EPC said GaN enables high-performance motor drives for high-voltage battery applications. | Source: Efficient Power Conversion
Efficient Power Conversion Corp., or EPC, this week launched EPC91104, a high-performance, three-phase brushless DC motor drive inverter reference design. The company said this design is suitable for powering compact, precision motors in humanoid robots, such as those used for wrist, finger, and toe movements.
“Humanoid robots demand motors with precision and compactness, and the EPC91104 is specifically designed to meet those needs for applications like small joint actuation,” said Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC.
EPC is a developer of enhancement-mode gallium nitride (eGaN) power devices. Founded in 2007, the company said its eGaN technology enables it to advance new applications and industries.
It said silicon has hit its physical limits and, therefore, is no longer able to stay ahead of demand for more and more efficient power. GaN technology offers significant advantages over traditional silicon-based devices, including higher efficiency, faster switching speeds, and smaller size, EPC said.
New board offers efficiency, says EPC
The EPC91104 evaluation board uses the EPC23104 ePower Stage IC, offering a maximum RDS(on) (drain-source on-resistance) of 11 mΩ and supporting DC bus voltages up to 80 V. The design supports up to 14 Apk steady-state and 20 Apk pulsed current, ensuring reliable performance for humanoid robot applications that require fine motor control and precision, said EPC.
The company listed key features of the EPC91104:
- Wide voltage range: Operates between 14 V and 80 V, accommodating a variety of battery systems
- Compact design: Suitable for space-constrained robotics
- Advanced protection: Includes overcurrent and input under-voltage protection, ensuring reliability in demanding applications
- Optimized efficiency: Low-distortion switching reduces torque ripple and motor noise.
The EPC91104 is compatible with controller boards from leading manufacturers, including Microchip, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, and Renesas, offering engineers flexibility in development. It is equipped with comprehensive sensing and protection features, ensuring rapid prototyping and testing, EPC said.
For higher-current requirements, such as elbow and knee motors in humanoid robots, EPC offers the EPC9176 board in the same family. With enhanced current capacity, the EPC9176 complements the EPC91104 to cover a full range of motor drive applications in robotics, according to EPC.
The EPC91104 reference design boards are priced at $780.00. The EPC23104 is priced at $2.50/ea in 3Ku reels. The reference boards are available through DigiKey.
Robotics industry prepares for a humanoid boom
Humanoid robots have been impossible to ignore in the past few years within the robotics industry, and that momentum won’t be slowing down any time soon. Goldman Sachs Research projects that the market will reach $38 billion by 2035, up more than sixfold from its previous estimate of $6 billion.
2024 was a big year for humanoids. In June, we learned that GXO officially deployed a “small fleet” of Digit humanoids at a Spanx facility in Georgia. In November, Schaeffler AG made a minority investment into Agility Robotics and planned to buy Digit robots for use across its global plant network. These marked the first paying deployments for humanoid robots.
In addition, Figure AI is shipping its Figure 02 system to its first paying customers.
The jury is still out on whether humanoids will gain the market traction the robotics industry is betting on. Regardless, they’ll receive piles of funding and research in the years to come. The International Federation of Robotics named humanoids reaching for new markets as one of its top predictions for 2025. In a growing ecosystem, component providers like EPC could have an important role to play.
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