Brushless motor: what you should know about these motors

You've probably heard of the brushless motor. It is normal to see this term in many product descriptions. For example, in drones you can see that many have this type of electric motors. In fact, some manufacturers use it as a claim for potential customers, as they have their advantages.

But what is this brushless motor? What differences are there with respect to other types of DC motors. Well all those questions and more I will try to clarify them in this article ...

As with other types of Electronic components, these motors can be seamlessly integrated with your DIY projects with the arduino board and others.

What is a brushless motor?

: Brushless motor parts

: Replacement brushes for brushed motors

Un brushless motor, or brushless motor, It is a normal and current electric motor, but it does not use brushes to change the polarity of the motor. This avoids certain technical problems and prevents them from having to be replaced. That is why it is used as a claim, although it is true that it is a somewhat dubious claim, since most current motors are usually brushless.

The old electric motors Yes they used to have this type of brushes, some elements that rub and therefore reduce the performance of the motor by friction, generate higher temperature, wear, noise, and require this maintenance to have to clean the carbon dust generated inside the motor ( which can not only hinder operation, it can also be conductive and lead to electrical problems) and replace worn brushes.

That is why the first brushless motors were developed. First in the field of asynchronous AC motors, and later making the leap to other motors such as DC, which are the ones that interest us the most in this blog.

Although initially they were novel and more expensive To produce, the advancement of technology and electronics has now made it possible to produce them economically. However, its control can be somewhat more complex. Although ESC speed controllers have eliminated these problems ...

Currently, AC motors are present in multitude of teams domestic and industrial, as well as vehicles, etc. As for the CC, you can also find them in optical disc readers, computer fans, drones, robots, and a long etc.

Parts of a brushless motor and operation

The truth is that the parts of a brushless motor are quite simple. With a stator with the magnetic shields described in the article on electric motors, and a rotor that will rotate due to the impulse of the magnetic field.

However the way to operate them yes it is slightly different from other brushed DC and AC motors. However, many operating principles and features will be the same.

To make things easier, the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller), that is, controllers to be able to change the polarity of the windings of a brusheless motor to control the rotation. They allow easy control by PWM, with microcontrollers like the one on the Arduino board.

The ESC modules have electronic elements capable of acting on the motor without causing too much trouble for the user. Depending on the type of engine and power you will need one type or another of driver, as we have already analyzed in other articles.

Remember that you can even use MOSFET transistors to take care of it if you don't have a module of these. Basically a driver or ESC is a circuit that allows to alternate the polarity of the transistors to change the power supply polarity of the motor thanks to the transistors that compose it.

Advantages

Between the advantages of a brushless motor highlights:

Better speed-torque ratio. Therefore, you can extract more performance from them.
Better dynamic response.
More energy efficiency, to save energy. Especially important in battery powered devices.
Less overheating. No need for additional dissipation systems or excessive wear.
More durable, as it does not need so much maintenance, nor does it have friction or wear.
Less noise. They are much quieter by not touching anything.
Higher speed, ideal for applications where it matters, such as racing drones.
Compact Despite the torque they have, they are considerably more compact all things being equal than a brushed motor.
Without maintenance. You will not have inopportune stops due to wear of the brushes, nor will you have to buy spare parts, clean the generated dust, etc.

Disadvantages

Of course, brushless motors aren't good at everything. They have their little ones disadvantages:

Cost, it is a little higher than brush motors. However, current technology means that you can buy a brushless motor at good prices.
To control it, you will need drivers or controllers so that you can control the rotation. It is impossible to do it manually as in other cases.

Despite that, they are the onese have imposed on the industry and it makes it worth choosing one of them ...

Where to buy a brushless motor

Lastly, if you want buy a brushless motor to repair your drone, or for your maker project, you can find them in specialized stores or on Amazon. For example, here are some products:

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