Unleash the innovative potential of three-phase motors and learn about Qorvo's field-oriented control (FOC) solution

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Unleash the innovative potential of three-phase motors and learn about Qorvo's field-oriented control (FOC) solution [Copy link]

In any discussion of brushless motors, terms such as sine wave, trapezoidal wave, and field-oriented control often appear. Understanding these terms is the first step to grasping the basic concepts. This is outlined in the Design Summit video and briefly summarized in this section. In a typical motor drive system using a battery or other DC power source, the power module provides three-phase AC power to the motor. As shown in Figure 1, the current drive of a BLDC or PMSM motor can be based on six-step trapezoidal control or field-oriented control.

The accuracy of the rotor position affects the efficiency of the motor speed and torque control; the rotor position can be detected by hardware sensors to obtain the motor angle and speed. In some designs, the motor rotor position can also be estimated by the microcontroller running a sensorless algorithm from the current and voltage values.

"Field-oriented control (FOC) is an advanced control technique for PMSM that minimizes torque ripple and expands the speed operating range. Qorvo's FOC solution brings innovative potential to brushless DC (BLDC) motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), surpassing the performance of traditional brushed motors. Through embedded programming on a microcontroller, Qorvo's solution achieves precise rotor position detection and control, providing higher energy efficiency, longer life, and smaller, lighter, and quieter features. It is widely used in power tools and white appliances."

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It was said in the past that FOC was the control method for permanent magnet synchronous motors. Now that we use brushless DC motors, is the FOC method still applicable?