Breakthrough motor technology on TI’s C2000™ Piccolo™ microcontrollers (MCUs) receives numerous upgrades, countless customer kudos and special birthday offer
Bangalore, March 6th, 2014 — Texas Instruments (TI) celebrates the one-year birthday of the revolutionary TI InstaSPIN™-FOC (field-oriented control) motor control technology, along with announcing some 
exciting new updates and a special birthday C2000™ InstaSPIN-enabled tool offer. The InstaSPIN-FOC breakthrough motor technology has enabled motor control system designers to identify, tune and fully control (through variable speeds and loads) any type of three-phase – synchronous or asynchronous motor – in just minutes. It removes the need for a mechanical rotor sensor to reduce system costs and improve operation and reliability using TI’s sensorless observer software algorithm, FAST™ (flux, angle, speed and torque), embedded in the read-only-memory (ROM) on select TI 32-bit C2000 Piccolo™ microcontrollers (MCUs).
“The response from customers regarding InstaSPIN has been tremendous,” said Chris Clearman, Marketing Manager, InstaSPIN motor technology, TI. “To watch an engineer go from incredulous, to captivated, to ecstatic in a matter of minutes is a wonderful feeling. Our team feels immense pride knowing our development of this technology is finally enabling optimum control of electric motors for so many different applications.”
Using InstaSPIN technology, designers can benefit by:
- Saving months of design time.
- Achieving near encoder performance
- Accommodating all three-phase motors
- Identifying and tuning with off-line motor commissioning
- Eliminating start-up challenges of other sensorless techniques
- Allowing most efficient motor sizing
- Gaining massive energy savings for induction motors using the PowerWarp™ mode
- Evaluating and developing quickly using MotorWare™ software infrastructure
- Working in a variety of applications, click here to see them.
InstaSPIN™ solutions evolved over the year with new features continuously added
The most important update for the latest release – which works with existing silicon and motor kits – is a more robust motor parameter identification solution for asynchronous induction motors. To view the entire timeline of past added features and a preview of upcoming, click here.
Customers utilizing TI’s InstaSPIN-FOC technology
“CoMoCo, the InstaSPIN-FOC-enabled motor controller, detects and calibrates the control to any connected electric motor,” said Frank Bakker, Contronics. “For ventilation, it provides constant air flow instead of RPM control – independent of changing pressures – without any sensors. For conveyors it provides instant self-sensed energy reduction. Congratulations to TI on a wonderful technology that provides amazing energy savings in all applications.” See the video
“The CoMoCo has drastically reduced the energy budget at my company,” said Hans Verhoeven, De Hoeve. “If you don’t make these investments then you literally burn away your budget, which would be a crying shame. Congratulations to the innovators – the CoMoCo with InstaSPIN-FOC and PowerWarp operates perfectly without sensors or mechanical diaphragm.” See the video
“At e-Traction, our most recent success using InstaSPIN-FOC is with the starter-generator for our e-Busz project,” said Geert Kwintenberg, e-Traction. “These series-hybrid busses are in regular service in Rotterdam where special emission free zones require full electric operation. When outside the zone, the InstaSPIN-FOC controlled electric motor is used to start the diesel engine and then act as a generator to re-charge the battery. Thanks to InstaSPIN-FOC, we were able to realize this solution with a minimum engineering effort, producing a maintenance-free, efficient, silent and fast-starting solution compared to our competitors.” See the video
“InstaSPIN-FOC makes it possible to have motor drive up and running very quickly, without extensive knowledge of motor commutation techniques,” said Erwin van Norel, Gazelle. “With relatively little effort, motor control is possible for a large variety of different types of motors.” See the video
Low-cost evaluation and development; Pricing and availability
Designers can use low-cost tools to begin evaluation and development of TI’s InstaSPIN technology. As part of a special birthday promotion, designers can enter to win a C2000 InstaSPIN-enabled tool (retailing at up to $699 USD) by taking anonline survey. These tools include: 50V/3.5A DRV8312 based (DRV8312-69M-KIT), 24V/10A InstaSPIN LaunchPad and DRV8301 BoosterPack Bundle (LAUNCH-F28027F-BOOST-DRV8301), 60V/40A DRV8301 (DRV8301-69M-KIT) and 350V/10A High Voltage Kit (TMDSHVMTRINSPIN). Two controlCARDs are available either standalone (TMDSCNCD28069MISO at $99 and TMDSCNCD28027F for $69) or included in the compatible motor kits that cover 6-350V and up to 40Amperes. Multiple new C2000 LaunchPads, controlCARDs and motor kits are planned for 2014.
Pricing and availability
TI’s InstaSPIN-FOC and InstaSPIN-MOTION are available today and work with a variety of TI’s C2000™ Piccolo™ MCUs, ranging from $4 USD to $12 USD.
Innovation is at the core of TI MCUs
Beginning with the foundation of leading process technology and adding unique system architecture, intellectual property and real-world system expertise, TI continues its 20+ years of MCU innovation with ultra-low-power MSP MCUs, real-time control C2000™ MCUs, Tiva™ ARM® MCUs and Hercules™ safety MCUs. Designers can accelerate time to market with TI’s ecosystem of tools, software, wireless connectivity solutions, extensive Design Network offerings and technical support.
