Toshiba TB9M030FG SmartMCD motor control devices

Toshiba has started to ship engineering samples of ‘TB9M030FG’, the latest addition to its SmartMCD series of motor control devices. The new device integrates a microcontroller (MCU) and a motor driver, and incorporates sensorless control technology for low‑speed operation of three‑phase brushless DC motors. The device is suitable for sensorless control of the three‑phase brushless DC motors used in automotive applications, such as electric water pumps, electric oil pumps, electric fans and electric blowers.

The motor control devices integrate an Arm Cortex‑M0 core-based MCU, flash memory, a gate driver that controls and drives N‑channel power MOSFETs for three‑phase brushless DC motor operation, a local interconnect network (LIN) transceiver, and a power system that can operate at automotive battery levels — all in a small 9×9 mm (typ.) QFP48 package. This integration contributes to ECU miniaturisation and lower component counts.

The MCD also incorporates Toshiba’s proprietary vector engine hardware, which reduces CPU workload and software program size in FOC motor‑control applications. Toshiba’s sensorless control technology, developed for low‑speed operation, enables position‑sensorless FOC control from zero speed through low speeds when used with salient‑pole motors. This approach eliminates the noise generated by the standard high-frequency signal injection method, caused by harmonic injection, and also leads to quieter motor operation.

The motor control devices comply with the automotive electronics qualification standard AEC‑Q100 (Grade 0).

The characteristics of the devices contribute to the miniaturisation of automotive systems and lower component counts while enabling more advanced and sophisticated motor control, thereby making them suitable for a range of automotive motor applications.