New Lidar Demonstration Board Enables High Current Pulses up to 220 A
March 16, 2021
Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) has announced the availability of its EPC9150, a 200-volt, high-current, pulsed-laser diode demonstration board. The board can be used with a lidar system to help create 3D maps for autonomous vehicle applications, where speed and accuracy of object detection is critical. Priced at $414 each, the EPC9150 demonstration board is now available through Digi-Key.
The company said the rapid transition capability of the EPC2034C eGaN FETs provides power pulses to drive the laser diodes, VCSELs, or LEDs up to 10 times faster than an equivalent MOSFET, and in a small fraction of the area, energy, and cost. This improvement can help enhance the overall performance, including accuracy, precision, and processing speed.
EPC said the eGaN FETs and integrated circuits provide the high current pulses, extremely narrow pulse widths, and small size that help make affordable, high-performance lidar possible. Using a 200-volt, 12-square-mm EPC2034C eGaN FET, the EPC9150 can generate a 220 A laser pulse peak in a pulse width that is only 2.9 nanoseconds wide, the company said. This will also increase the range of the lidar system, while the short pulse width leads to a higher resolution. In addition, EPC said the tiny size and low cost make eGaN FETs and ICs ideal for lidar applications in the industrial robotics and security markets.
The EPC9150 ships with an interposer board, a collection of break-away 5 mm x 5 mm square interposer PCBs with footprints to accommodate different lasers, RF connectors, and other footprints designed for experimentation with different loads. EPC said the use of interposers allows many different lasers or other loads to be mounted, giving users the ability to test performance with the load requirements appropriate to their application.
More details are available at EPC’s website.
