Pennyesc

PennyESC, a tiny and cheap brushless motor controller

Current state of the project:

Works and spins a 1104 motor with closed loop speed and position control! Can daisy chain a few on the same UART bus by using open drain output.

Nov 14

Finished layout and placed order with JLCPCB! Gerber, BOM, and CPL files in pennyesc/production/

Ended up being about $6/board for raw components, but after setup fees ($16), shipping ($39), and customs ($21) the total was $111 for 5 boards. It should be a lot better when ordering in larger quantities.

Oct 28

Changed to TI TMAG5273 magnetic angle sensor and TI MCT8316Z power stage for lower price and higher current limit. Price for components should be around $8 per board from JLCPCB. Also thinking of using only 3 mounting holes and allowing for pass through shaft (off-axis magnet sensing). Pass through shaft could be useful for "floating motor" electric muscles.

Oct 22

• Aiming for $10-15 component cost, around 15 mm diameter
• Assembled by JLCPCB using their in-stock parts
• MP6536 3-phase power stage ($3.38)
  • 5-26 V input
  • 5.5 A current limit
  • PWM input for each half-bridge
  • no current sense
  • 5x5 mm
• MA782 magnetic encoder ($4.11)
  • SPI
  • 2x2 mm
• STM32L011 microcontroller ($1.28)
  • 32 MHz clock
  • 3x3 mm