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Gimbal Motors for Robotics

· 2 min read
Yuichiro Aoki
Yuichiro Aoki
Developer

Gimbal motors are great for robotics projects. They are smooth, precise, and powerful at low speeds.

Gimbal motor

This is the video of a gimbal motor controlled by a BLDC motor driver. The motor is so smooth and precise that it can detect a pinch with an egg.

A Gimbal Motor​

A gimbal motor is a brushless DC motor that is used in camera gimbals. It is designed to be smooth, precise, and powerful at low speeds. Generally, they have more than 10Ω of internal resistance, so they don't consume much current and you can use less powerful motor drivers.

A Drone Motor​

A drone motor is a brushless DC motor that is used in drones. It is designed to be powerful and efficient at high speeds. Generally, they have less than 1Ω of internal resistance, so they consume more current and you need more powerful motor drivers.

A Drone Motor with Gearbox​

I watched a video on YouTube titled 3D Printed Stackable BRUSHLESS Motor Gearbox and found an interesting comment:

... are you aware that there are specially wound BLDC motors meant for slow speed operation? These quadcopter motors are optimized to work in a constant high velocity, but the ones optimized for slow speed are much more well suited for most robotic and servo tasks.

Since the creator of the video used a drone motor with a gearbox to output high torque at low speeds, the guy in the comment suggested using a gimbal motor instead.

Of course, drone motors like Eaglepower and T-Motor with gearboxes are great for robotics projects. However, you will need high power motor drivers to drive them and gearboxes to reduce the speed, which will increase the cost and complexity of the project.

Gimbal Motors vs Drone Motors​

Here are the links that compare gimbal motors and drone motors:

They look similar, so check the internal resistance and the KV value of the motor before you buy it.

Although gimbal motors are not as available and affordable as drone motors, I highly recommend trying them out for robotics projects if you want to skip the complexity of motor drivers and gearboxes.