High Torque Density PCB Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Motor for Micro Robots

Quasi-direct-drive (QDD) actuation is transforming legged and manipulator robots by eliminating high-ratio gear-boxes, yet it demands motors that deliver very high torque at low speed within a thin, disc-shaped joint envelope. Axial-flux permanent-magnet (AFPM) machines meet these geometric and torque requirements, but scaling them below a 20mm outer diameter is hampered by poor copper fill in conventional wound stators, inflating resistance and throttling continuous torque. This paper introduces a micro-scale AFPM motor that overcomes these limitations through printed-circuit-board (PCB) windings fabricated with advanced IC-substrate high-density interconnect (HDI) technology. The resulting 48-layer stator-formed by stacking four 12-layer HDI modules-achieves a record 45% copper fill in a package only 5mm thick and 19mm in diameter. We perform comprehensive electromagnetic and thermal analyses to inform the motor design, then fabricate a prototype whose performance characteristics are experimentally verified.