88 Until around ten years ago, manufacturers of electric drones were generally stuck with using hobby-grade ESCs (electronic speed controllers) for control of their electric motors. Such low-quality components frequently suffered from issues such as poor transient response and low power density, and rarely lasted more than 50 hours. Within the last ten years however, advancements in technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) and the increasing rate of hybridization among UAV engine companies have given rise to new motor controller products and design topologies well-suited to the tens or hundreds of kilowatts needed by vast heavy-lifting UAVs and autonomous air taxis. Meanwhile, for smaller UAVs and robotic vehicles, there are new wellengineered ESCs suitable for military and industrial applications, with highly precise and efficient motor control, and longer lifespans to ease maintenance costs and duties on operators. Both of these uncrewed vehicle types and more can now be served by increased tendencies towards ease-of-use, cost-effectiveness, and functional safety that the high-end motor controller manufacturers of today have taken to heart, in their determination to share in the rapidly-growing world of autonomous, electrified vehicles. A number of innovations and best practices are key to how they are achieving these properties, both at a high level and within the ecosystem of hardware and software components that comprise a working motor controller. Reliable components As certifiability becomes prioritised across the majority of UAV (and other uncrewed vehicle) development projects, and UAVs increasingly fly near or even over populated areas (making redundancy in powertrain components vital for getting flight permissions), so has reliability become the defining characteristic that motor controller Rory Jackson looks into the latest practices, components and advancements that are making for longlasting, trustworthy and regulationscompliant motor controllers Switching it up April/May 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology High-end motor controllers for uncrewed systems must be formed of tightly-integrated, prudently chosen, and holistically balanced components, in both hardware and software (Image courtesy of Hargrave)
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