However, when there is a non-standard working environment, where it has to deal with many different materials, shapes, context specific tasks, it did not have any economic value to introduce too much automation and therefore the work was done manually.
That's why robots are becoming smart now: Easy to use, flexible in handling, sensitive to their working environment and quickly learning on tasks! Not only are robots increase in functionality they are also becoming easier to operate.
The world of robotic solutions is facing major change as advanced electronic components for e.g. power supply, motion control, and sensing, support a quicker hardware ramp-up and create room for the development of differentiating software algorithms or new use cases.
All this wouldn't be possible without semiconductor solutions. Whether in an industrial robot, a cobot or an automated guided vehicle (AGV), intelligent semiconductors are the key enabler for all major robotic functions, from sensing and motion control to functional safety to security. Infineon's product portfolio checks all those boxes of a modern robot system making us your one-stop shop for robotic solutions.
Motor drives transform the control signal from the motion controller into electrical energy that is provided to servo motors. Newer intelligent motor drives can close the position and velocity loops internally leading to a more accurate and more powerful motor control.
Infineon's chip and integration technology enables the motor drives to leave the external cabinet and connect directly to the motors within each individual axis of the robot. Instead of having 3-phase supplies for individual motors only a common DC-bus connection is required. By also integrating a power line communication solution, even a separate communication bus could be avoided. Within a moving robot-arm the wiring efforts can be reduced from 27+ down to two.
Below we would like to recommend the Infineon components for an efficient compact servo motor drive:
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
CoolMOS CFD2 650V | • Low switching losses due to low Qrr at repetitive commutation on body diode • Self limiting di/dt and dv/dt • Outstanding CoolMOS™ quality | |
Trenchstop™ 5 IGBT 650V | • Highest power density 650V IGBT in D2Pak footprint • Upgrade of the available designs for higher power output • Less device paralleling • Automated assembly, lower assembly cost | |
Trenchstop™ 2 IGBT 1200V | • Higher system power density – Ic increase keeping the same system thermal performance • Lower thermal resistance R th(jh) and improved by ~15% heat dissipation capability of TO-247PLUS vs TO-247 • Higher reliability, extended lifetime of the device |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
Half Bridge Driver IC | • Soft over-current shutdown • Synchronization signal to synchronize shutdown with the other phases • Integrated desaturation detection circuit | |
EICEDriver™ 1EDI | • Galvanically isolated coreless transformer driver • Single channel isolated high-voltage gate driver IC • Input to output isolation voltage up to 1200V • For high voltage power MOSFETs and IGBTs |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
iMOTION™ Integrated Motor Control / IMC 100 series | • Field proven Motion Control Engine (MCE 2.0) • Ready-to-use for any variable speed drive • High efficiency using Field Oriented Control • Flexible Configuration via iMOTION™ tools • Highest Flexibility on position/ current sensing and host interfaces | |
32-bit XMC4000 Industrial Microcontroller ARM® Cortex®-M4 | • ARM® Cortex®-M4 with floating point unit (FPU), single-cycle DSP MAC, 80-144MHz CPU frequency • Up to 2MB embedded Flash with 22ns access time and error correction unit • Up to 352kB embedded RAM • EtherCAT ® node |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
TLE5309 Angle sensor, Analog I/F | • Separate supply pins for AMR and GMR sensor • Diverse redundant design with one GMR sensor (top die) and one AMR sensor (bottom die) in one package • Low current consumption and very fast start up • 360° contactless angle measurement | |
TLx496x Hall Switch sensor | • Designed specifically for highly accurate applications with superior supply voltage capability • 3.0V to 32V operating supply voltage • Operation from unregulated power supply |
The power supply of the robot provides energy for all the robot actions. The big challenge in this area is that the robots have often many axes requiring multiple power supplies operating in parallel providing different voltages.
Next to supplying DC voltage for the commonly shared DC bus, rectifier stages have to generate different auxiliary supply voltages for controls, drives, brakes, and other components. Therefore the central rectifier power must exceed the nominal power consumption of all components in use. The main difference between an AGV charger system and one for regular electric vehicles lies in the power classes used which is way smaller for AGVs and lies in the range of several kW.
The most general overview on a charger system can be seen in the block diagram below.
Please see following an extract of Infineon components for efficient compact power supplies and chargers as of today:
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
CoolMOS™ CFD7 600V | • Best-in-class hard commutation ruggedness • Highest reliability for resonant topologies • Highest efficiency with outstanding ease-of-use/performance trade-off • Even suitable as PFC power switches |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
CoolMOS™ P7 600V | • Suitable for hard and soft switching (PFC and LLC) • Ease-of-use and fast design-in through low ringing tendency and usage across PFC and PWM stages • Simplified thermal management due to low switching and conduction losses | |
CoolMOS™ C7 Gold 600V | • FOM RDS(on) x QG is 16 percent better than previous 600V C7 enabling higher efficiency • Power density through best-in-class 28mΩ in TOLL 115mm² footprint • Reducing parasitic source inductance by Kelvin source improves efficiency and ease-of-use • 50% lower level shift losses for increased efficiency |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
EICEDriver™ 1EDI | • Single channel isolated driver • Input to output isolation voltage up to 1200V • For high voltage power MOSFETs and IGBTs |
One core IP of each robot system is the sensors that are being used to depict the robot's condition and environment as precisely as possible. This is essential for both performance and safety.
The robot has to be aware of the exact positioning, shape and texture of the work piece, residual equipment and its own peripherals. Non-invasive sensing of system parameters for the assessment of system states as well as the preprocessing of data and proactive reporting of deviation from known good state help to prevent system errors and enhance run-time of machinery. Thus, Infineon's solutions make existing machinery Industry 4.0 compliant.
Infineon's offering for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance as of today:
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
Angle sensor, Analog I/F, TLE5009 | • 3V to 5.5V operating supply voltage • Low current consumption and very quick start up • Overvoltage detection |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
TLx496x-xM | • High Precision Automotive Hall Effect Sensor for 5V applications • 3.0V to 5.5V operating supply voltage • Low current consumption 1.4mA |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
Linear Hall Sensor, TLE499x | • Meet the requirements of highly accurate angle and position detection • 20bit Digital Signal Processing (DSP) • Digital temperature and stress compensation • Operating automotive temperature range -40°C to 125°C |
Each robot system needs to be protected against collisions with any kind of (dynamic) obstacles which could be humans, other robots or even handling material. Especially for safety measures capturing the environment with sensors that provide the required information to execute a proper operation is an important feature. Moreover, in the industrial and automation world, machines need controllers and voltage regulators with inbuilt safety functions such as Lockstep cores with clock delay, redundant/diverse timers, error Monitoring, and safe state control, just to name a few.
Please check out what Infineon offers in terms of safe motion control:
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
32-bit TriCore™ Microcontroller / AURIX™ Family | • Triple TriCore™ with up to 300MHz • Diverse Lockstep architecture to reduced development effort for ISO 26262 systems • High integration for reduced complexity and significant cost savings • Delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converters for fast and accurate measurements |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
Angle sensor, Analog I/F, TLE5009 family | • 3V to 5.5V operating supply voltage • Low current consumption and very quick start up • Overvoltage detection |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
DC/DC Voltage Regulator | • Efficiency and flexibility • Documentation set enables ASIL-D on system level • Easy ISO26262 implementation by full | |
Linear Voltage Regulator | • Protected sensor supply for off-board sensors • High-precision voltage tracking • Precision voltage replication |
Securing robots means securing business
In factories where an increasing number of smart robots and complex automated systems are connected and communicate with each other, it is essential that these systems are protected against data theft and manipulation. Robotic device integrity is upheld best by IP protection of calibration files, authentication of components and secured logging.
To safeguard the security of data, interfaces, and communication channels in smart robots and industrial networks, Infineon provides OPTIGA™ embedded security solutions. Designed for an easy integration, these tamper-resistant hardware-based security solutions help to
Start securing your business, today: Minimize the exposure to vulnerabilities and maximize system performance.
Learn more about Infineon's OPTIGA™ family of hardware security controllers on this landing page.
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
OPTIGA™ Trust X | • Enhanced security for connected devices protecting IP, data, and the business case • Easy integration reducing design-in and integration effort • Cost-effective deployment |
Technology/Product Family | Product | Features/Benefits |
---|---|---|
OPTIGA™ TPM | • Standardized, feature-rich security solution for trusted platform module • High-end security controller with advanced cryptographic algorithms implemented in hardware (e.g. RSA & ECC256, SHA-256) • Common Criteria (EAL4+) and FIPS security certification • Flexible integration thanks to SPI, I2C or LPC interface support |