Reference design combines compact motor control, industrial Ethernet communication and high-power-density gallium nitride switching for humanoid and mobile robot applications.
Texas Instruments has developed a reference design for controlling a 48 V, 1 kW robot joint motor with industrial Ethernet communication. Designed around a compact PCB with a 70 mm diameter, the platform integrates motor drive, real-time control, current sensing and industrial communication functions into a small form factor. It is intended for applications including humanoid robot joints, mobile robots, servo drives and robot communication systems.
The motor-control platform uses three half-bridge gallium nitride (GaN) power stages to drive the three-phase motor. This enables the motor-drive power stage and control electronics to be integrated into a single compact platform. The printed circuit board also includes a 15 mm through-hole, which helps accommodate the mechanical requirements of the robotic joint.
For real-time control and current measurement, the design includes TI’s AM2612 microcontroller, a 500MHz dual-core Arm Cortex-R5F-based MCU with real-time control, safety and security features along with an isolated delta-sigma modulator. Phase-current measurement is implemented using a 1 mΩ shunt resistor. The control architecture provides the processing capability required for motor operation while maintaining the compact form factor of the platform.
The reference design supports multiprotocol industrial Ethernet communication and a multiprotocol encoder interface. This enables the motor-control platform to communicate with industrial systems while receiving position data from the motor encoder. Combining communication, sensing and motor control on a single board helps minimise the hardware required for robotic joint applications.
Texas Instruments provides design resources, including a design guide with validated performance data, assembly drawings, a bill of materials, CAD/CAE files, Gerber files, PCB layout data and schematics. The assembled board is intended for performance evaluation and is not available for purchase. These resources provide engineers with a practical starting point for developing compact motor-control solutions for humanoid robots, mobile robots, servo drives and other industrial applications.
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