Bycor's innovative integrated power modules enable superior designs for robot power supply systems, increasing the number of applications for robot design companies.

OLogic, an electronics consulting firm based in Santa Clara, California, announced on the 30th that it is utilizing Vicor’s △Buck△BuckBoost and PRM power modules in its clients’ robot designs.

“We’ve become the biggest user of Vicor ZVS buck regulators in the world,” says Ted Larson, CEO of OroLogic. “We use them in every part of our mobile robots. It allows us to not have to think, ‘I need five or ten 12-volt amps, so I’m going to build a power supply.’ “You don’t have to think that way anymore,” he said.

Orologic has designed dozens of robots across a range of industries, including agriculture, smart homes, and inventory management, but mobile robots present a number of power-related challenges and require a range of power levels.

Sensors, servo motors, actuators, communication systems, and other robotic actuators have varying requirements for power and power density.

Some consume a lot of power, while others may only operate intermittently. This requires a solution that can supply power from the mains in a fast, clean and cost-effective way.

While multiple individual power solutions have been used in the past, Vicor’s modular approach to building power distribution networks (PDNs) for robots has enabled designs with superior operational and thermal efficiency and a wide operating range.

Additionally, Vicor modules such as ZVS buck regulators are very cost-effective considering they deliver 200W to 300W of power and have efficiencies of up to 97%.

Accordingly, OroLogic is applying Bycor's products as power solutions, and recently adopted Bycor's power solutions for the field printer robot with Dusty Robotics (Dusty), with which it collaborated.

The Dusty Field Printer is a battery-powered mobile robot that operates for long periods of time in a variety of weather conditions.

A dusty field printer contains a variety of electronic devices, including sensors, drive motors and motorized components, compute-intensive processors and the printer itself.

Although all of these devices have different operating voltage and current requirements, the use of Vicor’s robotic PDN to build the core electronics of the robot allows individual power solutions to be integrated into a single solution, increasing efficiency.