Is capable of measuring high current ranges without a core or u-shaped magnetic shield and reduces system BOM
Meeting the demands of the ever-growing automotive and industrial systems has not been easy. But now, the new coreless Hall-effect current sensor ACS37610 aims to solve that by offering high accuracy and sensitivity, additional fault detection capabilities and user programmability. The solution is designed to measure currents from 100 A to greater than 4000 A flowing through a busbar or PCB trace with a typical 1 per cent accuracy (no need for an external concentrator or U-shaped magnetic shield). This enables system designers to achieve enhanced efficiency and higher power density while reducing system complexity, BOM, cost, footprint and weight.
The sensor’s ultra-compact package makes it ideal for space-constrained applications while enabling simple, cost-effective surface mount assembly.
Suited For Challenging Current Sensing Applications
The ACS37610 is an optimal choice for electric vehicle high-voltage traction motor inverters, 48V / 12V auxiliary inverters, heterogeneous redundant battery monitoring, overcurrent detection, smart fuses, power distribution units (PDUs), and power supplies. The sensor’s 250 kHz bandwidth, dedicated overcurrent and overtemperature fault pin, and a slew of built-in diagnostics make it ideal for safety-critical applications.
The ACS37610 features advanced differential sensing technology, resulting in a 2.5× improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a 2× lower noise relative to the ACS37612. The lower noise provides superior resolution required for accurate torque control, while the sensor’s 4× higher sensitivity range enables flexible busbar and PCB designs.
An optional slight notch to the current-carrying busbar or PCB copper trace provides further improvements to the system’s SNR.
The ACS37610 features larger Hall element spacing (2.5 mm versus 1.8 mm for the ACS37612) to accommodate wider notches, resulting in virtually no thermal performance degradation and no hotspots. The sensor can be mounted in a horizontal or vertical orientation relative to the busbar, providing superior flexibility in mechanical assemblies.
“The new ACS37610 IC enables our customers to accurately measure hundreds or thousands of amps in a very economical and simple way,” said Shaun Milano, Director of Current Sensors at Allegro. “Our differential Hall-based sensors provide excellent immunity to stray magnetic fields without the need of a shield, required by competing solutions, that slows down response and adds non-linearity error into the system.”
The ACS37610 current sensor is available now from Allegro MicroSystems in a low-profile, lead (Pb)-free, 8-pin surface mount TSSOP package. To help developers accelerate their designs, Allegro offers evaluation kits and reference tools for current flowing through a PCB or busbar.
