Dyson digital motors
Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, the principle behind the electric motor, in 1831. Yet, despite being technologically advanced at the time, electric motors have changed very little since. Bulky, old-fashioned components and lots of moving parts prone to failure.
Dyson engineers have spent a decade developing a new type of highly efficient digital motors. The Dyson digital motor is smaller, lighter, cleaner and more power-efficient than conventional electric motors
How the Dyson digital motor works
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Circuit board and capacitors
Microprocessors control motor timing and speed, adjusting up to 3,000 times a second. The capacitors supply power to the circuit board and take the pressure of high-frequency currents away from the battery.
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Stator
By sending a current through coiled copper wire, a strong electromagnetic field is produced. The stator (controlled by the microprocessor) rapidly switches the polarity of this field between north and south.
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Neodymium magnet
The Dyson digital motor in the DC30 and DC31 handhelds uses a neodymium magnet. Neodymium is the strongest magnetic material known – ten times lighter and ten times more powerful than your average fridge magnet. It spins at up to 104,000 times per minute as it reacts to the alternating electromagnetic fields produced in the stator.
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Impeller and vane diffuser
The impeller is aerodynamically engineered with continuously curving blades to spin at extreme speeds (in fact, there is barely a 2D section to any part of the blade surface). The airflow it produces is channeled up and through the vane diffuser, cooling components on the way.
