Discovery of BLDC Motor

The discovery of Electric Motors was one of the most important stepping stones in the field of
Electrical Engineering. There are various types of Electric motors available in the market. DC motors
and AC motors are the major classifications in Electric Motors. During the advancement of Power
Electronics and Drive Technology, Special Electrical Machines are introduced and Brushless DC
motor is one among them.   

Brushless DC Motor is contributing a significant role in the field of Advanced Drive Technology. So

much researches are going on nowadays and its popularity is rapidly increasing. In terms of
performance and price, BLDC Motor is now suitable for many of the applications. Machines which are
ranging from simple devices to those machines with complex technology are taking the use of
BLDC Motor for the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy. This course helps you out
to get a better understanding of BLDC Motor. This course may be an initial step for the student to start
their research over BLDC Motor and its wide range of applications. The course includes a brief idea
about traditional Brushed DC Motor, The Need of Brushless DC Motor, Construction, Operating
principle, and various Applications of Brushless DC Motor.

Brushless Vs. Brushed DC Motor

 Brushes require frequent replacement due to mechanical wear, hence, a brushed DC motor
requires periodic maintenance. Also, as brushes transfer current to the commutator, sparking
occurs. Brushes limit the maximum speed and the number of poles the armature can have. These
all drawbacks are removed in a brushless DC motor. An electronic control circuit is required in a
brushless DC motor for switching stator magnets to keep the motor running. This makes a BLDC
motor potentially less rugged.
 Advantages of BLDC motor over brushed motors are increased efficiency, reliability, longer
lifetime, no sparking and less noise, more torque per weight, etc.

What is a Brushless DC Motor and How Does It Work?

Brushless DC motors are common in industrial applications across the world. At the most basic level,
there are brushed and brushless motors and there are DC and AC motors. Brushless DC motors, as you
may imagine, do not contain brushes and use a DC current.

These motors provide many specific advantages over other types of electrical motors, but, going
beyond the basics, what exactly is a brushless DC motor? How does it work and what’s it used for?

Introduction

Brushless DC motor are synchronous motors which are powered by a DC electric source through an
integrated inverter/switching power supply, which produces an AC signal to drive the motor.

Purpose of BLDC

BLDC motor is mostly use in industry for a constant speed to use as a conveyer belt in industry to give
and take a Things from one position to another position but our BLDC motor is for limited weighted to
shipped it is almost 8kg. but we can improve our weight to use of FPGA based digital control system

 As the name suggests the motor is brushless, there is no need of brushes for commutation
because it is electronically commutated.

 As it is brushless, there is no power loss.

 BLDC motor is a type of synchronous motor in the sense that the magnetic field generated by
the stator and the rotor revolve at the same frequency.

 Brushless Motors are available in three configurations: single phase, two phase and three phase.
Out of these, the three phase BLDC is the most common one.

Construction of A BLDC Motor

A commutator-brushes arrangement helps in achieving unidirectional torque in a typical dc motor.

Obviously, commutator and brush arrangement is eliminated in a brushless dc motor. Here, an
integrated inverter/switching circuit is used to achieve unidirectional torque. That is why these motors
are, sometimes, also referred as 'electronically commutated motors'.
Just like any other electric motor, a BLDC motor also consists of two main parts a stator and a rotor.
Permanent magnets are mounted on the rotor of a BLDC motor, and the stator is wound for a specific
number of poles. Also, a control circuit is connected to the stator winding. Most of the times, the
inverter/control circuit or controller is integrated into the stator assembly. This is the basic
constructional difference between a brushless motor and a typical dc motor.
A typical controller provides a three-phase frequency-controlled supply to the stator winding. The
supply is controlled by logical control circuits and energizes specific stator poles at a specific point of
time. This can be understood from the below animations about working of BLDC motors.

BLDC Motor (2A, 24V)

1. Confirm that the voltage and power parameters of the motor not exceed the range of the driver
board as specified.
2. This driver board is used for 3-phase brushless sensor less motor, but not suit for all 3-phase
brushless sensor less motors directly. If the driving effect is not good (such as starting jitter,
reversing, the motor no load working current is too large, the speed is not stable, the efficiency is
low, and can’t start-up with load.) Customers can adjust the resistance and capacitance of the driver
board according to the actual situation to achieve the best driving effect (see the attachment for how
to do the adjustment)
3. JYQD-V8.10B driver board is bare board without housing and heatsink. If the power of the motor
below 36W ,it does not need to add heatsink, It only needs to ensure normal ventilation and well
insulation. If the power of the motor more than 36W, it must add heatsink.
4. Please take note that JYQD-V8.10B driver board has no anti-reverse connection protection, it will
permanently damage the driver board if reversed polarity connection.
5. The 5V output port on the driver board prohibits connect external device. It is only applicable to
the external potentiometer and switch of the board for speed regulation and reversal.
6. The “M” terminal on the JYQD-V8.10B driver board is the motor speed pulse output signal
(push-pull output), and the maximum output current is less than 5mA.

Controller

controller is designed for small brushless DC-motors. The unit is suitable for three phase hall
transducer brushless motors. There are two operating modes: in open loop operating mode the motor
voltage is proportional to control value with the characteristics of a common DC-motor with brushes.
In closed loop operation hall transducer signal is used to regulate motor speed. Through the feedback,
a precise motor rpm in relation to control value can be achieved. The motor operating speed and
running direction can be adjusted and the motor may be braked in both operating modes. The power
stage uses PWM principle and is highly efficient.
Speed control value is given as analog voltage signal. The auxiliary voltage signal is regulated and
may be used as reference value for control potentiometer. The acceleration speed can be adjusted with
acceleration and deceleration ramp. Deceleration ramp can also be bypassed when rapid braking is
desired. Additionally, the unit is equipped with speed2-feature, which can be activated individually.
This is especially practical in positioning applications.

Current limit can be used to restrict motor torque and is dip-switch settable. Control inputs work with
positive (NPN) logic. EM-170 is EMC-tested in accordance with industrial standards.

 One Arduino UNO is our main controller.

 It processes the main program.
 It gives supply to the hall sensors.
 This is another approach for feedback.
 It is connected to variable resistor.
 It processes the feedback (variable voltages) generating from variable resistor.
 This microcontroller is used to precisely control the speed of the motor.

The feedback of the Hall sensors is attached to this Arduino which generates three outputs

How to Power and Control Brushless DC Motors

The brushless DC (BLDC) motor’s increasing popularity is due to the use of electronic commutation.
This replaces the conventional mechanics comprised of brushes rubbing on the commutator to energize
the windings in the armature of a DC motor.

Electronic commutation provides greater efficiency over conventional DC motors with improvements
of 20 to 30% for motors running at the same speed and load. As the International Energy
Agency reports that 40% of all global electricity is used to power electric motors, such efficiency gains
become compelling.

Further, the BLDC motor is more durable. It retains its high performance while the efficiency and
power of an equivalent conventional motor declines due to wear, causing poor brush contact, arcing
between the brushes and the commutator dissipating energy, and dirt compromising electrical
conductivity.
Greater efficiency allows BLDC motors to be made smaller, lighter and quieter for a given power
output, further increasing their popularity in sectors such as automotive; white goods; and heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Other advantages of BLDC motors include superior speed
versus torque characteristics (with the exception of torque at start-up), a more dynamic response,
noiseless operation, and higher speed ranges.

The downside of BLDC motors is their complexity and the associated increase in cost. Electronic
commutation demands supervisory circuits to ensure precise timing of coil energization for accurate
speed and torque control, as well as ensuring the motor runs at peak efficiency.

Fortunately, this sector is rapidly maturing and silicon vendors now offer a wide range of highly-
integrated BLDC motor driver power MOSFET chips with either external or embedded
microcontrollers to simplify the design process, while also lowering component costs. This article will
explain how the designer can take advantage of these latest chips to ease the design process

FEEDBACK (Hall Sensor)

• Feedback Sensor, which is usually a Hall Sensor (that works on the principle of Hall Effect) is
generally used to detect the position of the rotor and transform it into an electrical signal. Most
BLDC Motors use three Hall Sensors that are embedded into the stator to sense the rotor's
position.
• Hall sensor has three terminals. One for power +5V and other is ground. Third terminal is
variable which depends on the sensor facing a North Pole or South Pole.
• Depending on the north or South Pole faced, the hall sensor will be give either 1 or 0 as output.
For BLDC motors, there are three Hall sensors placed.
• Three sensors will give 8 combinations of binary numbers, they are 000, 001, 011, 010, 100,
101, 110, 111. The combinations 000 and 111 are ignored by the program and use other
conditions and controller decodes to rotor position and then switch corresponding switches on
to excite the related stator winding, As explained above, the digital output will be +5 or 0V
based on the sensor facing north or south pole.

Some BLDC (Brushless DC) motors are equipped with three internal hall-effect sensors that provide
feedback to external circuits that facilitate precise control of the magnetic coils in the stator. Some
types of BLDC controllers use the motor’s intrinsic Back EMF leaving the hall-effect sensors unused.
In either case, the hall sensors can also be used for accurate position sensing.

Encoder

Hall effect ICs detect the magnetic poles of the rotor magnets and perform output, but the encoder
converts the light that passes through the encoder disk slit into an electric signal via a light-receiving
component, then amplifies and shapes it before outputting the signal.

As shown in Fig 2.15, an encoder is equipped with small slits used for position and speed detection
(phase A, phase B), as well as slits for detecting the magnetic pole position.  The light-receiving
components for detecting the position and speed are arranged such that the signal phase difference as
an electrical angle is 90°  in relation to the encoder disk slits.  Thus, it can accurately detect not only
the motor rotation speed but also the rotation amount and rotation direction.

In addition, the 3 slits for detecting magnetic pole positions and the light-receiving components are
arranged such that the signal phase difference as an electrical angle is 120°, and the encoder and rotor
are separate parts, so the timing of the switching for the rotor magnetic pole positions and the magnetic
pole detection signal do not match.  To make this timing match, it is necessary to adjust the position of
the slits for detecting the magnetic pole position when installing the encoder.

Oriental Motor has products equipped with encoders with magnetic pole detection signals.  Since the
rotation speed and rotation amount can be accurately detected via the phase A and phase B signals,
stable speed control at low speeds, and position control are possible

How Does DC Power My Motor?

In a brush dc motor, carbon “brushes” ride on a copper commutator, which is a series of axially
oriented copper bars connected to a series of windings in the rotating armature.  At any one time, the
windings energized are the ones that will cause an attractive force to the permanent magnets bonded to
the inside of the motor housing.  This causes motor rotation without the need for any electronic
control.
A BLDC motor is constructed differently.  There are no brushes and the windings are stationary.  The
rotating portion (rotor) does not have any windings.  This is where the permanent magnets are
mounted.  To make shaft rotate, an electronic control circuit must switch current to the appropriate
windings in the correct sequence to cause rotation.  Most use a three phase winding scheme and are
controlled by a three phase inverter.  This electronic circuit regulates the speed and torque of the motor
by varying the frequency and magnitude of the three phase power driving the motor.

It is 24 v dc source from 220 v of AC which energize our system to run the motor

Brushless Motor Current Control Method

Brushless motors have different methods of controlling current flow depending on the drive system.  In
addition, to control the rotation speed and generated torque, it is necessary to control the amount of the
motor current.  Here, we will explain the PWM method for controlling the motor current.

Current Control Method

An electrical control system called PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is used as a control method for
the voltage that is applied to the motor windings.  PWM control is a method of controlling the output
voltage by repeatedly turning the switching element in the circuit ON and OFF and creating a pulse-
shaped voltage.

Fig 3.12 shows a PWM control circuit model for a DC motor.  Fig. 3.13 shows the voltage waveform
and current waveform when the pulse width changes (modulation) during the ON phase.  Modulating
the pulse width and changing the duty ratio for the ON/OFF switching element controls the average
voltage.

At this point, the inductance causes the current to lag behind the increased voltage, and when the
application of voltage is removed, it gradually decreases.
Motor Drive

• We are using this H-bridge (L298N) as a motor driver.

• An H-bridge is built of four switches that control the flow of current to a load.
• This is used to supply power to the coils to energize.
• It can be operated in 12v or 24v.
• It has four outputs, through which the motor is connected but we are using three outputs to
energize the 3-pair of coils.

• Three signal outputs are connected to enable pins of H-bridge.

Variable Resistor

 This is another approach for controlling speed of the motor precisely.

 There are three terminals of the variable resistor. One is ground, second is supply and the third
one is signal, which are connected to second controller.

 The pulley of motor and variable resistor are connected to each other with belt. As the motor
rotates, the variable resistor also rotates which will give variable voltages at its signal terminal.
This signal terminal is connected to second Arduino.

 This is optional or addition feedback system.

Why is a BLDC better?

Without the carbon brushes and copper commutator, the only wear items in a BLDC motor are the
bearings.  This makes the BLDC motor far superior when long operating life is required.

Because the windings are stationary and in thermal contact with the outer case, heat is dissipated more
easily, allowing for higher power operation in the same package size.  Also, with no brushes and
commutator, the overall length is shorter.

Without the mechanical contact of the brushes, higher speeds and peak loads are practical.
Carbon brushes are a design feature from early electric motors. They are still used today as an
inexpensive alternative to brushless motors.

In brushed motors, a carbon brush serves as the means to conduct electricity to the rotor. The
disadvantage is that friction between the stationary brushes and moving rotor can cause wear and loss
of power.

Brushless motors replace the less-durable brush design with an electronic controller. The controller
controls which coils in the stator are active, making for an ever-changing magnetic pull.

BLDC motors boast a higher speed range and better torque to speed ratio. They also deliver a higher
level of torque relative to their size making them ideal in applications such as power tools.