Vicor's new power module PI3740 is used in unmanned logistics vehicles

     With the development of 5G communication technology and the Internet of Things, driverless technology has become increasingly mature, promoting deep changes in the logistics industry. In the current global epidemic of the new coronavirus, unmanned logistics vehicles have become the focus of attention, and the demand for contactless distribution needs to be solved urgently in the three major application scenarios of terminal distribution, community commerce, and Industry 4.0.

     How the unmanned logistics vehicle can provide the maximum load in the limited body space, and deliver to the designated place stably and accurately, and return safely has become the biggest concern of users. In the past, due to the large size of the power supply, short endurance trip, and the need for satellite navigation throughout the whole process, the operation efficiency of unmanned logistics vehicles is low, and the operation cost is high, especially in the place where the signal is not good, it can not operate normally, which has become an obstacle to the development of unmanned logistics vehicles.

     The unmanned logistics vehicle launched by Xingshen Intelligent has been systematically optimized in terms of thermal management, shape size, own weight and reliability. Improved driving stability, reliability, load capacity and endurance, and the use of multi-source sensing positioning technology that does not rely on GNSS, can seamlessly switch to indoor and outdoor and other scenarios, with high positioning accuracy, wide adaptation to the scene, and rapid deployment without the need to transform the user site or road facilities. It has the same applicability in hospitals, high-floor residential areas and other places where satellite signals are relatively poor.

     At present, Xingshen Intelligent has a number of unmanned products into the application, the products cover the end logistics unmanned vehicles and factory logistics unmanned vehicles application field. Taking the terminal logistics unmanned vehicle as an example, the total weight of the vehicle is 1000kg, the maximum load is 500kg, the vehicle size is 188×100 × 177cm, the maximum speed is 35km/h, and the maximum number of packages can be loaded is 42.

     The maximum power of the intelligent control system of the unmanned logistics vehicle is about 100W, and the system converts 48V voltage to 12V voltage for the control board through PI3740, and the number of PI3740 on the control board depends on the application scenario of the logistics vehicle. The use of multiple PI3740s requires the output to be connected in parallel. The zero voltage control mechanism of PI3740 does not require the user to collect the output voltage and current, and the simple physical connection of several voltages realizes the parallel output, and the reliable, convenient and simple connection is favored by system engineers.

     The new PI3740 elevating voltage regulator supports the 8 to 60V DC operating voltage range and delivers up to 140W of power and up to 8A of output current with up to 96% efficiency. The PI3740 incorporates Vicor's proprietary high frequency Zero Voltage switching (ZVS) switching technology and is a high conversion efficiency, power density power module. The PI3740 fully integrates its controller, power switch and, in a 10 mm x 14 mm x 2.5 mm system-level package (SiP), Other features of the PI3740 include high frequency (1MHz) operation, parallel options, constant voltage and constant current (e.g. for LED lighting applications) operation mode, overvoltage, overtemperature and overcurrent protection, and operation in the temperature range from -40 ° C to 115 ° C.