What are the benefits of new motor control technology for robots?
Most of us know robots in science fiction, but the real increase in reality is the ability to self-guide and remotely guide machines. These robots operate pre-planned specific tasks such as assembly line work, surgical assistance, warehouse pick-up/retrieval, and even dangerous tasks such as mine removal. Today's robots not only handle high-repetition work, but also perform complex functions that require flexibility in direction and motion.
Figure 1: Today's robots are used in large areas such as placement machines, mounting machines, and large areas such as automated assembly lines, which lift, place, install, and even weld and assemble parts on assembly lines.
The implementation of these high-performance machines benefits from the following improvements: the improvement of sensors that help them “listen”, “see”, and “feel”; the second is the ability to realize real-time decision-making and motion calculations and algorithm complexity. The third is the improvement of the motor that uses these speed, accuracy and mechanical power to achieve these decisions. Each of these aspects plays an important role in robot design, as technological advances and the synergies between them are quickly established in themselves.
Traditionally, motor control has been a problem for electronics engineers because there are many key issues to consider and what we encounter in common electronics. Fortunately, due to the advancement of technology, these problems are easier to understand and deal with, while also making high performance performance possible. For example, TI's DRV8816 dual half-bridge motor driver has integrated internal protection features including short-circuit protection, high temperature alarms, and high temperature power failure. The low-power sleep mode turns off the internal circuitry to achieve very low quiescent current. Highly integrated controllers and drivers reflect the level of flexibility and integration that electronics and motors can achieve.
