In order to make the operation more reliable, more efficient and less noisy, the

recent trend has been to use brushless motor. Let’s see how a brushless motor
works. The rotor of a BLDC motor is a permanent magnet. The stator has a coil
arrangement as shown. By applying DC power to the coil, the coil energize and
become an electromagnet. The operation of a BLDC is based on the simple force
interaction between the permanent magnet and the electromagnet. In this
condition, when the coil A is energized the opposite poles on the rotor and stator
are attracted to each other. As the rotor nears coil A coil B is energized, as the
rotor near coil B coil C is energized. After that, coil A energized with the opposite
polarity. This process is repeated and the rotor continues to rotate. A humorous
analogy to help remember it is to think about BLDC operation like the story of the
donkey and the carrot. When the donkey tries hard to reach the carrot but the
carrot keeps moving out of reach.

The BLDC motors are gradually replacing DC motors and to solve the problem
related to contacts and to improve reliability and a longer life. Here are a few
achievements the owe their thanks to brushless DC motor:

– Powering electric vehicles. Brushless DC motors are more responsive than

traditional DC motors. In addition to their compact size and increased
efficiency, this makes BLDC motors the natural choice for electric scooters,
electric bicycles and even cars
– Preventing blood clots in hospitalized patients. Brushless motor power
compression socks, which are placed on patients’ legs to maintain proper
blood circulation.
– Adjusting solar arrays on space vehicles. Brushless DC motors last far
longer than traditional DC motors, so NASA and other space agencies rely
on them for interstellar applications.
– Providing mobile breathing assistance. Before the use of BLDC motors,
assisted breathing apparatuses were too bulky. The compact nature of
BLDC motors allowed portable ventilators to shrink in size. Moreover,
brushless DC motor do not suffer the sparking that comes with the friction
of brushed DC motors.