Operating Voltage:

Input signal - 3.3V to 5V. Input voltage - 5V. Output signal - 20V, -5V.

What is it?

Basically, Easy Gate Driver is a dual independent channel gate driver and it can be controlled separately to suit various power topologies such as half bridge, synchronous buck, synchronous boost, push pull, switch forward and more

Why did you make it?

The current trend of power electronic research (motor drive, solar inverter, DC converter), aside of running simulation and theory, implementation on hardware is essential to prove new ideas. However, proof of concept can be time consuming and troublesome because of the hardware involved. No prototype works at first design, time will be spent on testing, trying and debugging before getting the first working design.

At proof of concept stage, any researcher would dream of having a simple wiring of a few components to get the job done. Nevertheless, in reality, it is much more complicated. In order to get one decent working hardware, endless reading of datasheets and application notes, scouting for suitable components, trying the application circuit, drawing the PCB, etching the PCB, solder components, endless google searches when the thing doesn’t work out as expected. Moments like: “why it is not working, this thing worked perfectly fine yesterday, I didn’t change anything” are common. This will then follow with tiring work of circuit troubleshooting and debugging.”

By the time the hardware is ready, the time taken to make it work has put many researchers behind their schedule. Furthermore, using “DIY” type PCB etching, the life spam wouldn’t be long as copper traces are not covered by solder mask to protect against oxidation. The prototype might be working for the first few weeks, after that, it might have some intermittent connection or totally not working at all.

Now testing new developed algorithm for various type of power converter topologies can be a breeze with “Easy Gate Driver”.

What makes it special?

1. “Easy Gate Driver” can drive two power transistors. It can process any PWM signal level from 3.3V to 5V. Control units can be from (but not limited to) DSPACE, PIC, DSPIC or DSP.

2. Signal current required from control unit is (<<< 1mA) so user don't need to worry about the current needed to drive an optocoupler. This eliminates the common problem of insufficient current to drive multiple optocoupler gate drivers (usually for multiphase & multi level topologies).

3. Blending well with other electronic circuits, as “Easy Gate Driver” is powered by a standard 5V supply which can be found almost everywhere such as PC USB ports, phone chargers and even power banks. But bear in mind, “Easy Gate Driver” has no USB connector.

4. “Easy Gate Driver” is equipped with screw terminal connectors for its voltage supply, input signal and output signal. Thus, only wires and test pen are needed in time of assembly. On top of that, the screw terminal used is huge enough to accommodate multiple wires for various purpose i.e signal monitoring and power supply sharing point.

5. “Easy Gate Driver” uses high quality Murata Power Solution DC converter. This DC converter is customized to supply voltage for gate driver purposes.

6. Messy circuit no more. “Easy Gate Driver” is cascade-able as every module comes with four holes at each corner. User can tower up another “Easy Gate Driver” module on top of existing module using pcb stand.

7. “Easy Gate Driver” is designed in such a way where users can configure any topologies desired i.e synchronous buck, synchronous boost or half bridge structure. Having two separate gate driver voltage. “Easy Gate Driver” can also be used to control two different power converters