SBIR Phase II: An innovative calibration software to suppress torque ripple and improve performance of electric motors.

Award ID: 2233023

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will improve the electric motor market and provide the competitive advantage to the US in mobile robotic applications. Electromagnetic flaws in brushless direct current (DC) motors and sensorless controllers have severely limited the performance of mobile robots and stymied the potential growth of the industry. High performance servo motors and motor controllers do exist, but they are too heavy, large, and expensive to be incorporated into many robotic applications, particularly mobile robots. By combining a unique hardware design with a software solution to eliminate intrinsic hardware problems, this project will result in an ultra-compact, high performance, and low-cost electric servomotor. The drone industry is expected to be the first to benefit from the proposed solution, as many commercial and defense drone companies are in need of industrial-grade propulsion components. A superior propulsion solution will accelerate the mass adoption of drones and other mobile robots. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to create the next generation of drone propulsion technology: an innovative drone motor and controller. Currently, drone companies are forced to use hobby-grade, sensorless motors and controllers, which suffer from poor performance and reliability issues. The Phase II project is rooted in the results obtained during Phase I activities, which led to the development of a calibration suite and a novel motor design. Phase I laid the foundation for creating an ultra-compact, high-performance motor and controller solution that is ideal for drone propulsion. The novel hardware design minimizes mass and production costs and, when combined with the calibration suite and angle compensation algorithm, the solution offers a substantial enhancement in propulsion efficiency, controllability, and reliability. The team will test its product with industrial drone manufacturers to verify its ability to increase vehicle flight time, enhance maneuverability, and minimize critical vehicle failures. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ela Mirowski