To provide the aviation industry with a complete electric drive solution, Microchip Technology presents a new integrated drive power solution consisting of auxiliary cards with gate drivers based on our growing range of Hybrid Power Drive (HPD) modules with silicon carbide or silicon technology, supplying power from 5 kVA to 20 kVA.
This new integrated drive power solution occupies the same footprint regardless of power output. These auxiliary boards with gate drivers are designed for integration with Microchip's HPD modules to provide an all-in-one motor drive solution for electrifying systems such as flight controls, braking, and landing. Microchip's power solutions are designed to meet end-application requirements, from small drone drive systems to high-power drive systems for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), MEA, and all-electric aircraft.
“We developed these auxiliary cards with gate drivers for our HPD modules to bring a ready-to-use power supply solution to the MEA segment,” said Leon Gross, vice president of Microchip’s discrete products group. “With this solution, customers no longer need to design and develop their own control circuitry, which can reduce design time, resources, and cost.”.
These highly reliable devices have been tested under the conditions specified in DO-160 (Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Aerial Equipment). They feature numerous protective functions, including trip detection, short-circuit protection, desaturation protection, undervoltage lockout (UVLO), and active Miller lockout.
The gate driver boards are designed for control via external PWM signals based on LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) in compliance with TIA/EIA-644 for low electromagnetic interference (EMI) and good noise immunity. Each board provides differential outputs for telemetry signals such as DC bus current, phase current, and solenoid current, taking feedback from the shunts in the HPD module and the DC bus voltage. It also provides a direct output for two PT1000 temperature sensors from the HPD module.
Auxiliary cards with door drivers are lightweight, compact, and low-profile solutions that optimize the size and power consumption of drive systems. The door drivers are designed to operate in a temperature range of -55°C to +110°C, which is essential in aviation applications, often exposed to harsh environments.
Auxiliary and isolated cards with gate drivers only require a 15V DC input for the control and drive circuitry; the other voltages are generated on the card itself. This significantly reduces the number of components in the system and simplifies its wiring.
Microchip provides complete MEA solutions by integrating power products with FPGAs, microcontrollers, security, memory, and timing. Microchip's solutions are designed to help customers accelerate development, reduce costs, and bring their products to market faster.
Support and resources
Auxiliary cards with door drivers are supported by detailed technical data sheets and device models.
