I have done a few smaller motor controllers in the past, but as I currently work a bit with PLC’s and use larger 400V motors I must admit I am considering making my own PLC/Motor controller. I use the terminology PLC for my own embedded, modular system and having a motor controller that fit into this scheme will be nice – more correcttly a motor controller that can use my PLC as add-on modules. In this way you will get a small, cost-effective and water-proof PLC/Motor Controller in one unit. A BLDC type Motor Controller can easely run any type of 3-phase motor – it is just a matter of selecting the correct algorithm in SW.
This is a quick scetch of the two boards. The controller board will use 4 x PLC Module width (10cm x 7cm) while the driver can be as big as it need to. The two should connect with internal cables. Below is a possible boxing illustration seen from the side. The smallest MC would be 10cm x 4cm x 14cm and can easely be extended with PLC modules to form a compact unit.
As for code I preffer CAN/CANopen or J1939 etc, but I have code for Profinet as well – for now I will think about it for a while as I search for components and compute BOM Cost, This would also be an excellent addition to BSA, but lets get BSA released first.