Overview

3D printers are attracting attention as the prices of personal hobby use low-cost versions drop. Many low-cost 3D printers use the Fused Deposition Modeling method and control 3D coordinates by controlling a plastic outputting head in 2D coordinates and controlling the height of the stage. A plastic loader motor and a cooling fan motor also require PWM output. In addition, large-capacity flash ROM and a high-performance CPU are required for high-speed processing of large volume data. Also required are serial I/O for receiving date from a PC via USB or flash memory media devices and controlling LCD panel modules.

Renesas Electronics offers the RX200 Series, which has a high-performance CPU, PWM for controlling stepper motors and serial I/O for communicating with various peripheral devices, and the RX600 Series, which has an RSPI for controlling serial flash as well as semiconductor devices such as an LED driver IC, op-amp and reset IC for 3D printers.