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16 Chapter Three: Motor Application Design Next, you must consider the heat sink and thermal management hardware. BLDC motors include several potentially heat-generating components, including the electromagnets, the core processor, microprocessors, ICs, and individual components, depending on the design. Heat sinks are designed to draw heat away from vital components passively, but thermal management systems consist of dedicated ICs, temperature sensors, and fans to cool motor components actively. Next, consider the controller. In BLDC motors, the first need is to determine the rotor position, which in turn determines the sequence and timing of activating and deactivating the coil assemblies. Even small errors in angle detection can result in operational problems, safety issues, or motor failures. One way to sense the rotor angle is to use position sensors, such as Hall-effect sensors, rotary encoders, or optical sensors. You can also use a sensorless approach with a BEMF, which is directly proportional to the motor speed, to estimate rotor position. Finally, consider other intelligence aspects of the controller. What kind of control signals are needed for rotor angle, power voltage and output, phase angle, direction, and speed? "Module design plays a major role in BLDC products. Poor design can cause a motor or module to blow, smoke, or otherwise go bad, which is not safe to an end user." Bhanu Villuri Lead Project Engineer, Stanley Black and Decker, Inc. Using one controller to control multiple BLDC motors has been a game-changer. Choosing the right controllers can significantly reduce engineering time and costs, as well. Dev Mandya Staff Product Marketing Manager, Renesas Electronics