Renesas Electronics Corporation has extended the microcontroller (MCU) portfolio designed for motor control applications targeting smart homes, industrial automation, and building automation with the release of four new RA6T1 Group MCUs. Featuring a rich set of peripheral functions and AI-based failure detection, these new RA MCUs are designed keeping in mind the unique needs of motor control in home appliances, HVAC, solar inverters, and AC drives.
The RA6T1 MCUs combine the superior performance and flexibility of the Arm-based RA Family. Based on the Arm Cortex-M4 core, the new RA6T1 32-bit MCUs operate at 120 MHz and feature a rich collection of peripherals optimized for high performance and precision motor control. The integrated peripheral functions with high-speed analog and significantly reduce bill of materials (BOM) cost and boosts motor control performance too.
Integrating Google TensorFlow Lite Microframework for TinyML applications adds enhanced failure detection to the RA6T1 MCUs, offering customers an intelligent, easy-to-use, and cost-effective sensorless motor system for predictive maintenance. The TensorFlow AI framework detects potentially detrimental anomalies in motor systems earlier and more accurately to help customers improve their predictive maintenance processes and reduce maintenance costs.
Key Features of the RA6T1 MCUs
- 120 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 with floating-point unit
- Scalable from 64-pin to 100-pin LQFP packages
- 64 KB RAM and scalable from 256 KB to 512 KB Flash
- 32-bit PWM timer with advanced functions, including support for seven types of complementary PWM modes for the carrier generation
- 250 usec sampling period when used with the motor control solution bundle
- High-speed 12-bit ADC with a maximum speed of 0.4 usec and a sample/hold function that allows simultaneous acquisition of 3 shunt currents
- 6-channel programmable gain amplifier
- Supports IEC 60730 standard for functional safety in home appliances
The easy-to-use motor solution includes a RA6T1 CPU card and a 48V-compatible inverter board, GUI tool for motor workbench, and a sensorless vector control sample program with a three-shunt method that corresponds with the Flexible Software Package (FSP). Besides, the developers working on a motor control solution using the RA6T1 MCUs also get Renesas Solution Starter Kit (RSSK) for easy motor control debugging, evaluating their motor control design, executing real-time analysis and tuning to accelerate development
