Global shortage

Probably not very relevant but things are not looking good out there



I am in real trouble, can’t do anything :frowning:

Hah!

I have just checked mouser and they seem to have awful lot of it, maybe they are to blame for this :smiley:https://www.mouser.fr/_/?Keyword=btn8982

Also JLCPBC has few hundreds

But I agree that it seems very strange!

Everything is backorder. there is 0 stock, these thousands are ordered and will be available end of this year. and jlcpcb have only one roll. this is very abnormal. if you try to actually buy and go to checkout you will see 0 stock. digi key, arrow, all 0.

I seem what you mean.
I’ve sent an email to Infineon to ask their opinion, I’ll let you know what do they say.

Not the only chip out of stock, currently having a hell of a time sourcing parts

Basically, we are f****d for making boards this year I have concluded. If you look at the stocks for the magnetic sensors, they are rapidly running out, can’t really find many of the mag alphas any more :frowning:
Same for the popular STM MCUs, unless you like BGAs… and the stuff you can find, it is getting more and more expensive.

So I think we can expect to wait, as hobbyists will be last people to get the new chips, I fear. Tesla and BMW will be ahead of us in the queue :frowning:

You are right. I have digikey orders holding up already second week for my board, current sensors, drivers, whatever, all somewhere in a mystery warehouse. I called three times already, they told me “it’s in the pipeline” whatever that means. Covid and the crazy crypto-miners really did a number on the silicon market. I am putting my board on hold for some time until I source parts.

India and generally SE Asia are on fire, flights were stopped, production reduced, and the supply chain has been running on fumes for months. It will take a year to vaccinate and clear up. Europe is also already mostly shut down until they vaccinate. US is now the only holdout but they shifted all fabrication East. Who would have thought that cheap labor and just-in-time deliveries also means no money to take care of social issues and the risk is always on the downside.

Yup, I’ve talked with a few guys and there’s a world-wide semiconductor shortage. Even some factories here have stopped production because of this shortage.

The IFX007TAUMA1 is a direct replacement.

Infineon’s response:

BTN8982 and IFX007 are stated as active and preferred, the parts are in production.

​​​​​​According to our database the requested product is available in distribution, but we are not able to inform you which distributor is able to deliver the product. Please be aware of the possibility that the product is not available due to the distributors individual decision (e.g. low market demand) or non-availability because of long leadtimes and high market demand.

If minimum order quantities should not allow you to obtain the product(s), please contact one of our catalog dealers. To find a list of our authorized catalog dealers please visit us at https://www.infineon.com/cd

So at least they did not discontinue the chips, but it seems there is nothing much more to do but wait. :smiley:

Interesting. In other words they have no idea what’s going on and it’s fog and mirrors out there.

I have two orders held for a third week for items supposedly in stock. I called over half a dozen times, they keep assuring me it’s just about to be shipped. Wonders…

Fortunately, not my problem. I make my own hardware and I’m buying the parts before I design the board.
And I do hand-soldering, because what I do usually takes forever and by the time I’m finished solder-paste has dried out.
I am working on a robot, like everybody else I guess ?
But I’m working top-down.
So I found out I need parts which do not yet exist or are too big or too expensive.
That’s when you start designing your own boards.

It occurs to me that many people are working bottom-up.
They take an existing “dumb” motor and design a board to make it a “smart” motor.
And then it is up to other people to use these smart components to create something bigger.
I’ve never considered buying any of them. They are never an exact fit.

I do not like fancy all-in-one components with integrated power-transistors.
I sometimes do repairs and it is always this component that fails.
( yes they all have overvoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature protection and whatnot )
They are not cheap and often sold out. Just stick to discrete power-transistors if you can.

So you’re writing your own foc library also? :smiley:

Hi @Jan_Donker,

Eventually chip shortage will effect everyone of us! For people who are designing custom solutions like you, and for people who are using existing designs like me! We all need chips.

It is certainly an interesting way of working! Working like you requires a lot of knowledge and expertise.

I am working in another way because I am still learning a lot so therefore I have chosen to first experimentate with the work from other people. Also I have limited time so I cannot design every part by myself. Thanks to this way of working and the people on this forum, I have learned a lot!

So I think that it depends on how people want to work, what their expertise is and what they want to do!

On what type of robot are your working? Also on a quadruped? :slight_smile:

No, some better programmer than me already did that. It was written 10 years ago for a compiler that doesn’t exist anymore, but with some minor rework it still compiles.
appnote
( it’s always a good sign if products and parts still exist after 10 years ).
I only designed an evaluation-board for it and now I’m waiting for the mail. I will only use it for testing. If all works as planned, I would need to design a final ( and much smaller ) board.

No, it won’t have legs but it needs arms and hands. And that is the problem, because a hand needs 20 motors and lots of sensors. I am by no means an expert in anything. All I have is a lot of time.

@Jan_Donker,
Are you driving all 20 with one board or you will do 20 boards? Just curious.

It so crazy … three weeks ago I paid 5,98€ for this and they are currently asking 11,12€ … almost twice. In no time, they won’t be able to be bought on AliExpress. It is cheaper to buy a development boad and desolder the MCU that interests you

The plan is somewhere in the middle. 15 Motors will be brushless and 5 brushed. I plan to make a board that can drive 4 motors and stack 5 of these on a yet to design heatsink.