Renesas Electronics and MinebeaMitsumi Launch Stepping Motor Control Solution

　　Renesas Electronics Corporation, a global supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, and MinebeaMitsumi Co., Ltd., a global supplier of leading stepping motors, announced that they have jointly developed resolver (angle sensor)-based stepping motors and motor control solutions optimized for robots, office automation (OA) equipment, and medical/nursing equipment. The resolver-based stepping motor and motor control solutions jointly developed by Renesas Electronics and MinebeaMitsumi meet the needs for higher precision control of motors, miniaturization, and greater resistance to environmental influences.

　　MinebeaMitsumi has a strong track record in automotive resolver sensors and has developed a new resolver for stepper motors for the first time for consumer and industrial equipment applications such as robots, office automation equipment, and medical/nursing equipment. As a global leader in the 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) market (Note 2), Renesas has developed a new resolver-to-digital converter (RDC) that supports MinebeaMitsumi's new stepper motors, as well as driver software that enables RDC control through 32-bit RX MCUs. Renesas also brings a resolver-based stepper motor control kit that provides development tools including MinebeaMitsumi's stepper motor with resolver and an evaluation board with RDC, allowing users to quickly start application development.

　　“We are very pleased to collaborate with Renesas to deliver superior control technology and develop best-in-class products,” said Katsutoshi Suzuki, Technology Officer at MinebeaMitsumi. “We hope that advances in product differentiation for resolver stepping motors will enable us to expand into new markets.”

　　“We are working together with MinebeaMitsumi to expand stepper motors into a wider range of applications,” said Roger Wendelken, Senior Vice President, Head of General Purpose MCU Business Unit, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Corporation. “Our collaboration provides customers with a solution that includes everything they need to develop resolver stepper motors, including motors, RDCs, microcontrollers, software, and tools, helping them accelerate motor development and reduce time to market.”

　　Characteristics of the new solution based on resolver stepper motor

　　Stepper motors with resolvers can perform high-precision motor control even in harsh environments with high temperatures, dust, or vibrations. They also have higher-order features, such as the ability to drive heavy loads without losing steps. Renesas Electronics and MinebeaMitsumi have developed new resolver stepper motors and resolver motor control solutions that greatly broaden the application range of stepper motors with ultra-high cost-performance. For example, in the development of robots or automated guided vehicles (AGVs), customers can achieve high-precision motion even in harsh environments such as warehouses or outdoors, while reducing costs by using smaller motors and further promoting the miniaturization of industrial equipment.

　　Key features of MinebeaMitsumi resolver stepper motors:

　　High torque characteristics: Since there is no need for step-out control, the torque is 2 to 3 times that of existing products

　　Control characteristics: Capable of operating at broadband and ultra-low speeds

　　Low power consumption: Current optimization through servo control that responds to actual load

　　High precision: High position accuracy achieved through high resolution of 200,000 P/R

　　Resistant to harsh environments: simple structure, heat-resistant, dust-proof and vibration-resistant

　　Miniaturization: The high torque of the motor makes miniaturized application products possible

　　Key features of Renesas RDC and RDC Control Driver Software:

　　Detection method: VR type voltage detection, VR type current detection

　　RX MCU support: Renesas provides RDC driver software for RX24T (and plans to support other MCUs)

　　Anti-electromagnetic noise: Due to the inclusion of a filter, position detection can be performed with a signal-to-noise ratio of 1/2 (noise is twice the signal)

　　Renesas Resolver-Based Stepper Motor Control Kit

　　Included accessories: MinebeaMitsumi 42mm square resolver stepper motor, control board, CPU board (including RDC and RX24T)

　　Development support tools: Renesas Motor Workbench (including real-time waveform display function)

　　Included software: RDC control driver software, stepper motor control software