Microswitch saves space in building automation

With the launch of the D2F-5 subminiature switch, Omron Electronic Components Europe says it has introduced its smallest ever microswitch with 5A rating.

The D2F-5 microswitch will push designers to minimise the application size, says the company. The rating of 5A means that the subminiature switches are suitable for high current applications. They have a minimum durability of 10,000 actions.

The D2F-5 switch measures just 5.7 x 12.7mm and a height from 5.5mm, depending on the operating lever chosen. The switches incorporate a snapping mechanism with two highly precise split springs that ensure long service life, assures Omron, while flux penetration is prevented by using insertion moulded terminals. The D2F-5 switch is available in variety of terminal variations including self-clinching PCB, left angled, right angled terminals, solder terminals and compact solder terminals.

Applications include building automation, ventilation and temperature control, safety and security, smart meters, lifts and elevators.

Omron Electronic Components Europe supplies electromechanical PCB relays, as well as components such as micro switches, MOSFET relays, DIP switches, photomicrosensors and connectors. Its portfolio of technologies includes MEMS based pressure, flow and thermal measurement sensors, human face and gesture recognition modules, vibration and tilt sensors.

Omron Electronic Components Europe supports its customers in Western and Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS through eight regional offices, a network of local offices and partnerships with specialist, local, regional and global distributors.

http://components.omron.eu  

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32-bit MCU performance optimises motor control

Based on the third generation RXv3 CPU core, the RX66T group of microcontrollers (MCUs) improves performance, by as much as 2.5 times better than previous RX family MCUs, says Renesas Electronics Europe.

The RX66T MCUs combine the powerful RXv3 core with the strengths of the existing current RX62T and RX63T MCUs, to address the real-time performance and enhanced stability required by inverter control. The RX66T MCUs are designed for use in industrial applications in smart factory equipment, such as industrial motors, power conditioners and robots, as well as smart home appliances, including air conditioners and washing machines.

When operating at 160MHz, the RX66T MCUs achieve best-in-class performance of 928 CoreMark2, enabling more precise inverter control, reports Renesas. The MCUs can control up to four motors simultaneously, making them particularly well-suited to conventional motor control and applications requiring multi-axis motor control, such as compact industrial robots and personal robots. In addition, the RX66T’s extra processing capacity allows developers to add programs utilising embedded AI (e-AI) for motor fault detection. Such programs can detect motor faults and identify fault location in real time based on the motor’s current or vibration characteristics. The RX66T MCUs also integrate a 5V power supply that is claimed to deliver “excellent noise tolerance”.

The RX66T MCU group will accelerate the use of intelligent endpoints employing real-time e-AI performance, Renesas believes, a trend which will drive smarter home appliances and improve production efficiency in smart factories.

As devices join the IoT, motorised devices in the field will require online firmware updates throughout their life cycles. Applying e-AI for predictive failure diagnostics requires endpoint MCUs to be securely updated with learning results generated in the cloud. The RX66T MCU Group incorporates Trusted Secure IP (TSIP), which has a track record of CAVP certification3 and provides secure firmware updates and encrypted communication.

The RX66T group comprises 80 MCUs with pin counts ranging from 64 to 144 pins and on-chip flash memory sizes of 256 to 1024kbyte. Mass production has started today for the 100-pin package MCU with 256 or 512kbyte of program flash and 64kbyte of SRAM. Other MCU versions will be release over time.

Renesas is demonstrating the RX66T MCUs in Hall 10.1 – booth 130 at SPS IPC Drives, 27 to 29 November 2018 in Nuremberg, Germany.

http://www.renesas.com

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Smart power switch with SPI protects for industry 4.0

To enhance diagnostics and system management, STMicroelectronics includes a 20MHz SPI port in the ISO8200AQ galvanic isolated octal high-side smart power switch. The SPI allows both per-channel over-temperature signalisation and efficient daisy-chaining of multiple devices. A power-good output indicates the status of the process-side power supply.

The device joins ST’s family of galvanic isolated high-side switches, featuring maximum safety and robustness in demanding applications such as industrial PLCs, PCs, or peripherals, and numeric-control machines in conventional factory automation or industry 4.0 smart factory scenarios.

The 2500Vrms built-in galvanic isolation not only assures safety, claims ST, and allows saving space in the final application and additional use for general-purpose isolation. By providing an SPI port with support for daisy chaining, the ISO8200AQ also allows one host to control multiple switches efficiently.

The power-good output alerts the control system in case the supply rail falls below a pre-set safe minimum threshold voltage. It complements the fault output pin that indicates communication errors or over-temperature conditions.

The eight channels each have on-resistance of 0.12 Ohms (typical) and maximum current rating of 0.7A. The ISO8200AQ manages all kinds of resistive, inductive, or capacitive loads with minimal power loss or heat dissipation, assures ST.

Built-in protection features of the ISO8200AQ include short-circuit, channel over-temperature, case over-temperature, and loss of ground or supply protection. There is also under-voltage shut-down with auto-restart and hysteresis, over-voltage protection by Vcc clamping, and control of the output voltage to prevent damage due to switch off of inductive loads. The ISO8200AQ also satisfies the requirements for IEC 61131-2 relating to functional properties and characteristics of programmable controllers.

The company offers an ecosystem of support tools to help users get the best performance from the ISO8200AQ. These include the X-Nucleo-OUT02A1 demonstration board, for evaluating and fine-tuning the setup, and the STSW-IFAPGUI graphical user interface (GUI) that helps visualise the device’s behaviour. The X-Nucelo-OUT02A1 takes advantage of the IC’s internal galvanic isolation between logic and power stages, and adds reverse-polarity protection and EMC precautions meeting IEC61000-4-2, IEC61000-4-4 and IEC61000-4-5, to satisfy industrial safety standards.

The ISO8200AQ is available now in 9.0 x 11mm 32-pin TFQFPN32.

http://www.st.com

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Energy harvesting embedded controller simplifies Industry 4.0

Renesas Electronics claims to accelerates sensor network gateway design with its RZ/N1S IO-Link Master  development kit for the smart factory.

The IO-Link master development kit accelerates IO-Link-based application development for industrial networked devices in a smart factory. The development kit includes a board and pre-qualified sample software provided by TMG. The board has eight IO-Link connecters, allowing developers to immediately connect IO-Link slave devices and start the evaluation process.

Renesas believes that the development kit contributes to shorter prototype-to-production process time and helps to reduce the development burden for engineers.

The kit is supported by two CPUs that operate independently and simultaneously with a large built-in SRAM. The eight-port IO-Link Master is controlled by one CPU; the other CPU features an R-IN engine architecture and supports industrial Ethernet communication to the upper layers, such as PLC, without any external microcontroller, microprocessor, or memory like DDR. The two CPUs are integrated in a small 12 x 12mm LFBGA package.

The RZ/N1S IO-Link Master development kit reduces the system evaluation period by up to six months, reports Renesas. The all-in-one development kit makes it easy for users to begin evaluation immediately and accelerate their time to market.

Optimised for limited space and industrial environments, the board as 6Mbytes of on-chip SRAM which eliminates the need for external memory.

The small 12 x 12mm LFBGA package makes the master suited for PCBs in space-constrained industrial applications.

Renesas is demonstrating the new IO-Link master solution in booth 130, Hall 10.1, at the 2018 SPS IPC Drives, November 27-29, in Nuremberg, Germany.

The RZ/N1S IO-Link master solution is available now for rental.

Renesas Electronics delivers microcontorller, analogue, power, SoC products and integrated platforms, for automotive, industrial, home electronics, office automation and information communication technology applications.

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http://www.renesas.com

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