Electrical · Power Electronics
Three-Phase VFD Motor Drive Simulation
Build a 3-phase BLDC motor driver and control its speed with an ESC. Measure current draw and efficiency vs speed. Compare soft-start against direct start. Core skill for motor drive jobs.
Safety: Involves mains/AC or high-current power. Work only under instructor supervision, use proper isolation, fusing, and PPE. Prefer low-voltage or simulated sources where possible.
Major
Electrical
Focus area
Power Electronics
Total hours
35-60 hours
What you'll need
- brushless BLDC motor for RC drone
- 30A brushless ESC electronic speed controller for RC
- Arduino Uno R3 ATmega328P microcontroller board
- INA219 DC current voltage power monitor sensor module
- 10K ohm rotary potentiometer for Arduino
- adjustable DC bench power supply 30V 10A variable
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Steps
- Plan the test setup and set a current limit on the bench power supply before connecting anything.
- Connect the BLDC motor, ESC, Arduino, potentiometer, and INA219 current sensor.
- Program the Arduino to send a throttle signal to the ESC based on the potentiometer position.
- Measure current draw and power at several speeds and calculate efficiency.
- Compare inrush current for a direct start against a gradual soft-start ramp.
- Plot current and efficiency vs. speed and document your findings for your portfolio.
What to photograph for your portfolio
- Motor driver wiring
- current vs speed graphs
- soft-start vs direct-start comparison
- efficiency plots
Resume bullet starters
Copy one, then swap in your own numbers.
Engineered a three-phase VFD motor drive simulation using Power electronics, motor drives, BLDC control
Applied current measurement and embedded to implement, test, and validate the analysis end-to-end