# Dev kit targets automotive motor contro



## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

Seems like everybody has MC development kits. I'm familiar with Microchip's products, but here are others I found:

http://www.em.avnet.com/en-us/desig...tan-6-FPGA-Motor-Control-Development-Kit.aspx
http://www.ti.com/tool/tmds1mtrpfckit
http://www.zilog.com/docs/devtools/qs0054.pdf
http://www.pmdcorp.com/motion-control-developers-kit/
http://www.st.com/internet/evalboard/product/203167.jsp
http://www.altera.com/end-markets/industrial/motor-control/falconeye/ind-falconeye.html
http://www.actel.com/products/hardware/devkits_boards/smartfusion_dmc.aspx
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/freescale-introduces-seven-development-kits-110000151.html
http://ics.nxp.com/support/microcontrollers/motor.control/
http://www.microchip.com/pagehandle...-and-digilent-announce-motor-control-dev.html
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/edevices/microelectronics/microcontrollers/datalib/mckit.html
http://www.analog.com/en/content/boston_enginnering_ez_mc_kit/fca.html
http://www.infineon.com/cms/en/product/applications/Motor_Control_Drives/index.html


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Could a board like this be used to drive a larger power stage of IGBTs for a DIY AC controller by any chance? Trying my luck


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## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

tylerwatts said:


> Could a board like this be used to drive a larger power stage of IGBTs for a DIY AC controller by any chance? Trying my luck


I would expect that most of these kits would be able to drive any size power stage. The output signals should be 5V or 3.3V logic level and could drive a high speed optoisolator or MOSFET/IGBT driver. The voltage and current feedback would need to be scaled appropriately.

I have a large VFD (about 10 HP) I bought on eBay some time ago, and found that the display/keypad interface was bad. I was able to find the inputs to the gate drivers, and when I powered the output stage with 480 VAC I was able to turn the IGBTs on and off with logic level signals. You might find a VFD of the size you need with a similar problem, and drive the output stage with the development board.

Your choice of the board depends on your familiarity with the various platforms and the amount of documentation and support you can get. I would choose the Microchip product because I have been using their PICs for about 10 years and there is a very active and helpful user forum. Most of the code is C, and the hardware is usually similar, so it's up to you to select what you feel most comfortable with. I think the cost of these kits run from a couple hundred dollars to about $1000 (which may include a motor and power supply and debugging tools). 

Good luck!


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Thanks Paul. ALL of this would be unfamiliar to me, I was hoping the educational part of the kits would be beneficial for me to learn though... I'll have a look at some, and see what I can do about finding a VFD for my project.

Thanks again!


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