Within today’s thriving electronics marketplace, the demand for battery powered drive applications is growing. In response, leading component manufacturers are making advances in battery powered application technologies that are driving improvements in the performance, efficiency and size of motors and products across multiple market segments.
Today’s battery powered applications market is being fueled by three primary product segments: low-power consumer robotics, low-power home and professional products, and high-power light electric vehicles (LEVs).
Consumer robotics include RC toys, vacuum robots and consumer droids, and is the fastest growing segment of the overall robotics market. The biggest growth is in service robots and multicopters, with multicopter sales tripling from 2015 to 2016. Multicopters’ camera applications, autonomous flying, and sophisticated on-board equipment are pushing the limits of performance, efficiency and control.
Home and professional products include power tools, commercial multi-copters (droids), cordless home appliances, and healthcare equipment. Cordless power tools are the fastest growing sector within the electric tool market, driven by new brushless DC motor (BLDC) technology. The convenience and safety of lightweight and low-voltage cordless power tools bring benefits to both professional and private users. Depending on the topology, cordless power tools require either space-optimized or cost-optimized solutions.
Light electric vehicles are high-power applications and include e-scooters, e-bikes, e-skateboards, e-motorcycles, forklifts, low-speed cars, and other battery-powered vehicles. Environmental concerns and regulations are creating the need to reduce pollution within large urban areas, while the growth in e-mobility alternatives has shown the need for more efficient and higher performing electric motors. Key application requirements for LEVs include increasing battery operating range and life span, as well as reducing charging time.
Industry forces and trends
The forces and trends shaping today’s battery powered drives market include new battery technologies, sensor-less control, optimizing power-to-size, increasing supply voltage, increasing power with a smaller size and footprint, and the increasing use of brushless DC (BLDC) motors.
The rise of brushless DC motors
A growing number of applications – from a range of medical equipment and home appliances to building controls and industrial automation devices – rely on brushless DC motors. For these applications, choosing a BLDC motor has numerous advantages, including higher efficiency, smaller motor size, lighter weight, longer lifetime, no maintenance, no sparking, and more power with a smaller footprint. Using a BLDC motor also enables a fast development process that accelerates time to market.
Infineon products for low voltage battery powered solutions
Infineon products for low-power battery powered motor drives are based on industry-leading technology and manufacturing expertise – and the highest quality standards. A variety of innovative Infineon power semiconductors enable you to develop highly reliable and efficient solutions for all kinds of battery powered drive applications.
Products include both low voltage and high voltage MOSFETs, small signal products, EiceDRIVER™ Compact and 100 V/200 V gate driver ICs, magnetic sensors and voltage regulators, XMC™ microcontrollers, iMOTION™ IRMCK099 motion control ICs, ORIGA™ authentication ICs, as well as a complete portfolio of low voltage motor control application kits that shorten customer development cycle time and cost.
Spotlight on Infineon’s family of power MOSFETs
Infineon’s low voltage OptiMOS™ and StrongIRFET™ power MOSFETs cover 20V up to 300V MOSFETs and address a broad range of needs from low to high switching frequencies.
The revolutionary high voltage CoolMOS™ power MOSFET family sets new standards in the field of energy efficiency. CoolMOS products offer a significant reduction of conduction, switching and driving losses and enable high power density and efficiency for superior power conversion systems. The state-of-the-art generation of high voltage power MOSFETs makes AC-DC power supplies more efficient, more compact, lighter, and cooler than ever before.
Spotlight on Infineon iMOTION motion control ICs
A family of highly integrated products for the control of a variable speed drive, iMotion ICs integrate both the hardware and software required to perform sensor-less control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). They provide the highest energy efficient motor system with the lowest system cost.
iMotion ICs feature Infineon’s patented motor control engine (MCE) that eliminates software coding from the motor control algorithm development process. Implementing a variable speed drive is reduced to configuring the MCE for the respective motor. Assisted by powerful tools like MCEwizard and MCEDesigner, developers can have a motor up and running in less than an hour.
Infineon products for light electric vehicles (high power)
Infineon’s products for Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) offer high-efficiency devices for battery management and voltage regulation. With leading-edge innovation and outstanding reliability, Infineon offers a full range of power semiconductors for LEVs, including EiceDRIVER compact gate drivers, XMC microcontrollers, rapid 1 and rapid 2 silicon power diodes, magnetic sensors, and Infineon’s family of power MOSFETs mentioned above.
Benefits of Infineon’s battery powered products and solutions
Infineon offers complete solutions for battery powered drive applications from a comprehensive portfolio of products. The company’s high-quality manufacturing delivers high reliability and long product life spans, while cost-optimized solutions deliver BOM cost reductions due to low RDS(on).
For battery powered applications, saving battery power is key. Infineon’s wide selection of devices for power management and voltage regulation deliver the highest-possible energy efficiency with top precision.
Infineon’s small form factors minimize space requirements, support compact design, and deliver the highest power density and lowest RDS(on). Infineon also helps you get to market faster with evaluation and demo boards for fast prototyping, and simulations, documentation, and system support that reduce development time and cost.