DIY Field-Oriented Control ESC

My BLDC controller can use different control strategies to drive a brushless motor. The simplest method is called block, trapezoidal or six-step commutation, whereas the more advanced method is called field-oriented control. The board also gives you the option to use position sensing based on either hall sensors or an encoder. In this post I will first present a block commutation method. Since the motor I had available did not have hall sensors, I have first developed a sensorless approach using back EMF sensing.

Full log (Maakbaas.com)

With pride I can present the first hardware version of my own BLDC controller which I named the MBLDC for obvious reasons. In the last update I gave my reasoning for the different components I selected, as well as the wish to keep it small, and to keep it a one-sided PCB. In this post I will show you my design, the assembled PCB and even a spinning motor!

Full log (Maakbaas.com)

Even though it is many months ago that I wrote the first log in this project, I am a lot closer to my first design than I was then. As presented in the previous post, there are three main methods to control a brushless motor, each one having slightly different needs for the hardware design. Here I will present which components are needed for a BLDC controller, to be able to use all three methods. Read on for part selection and the reasoning behind my choices.

Full log (Maakbaas.com)

Brushless motors are becoming more and more popular in many different devices and hobby projects, from drones all the way to electric skateboards and bikes. Compared to DC motors they have a much better performance, but this comes at the cost of more complex motor controls. In this project I will design my own circuit board and software for a BLDC controller.

Full log (Maakbaas.com)