reduces the weight “significantly” compared with a corresponding inverter with purely silicon components, says the company. Additionally, the losses with silicon carbide are smaller than with silicon. For this reason, less heat must be dissipated so that the heat sink can also shrink. This results in smaller inverter housings and costs savings at system level. The design also reduces inverter design complexity, compared to five-level topologies.

The Easy 2B standard package for power modules is characterised by an industry-leading low stray inductance. The integrated body diode of the CoolSiC MOSFET chip ensures low-loss without the need for another SiC diode chip. There is also an NTC temperature sensor for monitoring and PressFit technology to reduce assembly time for mounting the device.

The hybrid EasyPack 2B can be ordered now.

http://www.infineon.com

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