As I know drones are utilizing BLDC+propeller for their lifting.
I am just wondering if simpleFOC powershield could be constructed as a testbed
to evaluate the properties such as thrust/torque/rpm of a propeller and the BLDC?
Hi @x101418 , welcome to SimpleFOC!
In principle, your idea is good, and it should be possible to use SimpleFOC in this way
Note that it is very hard to do very high RPM counts with FOC control, you need a very fast MCU and sensor to reach very high RPM. So it might be hard to test the smaller drone motors, which typically are very fast-turning.
But for larger drone motors, with larger propellers, it should be possible to drive them with FOC and run experiments like you describe.
BUT - I would not advise to use the SimpleFOC Powershield at the moment. The design is not finished, and still being tested, and there are some problems with the FETs used on on this shield.
So I would recommend you to choose a different driver!
The PowerShield could be used for low current motors, up to about 20A, with heatsinks and good cooling. Most drones use high current and different commutation mechanism for high RPM, as @runger mentioned. Also, you need to sensor your motors with a really fast SPI angle sensor. The drone ESCs use BEMF commutation scheme, and SimpleFOC uses angle sensors.
You could definitely try, and please come back and post your progress.
Cheers,
Valentine
Thank you so much for such response.
I am appreciated.
Thank you both of you.
1 Like
Thank You both so much for such detail respondings.
I have encountered a trouble of counting by using radial HALL effect sensor and it was unstable.
But, the SimpleFOC showed me the megnatic sensor was direct embeded on the tail of the spindle of BLDC motor, which is a good ideal of counting the pulses.
I am wondering do you have experiences of using rotational magnet and how it performed in high speed around 10000RPM?
Thanks
I have no experience at such high rpm.