Characterization of DC brushless motor for an efficient multicopter design

Review of Propulsion System Design Strategies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

“…Moreover, their acoustic emissions and thermal signature are high, and the theme of environmental sustainability (due to the shortage of fossil fuels, global warming, and increasing pollution) is a factor to their detriment and pushes toward the adoption of electric propulsion [129]. The choice of electric motors in small-to-medium-sized UAVs is the most common [9,64,100,106], due to their multiple advantages: high efficiency, low noise emission, low thermal dissipation, reliability, no pollutant emission, self-starting, controllability, and high maneuverability. The brushless DC motors' increasing diffusion among electrically actuated UAVs was confirmed by the literature review: indeed, for the totality of the analyzed articles with electric propulsion UAV, the motor used was a brushless DC.…”

“…The papers in the sub-class propulsion were mainly focused on the motor, and almost all were related to the design or characterization of brushless DC motors, as in the following cases. Lee et al [42] put forward the optimal design method for UAVs and interior permanent magnet motors for drones that require high thrust of high rotational speed; Marcolini et al [78] investigated the design of a multiphase coreless axial flux permanent magnet machine with concentrated windings, to obtain very high power and torque densities; Liben et al [84] presented an analytical design method to develop a ring motor that was wrapped around the outer diameter of a propeller; Xu et al [91] presented a novel parameter design method for a DC brushless motor; Parvez Alam et al [98] aimed at the design and development of a small-scale test rig setup for the measurement of the thrust of any brushless DC motor; Zulkipli et al [100] studied the characteristics of a brushless direct current motor for the purpose of multicopter design. A very limited number of works dealt with actuators based on other technologies, such as the work of Mingjun et al [96], who presented a new type of compact smart hydraulic actuator, or of Jims John Wessley [40], who presented the design of major components of a turbojet engine that could produce thrust suitable for medium-altitude UAVs.…”