Fairchild's design tool assists engineers in selecting Motion-SPM devices

SAN JOSE, USA: Designers of home appliances – such as washers, refrigerators and air conditioners – are faced with the challenge of developing motor control solutions that meet stringent and evolving energy guidelines and regulations, such as ENERGY STAR and European Commission Energy Using Products (EUPs), all while reducing footprint, reducing electrical and mechanical design cycle, bringing system efficiency and reliability to the application.

To help designers meet this challenge, Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS) developed the Motion Control Design Tool to assist in the selection of the optimum Fairchild Motion-SPM device for their specific applications. This tool addresses three-phase inverter sinusoidal modulation for variable speed drive applications powering permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) and AC induction motors.

Part selection is based on a detailed entry of application specific I/O information. The program output includes module component losses, junction temperature increases, cooling requirements and junction temperature ripple at the motor/output frequency.

The Motion Control Design Tool provides motor motion control design engineers with:

• A quick and accurate method for selecting the correct Fairchild SPM device for their application.
• A simulation means for identifying their design's worst case input and output conditions from a loss and temperature rise aspect.
• A delineation of the module's power component switching and conduction losses for their specific application, enabling them to quickly consider "what if" scenarios to optimize the design.
• Graphical presentation of internal component losses, junction temperature rises and maximum allowable case temperature as a function of output phase current and switching frequency.
• Total module losses and heatsink/cooling requirements.
• A PDF soft copy documentation of their application analysis.