Allegro Microsystems has been aggressively expanding its magnetic sensing portfolio, targeting new application needs in automotive and industrial sensing. Among its recent developments are a new magnetic position sensor for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) gear tooth speed sensor for measuring the rotation of ferromagnetic gears, and a coreless Hall-effect current sensor for automotive and industrial systems.
The new A31315 magnetic position sensor, depicted above, enables next-generation ADAS applications for safety-critical automotive performance. It is the newest member of the company’s 3DMAG family of rotary and linear magnetic position sensor ICs for automotive and industrial applications. The sensors combine planar and vertical Hall-effect technologies to measure magnetic field components along three axes (X, Y, Z), enabling true 3D sensing capabilities with a wide magnetic dynamic range without saturation.
The flexible 3D Hall front end and configurable signal processing architecture enable highly accurate, absolute linear position and rotary position measurements up to 360° while easing system integration challenges by providing greater freedom in sensor placement.
“Building on Allegro’s decades of automotive magnetic sensing innovation, the 3DMAG family expands our range of industry-leading position sensing solutions to include virtually any moving magnet system while offering the performance and functional safety capabilities required to enable the next generation of ADAS solutions,” said Scott Milne, business unit director for magnetic position sensors.
Unlike traditional side-by-side dual die configurations, its stacked die construction closely aligns the sensing elements of both die, ensuring the measurement of nearly identical magnetic fields. The innovative design enables the sensor to offer superior channel matching performance and tighter channel comparison thresholds common in fully redundant safety systems.
The new GMR gear tooth speed sensor gives transmission designers more options than ever before, says Allegro. The ATS19480 speed sensor IC provides a single-channel solution that’s ideal for hybrid and pure electric vehicle transmissions, with use cases extending to two-wheelers, off-road vehicles, and industrial application designs requiring speed-only information.
Having a speed-only protocol and industry-leading air gap that’s 50% larger than existing options, it improves design-in flexibility, expands design margin and tolerance capability, and facilitates a wider range of sensor installation locations, says Allegro.
“As our newest single-chip GMR solution for gear tooth sensing, the ATS19480 optimizes performance for emerging electric vehicle applications. It’s unique to the market because of the high air gap and level of accuracy,” says Peter Wells, business unit director at Allegro. “It allows designers to do things that haven’t been possible until now. It can be placed virtually anywhere; transmissions can be smaller and lighter than ever before, which is especially important in applications where designers want the speed-only protocol. It’s a real game changer.” It complements the company’s fully-integrated Hall-effect speed sensors, as well as its family of front-biased Hall-effect and GMR products for magnetic target sensing.
Earlier this year, Allegro expanded its coreless current sensor portfolio for EV and industrial applications with development of the new ACS37610 which joins a previous model to make the industry’s first family of truly coreless Hall sensing solutions to measure 100 A to >4000 A without a core or U-shaped magnetic shield, says the company.
“As a leading innovator in current sensing solutions for more than 20 years, Allegro was first to market with coreless differential Hall-effect current sensing technology, and our new ACS37610 IC enables our customers to accurately measure hundreds or thousands of amps in a very economical and simple way,” said Shaun Milano, director of current sensors. “Our differential Hall-based sensors provide excellent immunity to stray magnetic fields without the need of a shield, required by competing solutions, that slows down response and adds non-linearity error into the system.”
Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, Allegro provides power and sensing solutions for motion control and energy-efficient systems. For more info, see www.allegromicro.com.
