What is the advantage of a sensored motor and esc system?

[BMcD308]

This is actually a serious question, and I apologize for asking something that is probably super basic to most people. I had lots of RC experience in the mid to late 80s, and I am recently back, so the technology kind of made a leap on me, and there are some basics I just don't get. Such as: except to avoid cogging at low speeds, why would I want a sensored setup over a sensorless?

I get it for rock crawling, but I see lots of racers (and even some bashers) on here talking (typing) in vague terms about the advantages of sensored motor and esc combos. Having driven both brushed systems and sensorless brushless systems slowly, I understand that a sensored setup avoids cogging at low speeds.

However, once the vehicle is moving > 2 mph, what advantage does a sensored setup have?

[Iansprouse1]

This is actually a serious question, and I apologize for asking something that is probably super basic to most people. I had lots of RC experience in the mid to late 80s, and I am recently back, so the technology kind of made a leap on me, and there are some basics I just don't get. Such as: except to avoid cogging at low speeds, why would I want a sensored setup over a sensorless?

I get it for rock crawling, but I see lots of racers (and even some bashers) on here talking (typing) in vague terms about the advantages of sensored motor and esc combos. Having driven both brushed systems and sensorless brushless systems slowly, I understand that a sensored setup avoids cogging at low speeds.

However, once the vehicle is moving > 2 mph, what advantage does a sensored setup have?

Over 2 Mph, the difference between sensored and unsensored is small, unless you are accelerating quickly. Sensored motors are more smooth because the motors don’t cog. Sensored motors aren’t necessary but they are nice to have if you want to spend a little more.


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[Greatscott]

Over 2 Mph, the difference between sensored and unsensored is small, unless you are accelerating quickly. Sensored motors are more smooth because the motors don’t cog. Sensored motors aren’t necessary but they are nice to have if you want to spend a little more.
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Yup...

This is something that is only brushless ESC/motor combos. The sensors let the ESC know where the motor armature is, allowing it to give power on the correct input of the motor, which allows for smoother acceleration and better control. If you want to get into the nuts and bolts of how the thing works, check out some YouTube videos on it; fascinating stuff, I get lost for hours when I start looking at this stuff.

Fast RCs...
Unless you are racing, or a control junky, you really will not notice the difference from a sensored system from a sensorless system.

Crawlers/Scalers...
For crawler crowd, where you want a lot of low end torque at low speeds, a sensored system is a must of you are running brushless. An unsensored brushless system cogs REALLY bad in low-speed, high-torque situations, making for lousy crawler control. A sensored system makes throttle response very smooth throughout the power band, giving excellent low-speed control.

The bad cogging problem of sensorless brushless motors and the much higher cost of sensored brushless systems is the biggest reason why brushed motors are still very popular in the crawler/scaler scene. A brushed motor is very smooth in low-RPM, high-torque situations, but brushed motors are a lot less efficient and run a lot hotter, and are not as powerful as their brushless equivalent.

[Is_It_Broken?]

Or you could do what someone in the TRX-4 forum (don't know who) did and get a 6 pole or even 8 pole BL motor and not have cogging issues, either, without going sensored.