Danfoss has launched its new MC018 high-current controller, describing it as a “powerful and intelligent device that offers improved performance while reducing overall costs for OEMs”.
The MC018 high-current controller is part of the PLUS+1 microcontrollers family, and is designed to solve many challenges customers face with controlling high-current devices such as excessive noise, moderate pin/controller power, and lack of intelligent capabilities.
The MC018 provides power and control to a number of machine applications, such as the linear actuators, windshield wipers, fan drive, lamps and lights, engine starter, levelling control, sprinkler system, active suspension, and more.
“The MC018 high-current controller is providing a more powerful, intelligent and focused solution for controlling high-current applications,” said Evangel Zhang, EC global product marketing manager, Danfoss Power Solutions. “It will greatly help customers looking to implement electrification by bringing high-current control to a new level.”
The MC018 controller has a maximum total current of 160A and a maximum steady state current of 120A, which is a significant increase over the maximum current presently available on the market of 75 to 80A. The higher maximum current allows more devices to be simultaneously powered by one controller, reducing the number of controllers needed and thereby reducing the total cost of the system.
At maximum load, MC018 can run up to 4kHz and up to 20kHz at a reduced load. The higher frequency makes it possible to control in-cab applications with smoother and higher precision of control, all with a reduced noise level.
Control is also improved with the programmability of MC018. As part of the PLUS+1 line of microcontrollers, MC018 is already compliant with the PLUS+1 platform. The pre-engineered function blocks in PLUS+1 give OEMs the opportunity to program functions that would otherwise require extra time or components, or may not have been feasible at all. One of these features includes the ‘soft fuse’ a programmable fuse that can be set to switch when the current is above a certain value which provides enhanced safety performance.
Another safety feature is the separate power supply for the logic circuit. The separate power input keeps the controller running even when outputs have short-circuited, meaning it can continue to provide insights to the master controller. This reduces time in diagnostics and repair and could reduce warranty costs. Because of this, MC018 meets fault detection requirements.
The MC018 offers power and intelligent features at a competitive price. Its innovative features enable customers to lower overall system and maintenance costs while boosting the efficiency of their machines.
June 2, 2017
