Brushless DC Motor is a type of electric motor which relies on a electronic controlled

commutation. Conventional DC motors use a commutator in contact with a brush set to

make the electrical contact which forms the electric current to the field coils windings.

Brushless DC motors use an electronic controller which regulates and controls the
voltage and current to the field coils. The electronic module or controller uses discrete
devices and amplifiers to establish and deliver the desired voltage/current. Advantages of
a brushless motor include, increased reliability, longer life, elimination of sparks from the
commutator, reduced friction, precision voltage/current applied to the field coils, faster
rate of voltage and current.

Brushless dc motors using a electronic controller require a motor position sensor for the
electronics to precisely determine and apply the correct signal timing. Some motors
utilize a hall effect sensor to establish the position of the rotor relative to the field coils.

PMSM motors are quite similar to Brushless DC (BLDC) Motors, in that they have the
same structure and the same components. Both motors have permanent magnets in the
rotor that interact with the magnetic field produced by the stator coils.

Nevertheless, PMSMs have a different Back-Electromotive Force (BEMF), since the flux
linkage between the stator and the rotor is not trapezoidal. In the PMSM, the BEMF is
sinusoidal. This is an intentional effect produced by the way the coils in the stator are
wound (in a sinusoidal fashion), while in the BLDC motor the stator coils are evenly
wound. (Figure 1 shows BEMF waveforms for both motor types.)
Being brushless, there are no mechanical contacts between the voltage source and the
motor's rotating components, which reduces maintenance and potential for failure. It also
reduces the electromagnetic and radio frequency interference (EMI and RFI). The slotless
design uses a basket winding inserted into a ring lamination with no teeth or slots.
Therefore, rotation is smooth with virtually no cogging. The motor weighs less, has lower
magnetic losses, and produces less heat.

As a consequence, the PMSM is more efficient and has lower torque ripple than the
BLDC motor. It is important to mention that these improvements are also a result of the
different control techniques utilized on PMSM motors, as compared to BLDCs.

The most common technique utilized for controlling BLDC motors is trapezoidal control.
However, both PMSM and BLDC motors can be controlled using sinusoidal control and
Field Oriented Control (FOC).

FOC has become more popular in recent years, due to the fact that the cost required to
implement this technique is no longer a constraint. The available technology and
manufacturing processes now make it possible to implement this control technique in a
16-bit, fixed-point machine, such as Microchip’s dsPIC Digital Signal Controllers
(DSCs).

Efficiency is another factor that has allowed FOC to gain ground over sinusoidal and
trapezoidal control techniques. FOC is well suited for applications in which the hard
requirements are low noise and torque ripple, high efficiency and good torque control
over a wide speed range.

Sensor-based vs. Sensorless Motor Control

All of the aforementioned control techniques need to know the position of the rotor in
order to apply the correct amount energy at the right time. There are different methods to
obtain the position of the rotor; some based on sensor readings, and some that are done
without traditional sensors.

Sensor-Based Techniques
The sensor-based techniques employ electromechanical sensors coupled to the rotor to
provide the speed and position of the rotor. Among the most commonly used sensors are
resolvers, encoders and hall-effect sensors. BLDCs and PMSMs are usually operated
with one or more rotor-position sensors, since the electrical excitation must be
synchronous to the rotor position.

In low-cost, sensor-based applications, the most common sensing topology consists of

hall-effect sensors mounted in the rotor. Three hall-effect sensors provide information for
each 60º progress in the rotor’s position, which provides the exact timing for motor
commutation.
For applications in which precise position sensing is vital, the best sensing topology is the
resolver. It is also the most expensive, since it is externally mounted on the motor. Due to
its high resolution (1024 states per revolution or higher) and its ability to sense absolute
position, this is the preferred position sensor for servo applications in industrial control.

In the case of optical incremental encoders, the resolution is still very high (around 512
states per revolution), although no absolute position can be sensed at power up. They are
also expensive, since the optical encoder is externally mounted. Due to their resolution,
they are also used in servo applications. Figure 2 shows the sensor output waveforms for
all three sensor types.

Sensorless Techniques
For reasons of cost, reliability, mechanical packaging and especially if the rotor runs
immersed in fluid, it is desirable to run the motor without position sensors. This is known
as sensorless operation.

The obvious cost advantage of sensorless control is the elimination of the position
sensors. If low cost is a primary concern, very-low-speed motor operation is not a
requirement, and the motor load is not expected to change rapidly, then sensorless control
may be the better choice for an application.

It is possible to obtain the position of the rotor and the motor speed by “sensing” the
BEMF voltage on an undriven motor terminal during one of the drive phases, or by
“sensing” the current flowing trough the motor coils.

Position Sensing Using Voltage Phases (BEMF)

When a BLDC rotor turns past each stator winding, BEMF is generated, which opposes
the main voltage supplied to the other windings according to Lenz’s law. The polarity of
this BEMF is in the opposite direction of the energizing voltage.

The BEMF motor waveform varies as both a function of the rotor’s position and speed.
Detection of position using the BEMF at zero and very low speeds is therefore not
possible. Nevertheless, there are many applications that do not require positioning control
or closed-loop operation at low speeds. For these applications, a BEMF method is
appropriate.

In order to detect the rotor’s position, this method is always looking for the zero-crossing
points occurring in the BEMF signals. Once the BEMF signals are obtained, they are
compared to the motor’s neutral voltage. A zero-crossing point occurs when the BEMF
voltage is equal to the neutral voltage.

The BEMF zero-crossing technique is widely used because:

• It is suitable for use on a wide range of motors.

• It requires no detailed knowledge of motor properties, as a result less time is spent
tuning.
• It is relatively insensitive to motor manufacturing tolerance variations.
• It will work for either speed or torque control.

Position Sensing Using Phase Currents (dual shunt resistor)

The dual-shunt-resistor technique utilizes the information contained in the current
flowing through two motor coils, in order to estimate the motor position. The voltage
present at the shunt resistors is proportional to the current flowing through the coils. This
voltage is then amplified using a high-speed, rail-to-rail, low-noise operational amplifier,
such as Microchip’s MCP602X devices.

It is possible to estimate the rotor position by using a model of a PMSM Motor, which
can be represented by a series circuit composed of the winding resistance, winding
inductance and BEMF of the motor. This sensing method can only be used with FOC,
since it utilizes the currents measured through the shunt resistors to derive the outputs of
the FOC motor model to estimate the rotor position.

The position and speed estimator is based on a current observer. This observer is a
digitized model of the motor; meaning that the digitized model provides a software
representation of the hardware. However, in order to match measured current and
estimated current, the digitized motor model needs to be corrected using a closed-loop
control. Figure 3 shows the motor model and the current-observer block diagram.
BEMF estimation is first performed by filtering the compensation factor (Z). The current
estimated BEMF is then fed back into the model to provide a new estimate of the BEMF
(es). After compensating for the digitized model, it is fair to assume that the model is
accurate and that the estimated BEMF is the same as the actual motor BEMF.

After subsequent filtering of the estimated BEMF vector components, they are used to
calculate the motor’s angle position (?). The angle position is proportional to the inverse
tangent of the estimated BEMF vector components. The motor’s speed is proportional to
the rate of change of the motor’s angle position.

Conclusion
PMSM motors are very similar to BLDC motors, as they have the same internal
components. However, the PMSM coils are wound in a sinusoidal fashion, in order to
increase efficiency, and reduce noise and torque ripple.

BLDC motors can be controlled using trapezoidal, sinusoidal or field oriented control.
PMSM motors are usually controlled using sinusoidal or field oriented control. These
motion-control algorithms can use sensor-based or sensorless position sensing
techniques, depending on the application.

Sensor-based techniques are used in applications where high-resolution position sensing

is a must. The cost of using sensors is relatively high, compared to the circuitry utilized in
sensorless techniques. Sensorless techniques are utilized in applications where low cost is
a primary concern, very-low-speed motor operation is not a requirement, and the motor
load is not expected to change rapidly.