AT 209 Lab 9 - BLDC Motors

This weeks lab focused on the basics of brushless DC (BLDC) motors. The BLDC motor consists of two main parts:

• Stator: The stationary component with wire coils that carry electrical current

• Rotor: The rotating component with permanent magnets

The motor operates on the principle of electromagnetic interaction between the stator's electromagnets and the rotor's permanent magnets. The Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) automates the process of driving the motor's three phases by energizing the correct coils in the proper sequence

The two types of BLDC motors are inrunners and outrunners, with outrunners being more common and more efficient. Inrunners have the permanent magnets housed on the inside and the stators go around the outside. Outrunners have the stators on the inside and the permanent magnets on the outside.

The number of poles affects the motor's speed and torque characteristics.

Experimental Setup

The lab involves constructing a simplified motor driver circuit using:

• A BLDC motor

• Breadboard

• Buttons (as substitutes for MOSFETs)

• Wires and connectors

First I drew a schematic of a 3 phase motor.

I then used a breadboard to create a motor system that uses buttons instead of transistors. Sadly I don't have a photo of my motor but here is a picture of the schematic.