---
# System prepended metadata

title: Motors & Controllers
tags: [cots, part]

---

# Motors & Controllers

[TOC]

### General
Modern household vacuum cleaners operate at high rotational speeds (>100,000 RPM).

To be at least somewhat competitive and functional, conventional brushed DC motors are not suitable. Instead, we must focus on **BLDC motors** (like Dyson, Dreame, Xiaomi).

## Motor requirements

- 80.000+ RPM
- 15+ kPa
- Acceptable noise during operation
- Operating voltage that suits our use-case (either battery, or at least safe to the touch)

## Controlling high rpm BLDCs
High rpm BLDC motors require capable speed controllers. Cheap alternatives can't stand the high continuous currents and tend to overheat very quickly. They do not support FOC control (field-orientated-control), which results in high audible noise levels.

### Solution A (VESC/SwarmDrive): 
Use capable, high quality speed controllers like the Vedder ESC. 

**Pros:**
- Highly configurable
- Very reliable, support high current applications
- High eRPM limits


**Cons:**
- Very expensive (problematic for end users and tinkering)
- Configuration for FOC modes is very complex and highly differs per motor type

#### Resources VESC
- Project: https://vesc-project.com
- Commercial / Buy https://www.vesclabs.com/product-category/motor-controllers/ 
- Blog post https://vedder.se/2015/01/vesc-open-source-esc/
#### Resources SwarmDrive
- https://swarmdrive.nickstick.nl/index.html
- Buy
    - Mouser EUR 50.74 https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Crowd-Supply/CS-SWARMDRIVE-01
      - "Stock: 5 Can Dispatch Immediately"
    - CrowdSupply USD 58+18 https://www.crowdsupply.com/nickstick/swarmdrive#products
      - "In Stock"


### Solution B (Integrated vacuum turbines): 
AliExpress has some cheap, but fully integrated vacuum turbines. These are high RPM 3-phase motors with an integrated and pre-configured FOC driver. They come in different sizes with different stats, which makes them quite adaptable.

**Pros:**
- Very affordable for future users (5-20€)
- Similar shape, different stats (flexible for different applications, could be modular)
- Often allow for PWM control, which is MCU friendly
- Cooling the ESC is usually integrated into the block

**Cons:**
- Bad documentation
- Quality and correctness of the given stats unknown


**Example A:** [No-Name](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009880134839.html)
**Example B:**  [Für Dreame / Xiaomi](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005008530398421.html)
**Example C:** [Dreame](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009536535565.html)


## Motors for testing (batch 1)
- cf. https://github.com/hkienle/osh-vacuum/issues/7

### `motor-1` `motor-135w`
Random no-name, lower-end motor.
- 14-21V 135W (equals 4-6S Li-Ion pack)
- Unknown RPM
- [Link to Aliexpress](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005005571185447.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.32.3dde7c45WJF2eI&algo_pvid=8bb20642-0aae-4d3e-af0e-2030e33d8a64&algo_exp_id=8bb20642-0aae-4d3e-af0e-2030e33d8a64-31&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%22530%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22search%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21EUR%2114.08%214.19%21%21%21115.41%2134.34%21%40210330dd17582067175378956ea012%2112000044116080534%21sea%21DE%216498594618%21ABX%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3A7c23ada3%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000174220122&curPageLogUid=mORgG5tDs4ow&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005005571185447%7C_p_origin_prod%3A)

### `motor-2` `motor-240w`
Random no-name vacuum turbine, promising stats.
- 21.6V 240W (equals 6S Li-Ion pack)
- 100.000 RPM
- [Link to Aliexpress](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005007750437818.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.1cda4ae4MvlcZK&mp=1&pdp_npi=5%40dis%21EUR%21EUR%2016.65%21EUR%2012.49%21%21EUR%2012.49%21%21%21%402101c5b117582060971342131eba62%2112000050672670368%21ct%21DE%216498594618%21%211%210&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu)

### `motor-3` `motor-350w`
Similar to the first one, 50% more power.
- 29.6V 350W (equals 8S Li-Ion pack)
- 100.000 RPM
- Documented PWM interface
- [Link to Aliexpress](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009880134839.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.1cda4ae4MvlcZK&mp=1&pdp_npi=5%40dis%21EUR%21EUR%2011.05%21EUR%2010.29%21%21EUR%2010.29%21%21%21%402101c5b117582060971342131eba62%2112000050459735252%21ct%21DE%216498594618%21%211%210&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu)


### `motor-4` `motor-450w`
Replacement part for a Dreame/Xiaomi vacuum with a lot of power.
- 25.2V 450W (equals 7S Li-Ion pack)
- 100.000 RPM
- Unknown control interface
- [Link to Aliexpress](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005008530398421.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.1cda4ae4MvlcZK&mp=1&pdp_npi=5%40dis%21EUR%21EUR%2041.32%21EUR%2028.19%21%21EUR%2028.19%21%21%21%402101c5b117582060971342131eba62%2112000045579646038%21ct%21DE%216498594618%21%211%210&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu)

### `motor-5` `motor-brushed-120w`
- :exclamation: Brushed motor - primarily for comparison/baseline.
- 11-18.5V, 120W
- With impeller
- [Link to Aliexpress](https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009304456228.html)
    - Very long deliver time of 6 weeks.
- Several manufacturers/sellers of this type of motor with various V/Watt combinations
    - 

### buy 
- :white_check_mark: Intuity, 18.9.2025
- :white_check_mark: Holger, 18.9.2025, EUR 81.68

## More motors for testing (batch 2)
- cf. https://github.com/hkienle/osh-vacuum/issues/7

### `motor-6` `motor-160w`

### `motor-7` `motor-200w`
- 17V to 33V
- https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005008987950525.html
  - EUR 11.89

### `motor-8` `motor-370w`
- optional: Generic PWM control board (JL-WSTS-QD)
- https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005008715229576.html

## Testresults and Documentation

### `motor-1` (135W, button control)

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkCYIDK2lx.png =x200)

This motor uses built-in power levels. It does break out a PWM pad, but the intergrated logic for fluent speed control seems to be missing. 

**What we achieved and how to run:**
Connect the KEY and GND contact using a simple switch. 
- First press: Turns the motor on at about 50% power.
- Second press: Will put the motor to 100% power.
- Third press: Shuts off the motor.

**Controlling via MCU:**
Careful! The KEY pin is pulled up to the battery voltage (21V). This will damage any microcontroller connected to it. Use a optocoupler, transistor or mosfet to switch between power levels.

:::info
:+1: **Verdict**  
Suction feels quite nice and the 18V supply aligns perfectly with common powertool batteries. We could work without PWM and only use the two built-in power levels, though a fluid way of controlling speed would be nice for future aditions and use-cases (carpet detection, smart overheat prevention).
:::

---

### `motor-2` (240W, SharkNinja, proprietary ESC?)

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1qVLDY2xl.png =x200)


It seems like this motor requires some form of digital communication from an external motherboard (which we don't have). The pins on the ESC are marked with "ON" and "COM". With a battery attached, there is no voltage between any of these pins and GND (but 91k resistance between GND and COM, which suggests some form of high impedance interface). 

A similar approach compared to Motor-1 doesn't give any results. Aliexpress (both the documentation and the seller's support) are not helpful.

It might belong to one of these SharkNinja vacuums: https://www.sharkclean.com/sharkus/product_categories.vacuums.cordless_vacuums

Manufacturer (?): https://www.chunju.cn/en/

:::info
:no_entry_sign: **Verdict**  
Motor should be similar to `motor-1`, just more powerful. For now, we can't get it to run or react in any way.
:::

---

### `motor-3` (350W, PWM control)

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJupBPYnel.png =x250)

A mid-range no-name motor that seems to be quite flexible when it comes to it's rated voltage. According to AliExpress, 21.6V to 29.6V are acceptable. It runs fine from a 21.6V battery (tested) and can be controlled quite nicely via PWM (5V and 3.3V tolerant).

According to AliExpress, these are the power values:

- DC 21,6 V 14,0 A (302W)
- DC 24,0V 14,0A (336W)
- DC 29,6V 12,2A (361W)

:::info
:+1: **Verdict**  
When it comes to controllability, pricing, sourcing and flexibility, this is the current top-pick.  
Sadly, an 18V powertool battery (very common) isn't able to start up the motor. Higher voltage batteries are harder to come by.
:::

---

### `motor-4` (450W, proprietary ESC?)

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryhxIvYnll.png =x200)

A high quality motor from Dreame. Looking at the internals of an old Dreame vacuum (mostly identical motor), it becomes clear, that ON/OFF and speed control aren't just basic PWM signals, but probably UART or I2C lines. Getting this motor to work would require reverse engineering of the control signals. This COULD pay off, since we are likely getting access to speed, current draw, temperature values and error logs from the motor itself. We suspect that the command interface is identical between Dreame and Xiaomi (eventually even for Dyson).

:::info
:no_entry_sign: **Verdict**  
Ignoring these motors for now, even though they offer the highest power rating. We could use a logic analyzer to reverse engineer the prototcol, but this is quite time consuming.
:::

---

### `motor-5` (Brushed!) - untested

- ![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkzqMkRyZe.png =x150)  
*Red dot marks positive terminal.*

:::info
:+1:/:no_entry_sign: **Verdict**  
:construction: 
:::

---

### `motor-6` (160W, PWM control) - untested

:::info
:+1:/:no_entry_sign: **Verdict**  
:construction: 
:::

---

### `motor-7` (200W, PWM control) - untested
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJUd_y0yWe.png =x200)
- detailed documentation
- ![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B1xqLkAyZl.png =x150)  
*Wiring from documentation*
- ![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByOMB1C1Wx.png =x150)  
*User image: Yellow: PWM, Green: not used, Red: GND, Black:+5V (not Vcc!).*

:::info
:+1:/:no_entry_sign: **Verdict**  
:construction: 
:::

# Controllers

## `ctrl-pwm-jl_wsts_qd` JL-WSTS-QD PWM control board
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HyTlJl01Zx.png =x200)
- sometimes bundled with motors
- many sellers, cheap (< EUR 2.00)
  - e.g. https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005007605988433.html

## MLAB DRV10987V01 (BLDC, sensorless)
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1yRTMR8Wx.png =x200)
- https://www.mlab.cz/module/DRV10987V01/
- 6.2-28V, 2A, 3A peak
- PWM, analog, or digital (I2C) input

## KiCAD projects
- https://www.kicad.org/made-with-kicad/categories/Motor-Controller/