Current sense multi-chip module
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsGary S. Bolotin, Don J. Hunter, Malcolm L. Lias, Ben Cheng, John J. Waters, Sunant Katanyoutanant
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Abstract
Current sensing devices that are capable of surviving harsh ambient environment of ocean worlds, such as Jupiter and Saturn moons are disclosed. The described devices can meet 300 Krad radiation requirements and can survive at cold temperatures down to −184° C. Exemplary implementations of the constituent circuits of the devices are presented. A scheduling algorithm to perform various measurement by the disclosed current sensing devices is also described.
Claims13
A A current sensing module for measuring a motor phase current, the current sensing module comprising:
- at least one sensing resistor disposed in-line with a phase of a motor;
- a current sensing circuit with two input terminals coupled across the at least one sensing resistor;
- the current sensing circuit being configured to amplify a voltage across the at least one sensing resistor, thereby generating an amplified voltage;
- a first operational amplifier with two first operational amplifier input terminals connected to the two input terminals;
- a resistive divider coupled to the first operational amplifier to reduce the voltage to or below a set voltage;
- an analog-to-digital converter configured to digitize the amplified voltage, thereby generating a digitized voltage;
- wherein
- a) the first operational amplifier is configured:
- i) to have a unity gain;
- ii) such that a full range of the analog-to-digital converter is centered a zero current,
- iii) the first operational amplifier is arranged in a non-inverting configuration
- b) the current sensing module is configured to operate at radiation levels of up to and including 300 Krad and survive temperatures down to and including −184° C.
A current sensing module for measuring a motor phase current, the current sensing module comprising:
- at least one sensing resistor disposed in-line with a phase of a motor;
- a current sensing circuit with two input terminals coupled across the at least one sensing resistor;
- the current sensing circuit being configured to amplify a voltage across the at least one sensing resistor, thereby generating an amplified voltage;
- three half-bridge drivers comprising MOSFET switches, each MOSFET switch being configured to receive a corresponding control pulse;
- a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the motor;
- a bridge current sensor configured to measure a bridge current of the motor;
- a brake current sensor configured to measure a brake current of the motor, and
- voltage sensors configured to monitor one or more supply voltages used by the current sensing module,
- wherein
- the current sensing module is configured to operate at radiation levels of up to and including 300 Krad and survive temperatures down to and including −184° C.
- the motor is a three-phase motor;
- the at least one sensing resistor comprises:
- (i) first sensing resistor disposed in-line with a first phase of the motor;
- (ii) a second sensing resistor disposed in-line with a second phase of the motor.
- the current sensing circuit comprises a first current sensing circuit and a second current sensing circuit;
- the first current sensing circuit is configured to amplify a first voltage across the first sensing resistor, thereby generating a first amplified voltage;
- the second current sensing circuit is configured to amplify a second voltage across the second sensing resistor, thereby generating a second amplified voltage;
- a first motor phase current is calculated based on the first amplified voltage;
- a second motor phase current is calculated based on the second amplified voltage, and
- a third motor phase current is calculated based on a combination of the first and the second amplified voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.