“Driving 9 solenoid valves and a DC compressor using the Infineon TLE94112ES 12-fold half-bridge Shield for Arduino.
Do more with less! - pneumatic systems
The first part of our “Do more with less!” mini-series is all about pneumatics.
Pneumatic systems are great solutions, especially when a fast linear actuator is needed!The system setup is quite easy. All you need is
- a compressor
- an air tank
- a valve (mechanic or mechatronic)
- an actor (such as a cylinder)
and you are ready to rock.
One chip to run them all
A perfect solution to drive a pneumatic system is the Infineon 12-fold half-bridge driver Shield for Arduino or 12-fold half-bridge driver HAT for Raspberry Pi. Both feature the TLE94112ES multi-half-bridge IC - one driver with 12 half-bridge outputs to drive DC motors, resistive or inductive loads.
For our project we use 3 of the 12 outputs to drive our compressor. Despite the fact that it runs at quite low currents there is a current spike at startup. By using 3 channels in parallel we are on the safe side here.
The other 9 outputs are used to drive solenoid driven “pneumatic 2/3 valves”. These can block air or let is pass in one way (2 status/ IN -> OUT), while the air can escape the system through a third opening in the valve (OUT -> RELEASE).”