Atmel Corporation has introduced the ATA6026, a motor driver IC for use with continuous-current motors in full H-bridge configurations. The chip and PWM and direction-controlled driving of four power MOSFETs, and it targets windshield wiper systems, door locks, seat position adjusters, and other automotive body electronics applications.
Designed using Atmel's high-voltage BCDMOS process, the ATA6026 is ideally suited to harsh environments, according to the company, and it features a differential SCI transceiver to reduce radiation emission for improved EMC performance.
Hartmut Fischer, director of Atmel’s Automotive Business Center, said that in a dual front wiper system, one ATA6026 motor driver can be used for the left wiper and a second for the right wiper. The SCI interface handles the synchronization between the left and right wiper, so space is saved and noise reduced by eliminating the mechanical link otherwise needed between the wipers. The SCI transceiver is a differential device that can also operate in single-ended mode for systems with only one wiper. The SCI functionality makes the ATA6026 similar to a LIN device, except that the Atmel part offers a faster data transfer rate (up to 100 kbaud).
Fischer added that the gate driver IC includes a 5 V/100 mA voltage regulator plus a window watchdog that reduces the need for external components in space-constrained designs.