A few questions linked to Roboteq BL controllers

I can read great things about the BL motor controllers (like no Cogging), however I'd have a few questions:

1a) Low RPM: thanks to Roboteq technology, may I expect a controller to get a BL motor down to, say, 20 RPM (while keeping same torque)? (no need of extreme accuracy - 15~25 RPM while requesting 20 would be ok)
1b) Poles: If it depends on the number of poles, what is the min number of poles to reach that low RPM?

2) 12V instead of 24V: many BL motors sold from many places are recommended to operate at 24V - can I use it at 12V with a BL controller - assuming the difference is to be the speed divided by 2?

3) BL Motors: is "BL motors" a niche - it seems pretty hard to find BL motors with hall sensor ability within the range of my specs (12V, hall sensor, N poles [see above]) - again, any site recommendation [the ones given on Roboteq site do not fit] would be great.

As always, thank you.

It is difficult to get significant torque at 20RPM with any motor. The more poles the better. If you can use hub motors, these would be the best because they can easily have 20 pole pairs or more.

Powering with a lower voltage just makes the motor runs slower. Half the speed is about right.

BL motors are widely used in the professional space. Hub motors for bikes and scooters are now quite common too.

There are also some very good motors for RC planes and helicopters but these are generally not fitted with hall sensor. However, on many Outrunner types, it is possible to add sensors externally. See

e0designs.com/products/hall-effect-sensor-adapter/

www.linushelgesson.se/2011/12/modifying-...brushless-outrunner/

Since a Stepper motor (a special BL motor) can reach that low RPM (even lower) due to its large number of pole, would it be possible to use a Roboteq Brushless controller to drive a Stepper motor?

(A stepper motor has 4 wires)

We are currently working on firmware for this type. Please inquire directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Thanks.

Actually, I didn't purchase the BL controller yet - when can I expect the controllers to be equipped with the new firmware, able to drive Stepper motors?
(I'll wait until the firmware is available)

The only thing I can do at this point since there isn't an ETA on this, is to inquire through the email.

Which hubmotors would be recommended? Any brand or special type?

My hubmotors have 15 poles (or 30 i still don't know) but at 20 rpm they don't run that well in closed loop speed mode, open loop on rc-controller works much better though.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLRdPqlehZ0

I bought the fbl2360 after seeing this video...my motors can do the same but when the motors are on the floor in closed loop it's a different story....They don't run smooth at all and even can't drive in a straight line.

What should i do? I still have buyers protection though but prefer to have this controller working. I will even buy different hubmotors if that's the problem but which ones?

Is there a Roboteq controller now which can run stepper motors? That would be the best for my robot..

Just to update this old thread:

My motors could NOT drive well in closed loop but after i got the new firmware 1.7 it works well now, even in closed loop.

The problem was the hallsensors started counting backwards when going to closed loop mode. In open loop they both counted well. Even putting a minus (-) sign before the hall counter setting didn't work before i got V1.7.