12/10/2016

RocketScience:HallEffectSensorPlacementforPermanentMagnetBrushlessDCMotors

HallEffectSensorPlacementforPermanentMagnetBrushlessDC
Motors
Thisisaveryconfusingtopic.
Ispentafewhourstodayreteachingmyselfthetheoryforhalleffectsensorlocations,thenevenlongertryingto
comeupwithaclearwaytopresentit.Itwasacombinationofgatheringinformationfromforumsandlookingback
atmyoldnotes(whichwerederivedfromShane'sexpertise).Thegoalofthispostistogatherallofthatinformation
ononewebpageandrelayitinasclearaformatasIcan.
Disclaimer:Iamnotanelectricalengineer,sosomeofthismaynotbeaccurate.Thatbeingsaid,I'm90%confidentthatitis.

Legend:
edeg:electricaldegrees
erot:electricalrotation.1erot=360edeg
mdeg:mechanicaldegrees
mrot:mechanicalrotation.1mrot=360mdeg
pp:numberofmagnetpolepairs.1pp=2magnets(1north,1south)
s:numberofslots(inthestator)

Thispostwillcoverhowtoplacehalleffectsensorsonto3phasemotorsbeingrunby60edegand120edeghall
positioncontrollers(motorcontrollersthatexpectthehallsensorstobeplaced60and/or120edegapart).Whileitis
feasibletodesignamotorcontrollertoexpectthehallsensorstoplacedsomeothernumberofedegapart,Ihave
neverseenorheardofone(therejustaren'tanycommoncommerciallyavailableonesthatacceptanythingother
than60and/or120edeghallsensorplacement).Ibelievethereasonforthisisthatitmakesthecodeandfollowing
mathmorecomplicated,thoughIcouldbewrongasIhaveneverdesignedmyownmotorcontroller.I'monlygoing
tocover3phasemotorsinthispostbecausetheyarethemostcommontype,thoughthefollowingequationscould
beextendedtoanynumberofphasemotorswithminormodifications.
Weneedtofigureoutwheretoplacethe3halleffectsensors.Let'sstartwithsomemath:
Thefirstthingyouwanttofindisthenumberofmdegpererot.Inotherwords,thenumberofmechanicaldegrees
therotorspinstomakeonecompleteelectricalrotation.
Equation1:(360mdeg/pp)=nmdegpererot=nmdegper360edeg
Note:don'tconfusethiswiththeequationmrpm*pp=erpm,whichisusefulforfindingelectricalrpmgiventhemechanicalrpmofyourmotor.

Now,let'ssayyouwanttouseamotorcontrollerthatrequires120edeghalleffectsensorplacement.Youneedto
findthenumberofmdegper120edeg.Soyoujustdividetheaboveequationby3.
Equation2:(360mdeg/3*pp)=mmdegper120edeg.
Thisvalue,m,givestheminimumnumberofmdegthatyoucanspaceeachofthehalleffectsensorsapartandstill
achieve120edegspacing.
Atthispoint,youneedtochoosewhetheryouwanttogowithmountingthehalleffectsensorsonaninternal
board12,outsideofthemotor(usuallyonsomesortofjig/board(scrolldown2/3page)positionedsothatitcan
pickupthemagneticfluxleakingoutofthemotor),orinsidethestatorslots123(note:ifyoumountthemonthe
sideofthecoilslikeIdid,makesureyoumakethemasclosetothemagnetsaspossible)onthecoils.The
advantageoftheformertwooptionsisthattheboardcanberotatedtoretardoradvancethetimingofthemotor
(adjustabletiming).Theonlywaytoadjustthetimingofthethirdoptionisinsoftware.
NOTE:ItisVERYimportanttoplacethehalleffectsensorsaspreciselyaspossible.Beingoffbyafewmechanicaldegreescanputyouoffby
manytensofelectricaldegrees.

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RocketScience:HallEffectSensorPlacementforPermanentMagnetBrushlessDCMotors

Ifyouwanttomountthehallsensorsonsomesortofjig/board(internalorexternal),thenyou'redonewiththemath!
Theabovevalue,m,givesyouthenumberofmechanicaldegreesthatyoushouldspaceeachhalleffectsensors
apart(for3halleffectsensors,that'satotalarcof2*mmdeg).Ifmistoosmallforyourliking,youcanmultiplyitby
anyintegervalue,e.g.2,3,4etc...,togetotherspacingsthatwillworkwith120edegmotorcontrollers.(Whilethe
halleffectsensorswillnolongerbeexactly120edegapart,theywillbeamultipleof120edegapart,whichwillwork,
too).
Ifyouwanttomountthehallsensorsinthestatorslots,thenyouneedtofindthenumberofmdegperslot:
Equation3:(360mdeg/s)=xmdegperslot
NowyouneedtomultiplymfromEq.2byintegersuntilyoufindaninteger,i,thatgivesyouanumberdivisible
byx.m*igivesyouthenumberofmdegyoushouldspacethehalleffectsensorsapart,and:
Equation4:((m*i)/x)=#ofslotsbetweenhalleffectsensors.
Therearelikelymultiplechoicesfori,especiallyasthenumberofslotsandpolesinamotorincreases.Aslongas
theaboveequationsaresatisfied,thenamotorcontrollerthatwantsthehalleffectsensors120edegapartwillwork.
_______________________________________________
Nowformotorcontrollersthatrequires60edeghalleffectsensorplacement.Equation1stillapplies,butEquation2
nowbecomes:
Equation2':(360mdeg/6*pp)=mmdegper60edeg.
Thisvalue,m,givestheminimumnumberofmdegthatyoucanspaceeachofthehalleffectsensorsapartandstill
achieve60edegspacing.Followingthelogicfromthe120edegspacingcaseabove,youcanmultiplymbyany
integerandstillmaintain60edegspacing.Youcanthendirectlytransferthisnumberofmdegtoaboard/jigfor
mountingthehallsensorsto.
Oryoucanmountthehallsensorsinthestatorslots.Doingthisisidenticaltothe120edegspacingcaseEquations
3and4staythesameforthiscase.
Note:Itisinteresting,andlogical,thatyouwillobtainallofthe120edegspacingmultiplesinthe60edegspacingcase(120isamultipleof60).
***Note2:Youhavetobecarefulwithyourwindingscheme.Windingschemescanaffectwhichmdegspacingsworkandwhichdon't.Sometimes
you'llhavetoflipahallsensorover(seeEx4below).Forsimplicity,youshouldplacethehalleffectsensorsinsensiblelocations(firstoneonor
betweenteeth),despitethefactthatitoftendoesn'tmatteraslongasthey'respacedcorrectly(Isay"often"becauseifthesensorsarerotated
together,youcanadjustthetimingofthemotor,andthusit'sperformanceandcharacteristics).***
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TimeforsomeEXAMPLES!

Ex1:ELB'smotorswithinternalhalleffectsensorsmountedonarotatable"hallboard"for120edegcontrollers.
ELB'smotorisa18slot,20polebrushlessoutrunnerwithwindingschemeAaABbBCcCAaABbBCcC.Atfirst,I
wantedtohavethesensorsonahallboardthatIcouldrotateabouttheaxleinordertoeasilyadjustthetiming.SoI
didthemath:
Equation1:(360mdeg/10pp)=36mdegpererot=nmdegper360edeg
Equation2:(360mdeg/30)=12mdegper120edeg.
SoIspacedthehalleffectsensors12degreesapart,foratotalarcof24degrees,whichmadeforanice,smallhall
board.(IlaseretchedthedegreelinesonthehallboardsIcutout,whichprovedtobesuperniceforaligningthe
sensors).Thisworked.Unfortunately,thelittlehallboardswereveryflimsy,andIreallydidn'thaveenoughroomfor
ahallboardinsidethemotor(oroutside),soIwenttogluingthesensorsintothestatorslots...seenextexample.
Ex2:ELB'smotorswithinternalhalleffectsensorsgluedintothestatorslotsfor120edegcontrollers.
Timeformoremath:
Equation3:(360mdeg/18)=20mdegperslot
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RocketScience:HallEffectSensorPlacementforPermanentMagnetBrushlessDCMotors

Equation4:((m*i)/x)=((12*5)/20)=3slotsbetweenhalleffectsensors.
Sothehalleffectsensorsneededtobespaced60mdegapart(600edeg),oroneevery3slots.Whichisexactly
whatIdid,anditworksgreat.i=10alsoworks,andplacesthehallsensors120mdegapart,orevenlyaroundthe
stator.Infact,120mdegworksformanycommonslot/polecombinations...soyoucouldjustskipallofthis
mathanddoitthatway.
Iwillnotbedoinga60edegspacingcontrollerinslotsensorsexamplefortheELB.Itturnsoutthattheonlymdeg
hallspacingsthatworkfor60edegcontrollerswitha18s,20polemotorarethesameasthe120edegspacingmdeg
multiples.Inotherwords,thehallsensorsendupinthesameplaceaswiththe120edegspacingcase.Butdon't
takemywordforit,trythemath!
Ex3:EHB'smotorswithinternalhalleffectsensorsgluedintothestatorslotsfor120edegcontrollers.
EHB'smotorswillbe12slot,14polebrushlessoutrunnerswithwindingschemeAacCBbaACcbB.

Equation1:(360mdeg/7pp)=51.4mdegper360edeg
Equation2:(360mdeg/7*3)=17.14mdegper120edeg.
Equation3:(360mdeg/12)=30mdegperslot
Equation4:((m*i)/x)=((17.14*7)/30)=4slotsbetweenhalleffectsensors.

Thefirstmultipleithatworksis7.Itturnsoutthattheonlywaytoplacethesensorsinthestatorslotswhenusinga
motorcontrollerthatexpects120edegspacingofthesensors,istoplacethesensors120mdegapart(spaced
equallyaroundthemotor).
Thisisnottosaythatyoucouldn'tmountthesensorsonsomesortofjig17.14mdegapart...youcan.Butifyou
wantthestatorsintheslotsonthistypeofmotor,youhavetospacethem120mdegapart.

Reddotsindicateslotsthatthesensorsshouldbeplacedin.

Ex4:EHB'smotorswithinternalhalleffectsensorsgluedintothestatorslotsfor60edegcontrollers.
Let'stakethesamemotorasinEx3,butnowthemotorcontrollerisexpecting60edeghalleffectsensorspacing.
Equation1:(360mdeg/7pp)=51.4mdegper360edeg
Equation2:(360mdeg/6*7)=8.57mdegper60edeg.
Equation3:(360mdeg/12)=30mdegperslot
Equation4:((m*i)/x)=((8.57*7)/30)=2slotsbetweenhalleffectsensors.

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RocketScience:HallEffectSensorPlacementforPermanentMagnetBrushlessDCMotors

Nowthehalleffectsensorscanbeplacedclosertogether.However,thereisacatch.Sincethehallsensorsare
placedlikethis:A(sensor)ac(sensor)CB(sensor)baACcbB,thesecond(Cphase)sensorneedstobeflippedover
becausethemagneticfieldisreversedinthatslotbecausethatslotiswoundtheotherdirectioncomparedtothe
firstandthirdsensors'slots.Thisiswhyyouhavetobecarefulwithwindingschemes.

Bluedotindicatesslotwherehallsensorshouldbeflippedover.

________________________________________________
Notesonhookingupthecontrollertoyourmotor.Youwillhavespendsometimetestingtoseewhichhalleffect
sensorcorrespondstowhichphase.Andunlessyouhavetheabilitytomodifythecodeinthemotorcontroller,you
willhavetoplaywithwirecombinationsinordertogetthecorrectone.Havinga2channelscopehelpsalot.Since
therearemanytopicsonendlessspheresaboutdoingthis,andit'sdependentonthetypeofmotoryouhave,Iwill
notgointodetail.

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