# TI's InstaSPIN



## JRoque (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi all,

A couple of days ago, I came across an announcement from Texas Instruments and their InstaSPIN product. I was intrigued by their 'breakthrough' and claim that they're able to drive several types of 3 phase motors, including AC induction, in full torque mode without the use of an encoder and at zero speed. They also claim a field weakening technique that makes AC machines much more efficient at low speeds. There's also an "auto ID" function to match any motor in seconds and a GUI to set things up.

They have a $700 high-voltage (350V) development kit that looks interesting for our type of application. Out of box, it can do ~3.5Kw with proper heat sinking, all while being sensorless. It would seem to need a stronger power section (IGBTs, drivers, snubbers, caps, current sensors) and things like contactor, precharge and accel input for a complete system.

Haven't done much else in the past two days but watch their videos and read their documentation and figured someone else might be interested in this. If you haven't seen it before, take a look here: http://www.ti.com/ww/en/mcu/instaspin/instaspin-foc.shtml

JR


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## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

That is quite interesting. The 350V system is only 750W but may be easily adapted to higher power with the right power components. I haven't watched the videos yet, but I will do so soon. I wonder if Microchip will be coming out with a similar product? The IC itself is just $10/1k quantities so probably about $30 for singles. I wonder how much additional parts cause the price of the DevKit to be so high?

Thanks for the heads up!


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## Siwastaja (Aug 1, 2012)

Integration is still increasing a lot in electronics, especially in power electronics. We will be seeing "intelligent power modules" with integrated control and lower cost.

After all, AC motor control is a solved problem and it makes no sense that everyone needs to replicate it as it can be copied easily.

Increased integration means cost savings for the industry, but this is really good for DIYers too.

Compare to microcontrollers; in 1980, you needed to buy CPU, memory, peripheral devices etc. and construct a large PCB with dozens of chips which would cost a lot, and now you can buy an integrated chip which does all of this, and it does it better than what you could do with the discrete parts.

The same is happening with power electronics and it makes AC drives easier to manufacture and a lot cheaper.


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## JRoque (Mar 9, 2010)

Siwastaja said:


> Integration is still increasing a lot in electronics, especially in power electronics. We will be seeing "intelligent power modules" with integrated control and lower cost.


Hi. I agree but, as a DIYer, you can still pick up the discrete components cheaper on eBay than you can an entire power block. But to your point, if this TI stuff pans out true (so far it looks that way), you can use these building blocks to construct your own drive.

Add:
- http://www.newark.com/powerex/pm450...r-module-igbt-450a/dp/09J3830?Ntt=PM450CLA060, $835
- http://www.newark.com/powerex/bp6a-l/vla106-24151-ipm-interface-w-bare/dp/23K2951?Ntt=BP6A-L, $220
- Caps, mics ~$200 off eBay

Of course, there's still lots of work to do but you'll end up with a ~135kW system that opens the possibilities on motors. You can also add $400 for a ~180kW system. 

JR


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## Siwastaja (Aug 1, 2012)

JRoque said:


> Hi. I agree but, as a DIYer, you can still pick up the discrete components cheaper on eBay than you can an entire power block.


This is true because "IPM" is still a specialty luxury product. Just like the first integrated microcontrollers might have been.

Sooner or later the situation is the same as in opamps or voltage regulator IC's, and anyone using discretes would be considered being out of their mind.

It's just that power semiconductor based AC motor control systems are relatively new technology, from the late 70's, whereas other solid state electronics is from the 50's, so the manufacturers are a bit late, introducing IPM modules as a specialty product to cut off design and assembly time by VFD manufacturers, and they can ask for extra price for that reason.

But, semiconductor integration becomes cheaper and cheaper all the time, so, as the basic product requirements do not change, the profit margin gets larger and larger, which leads to competition and overall price drop.

DIYing a power stage anyway isn't that difficult, but having a generic and cheap FOC/DTC control logic that is _usable_ is a real game changer. And there is absolutely no reason why such a logic couldn't be made for less than $10 on a small single chip.


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## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

You can get an integrated power module rated at 600V and 30A for under $50:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMtKB4wrjsn3lRNZQp9ofgpoaDPXJbPEUeY=
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/200/iram136-3063b-45323.pdf (datasheet)

This can drive motors up to 3.3kW. I have a smaller module which costs less than $20 and is rated for 600V and 10A for a 1HP (0.75kW) motor:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMtKB4wrjsn3lShq7UNnRbekze8hQ2aVmUE=

The TI chip is in stock at Mouser for about $15. I'm ready to place an order for other parts and I'm tempted to get one, but it's probably a steep learning curve and design effort to put together a PCB and firmware ready to drive a motor. 
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...8062FPZT/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMul4LbMdexInaUp86DiaS6y
http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/405/tms320f28062-194201.pdf (Datasheet)

They have an experimenter board for $130 for the TMS320F28035, but it's not for the MC chip:
http://www.ti.com/tool/tmdsdock28035

They have another ACIM kit for about $350:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Texas-Instruments/RDK-ACIM/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvlOED0T0kTWueeLmfsNvVB


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