Robotics has become the new norm, and 2025 is the year of inventions. With the debut of humanoid robots, autonomous mobile robots, cobots, and drones, this field has taken a new turn, and this is all because of these underlying motors.
This industry demands autonomy, precision, and endurance, which is possible with the 48V brushless DC motors.
Older motor tech had its limitations, so these new tech BLDC motors are built to eradicate those limitations. The 48V BLDC motors are exceptional in performance with no bulk of higher-voltage systems. Now you can get speed, longevity, and intelligent operations with this kind of motor.
As there are many other kinds of BLDC motors, why are the 48V ones dominating the field of robotics in 2025? Let’s check!
Reason 1 – The Power Density & Compactness Of 48V Brushless Motors
Today, we are making robots that are compact enough to be integrated into a human’s life. Companies are not making room-sized robots that are limited in usage because of their huge size. That’s why robotics requires miniaturized and high-performance machines.
Like, electrical power (P) is represented as the product of voltage (V) and current (I), i.e., P=V⋅I.
In DC motors, torque is directly proportional to the armature current. Therefore, for a constant mechanical power output, doubling the nominal bus voltage from 24V to 48V effectively halves the current (I) required:
(I48V=P/48V=(P/24V)/2=I24V/2)
This basic connection plays a key role in how we design motors. When you cut the current in half, you can make the copper wires in the motor windings thinner.
This keeps the current density at a good level and cuts down on I2R losses. Thinner copper windings mean a smaller stator, which leads to a more compact motor housing.
This drop in size and weight for the same power and torque output is what we call better power density. Also, you can make the cables and power parts (like MOSFETs in the motor driver) smaller because they don’t need to handle as much current. This helps make the whole system more compact
And as we know, space and weight limits are key issues in robot design for complex robot arms, cobots, and AMRs. That’s why if you use smaller, lighter motors, you get less inertia, letting robots speed up and slow down faster and react better to changes.
This also means robots can carry more weight compared to their own, so they can use heavier tools or move bigger items. Isn’t this what we want to achieve with robotics?
In a simpler way, let’s say robot arms with 48V BLDC motors can have thinner joints, making them more agile. These arms can also fit extra sensors like force-torque sensors or vision systems without getting bigger or losing reach.
Reports from the industry show that 48V systems can make motors 15-25% smaller than 24V ones with the same power. This also means using thinner cables and smaller connectors. This helps make the robot lighter and easier to design in different ways.
Reason 2 – You Get High Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency means how well a robot performs, which links to its running costs and how eco-friendly they are.
Electric motor systems, including the motor windings and power cables, lose most of their energy through heat from resistance. We can measure this heat loss using Joule’s Law: Ploss=I2R, where I stands for current and R for resistance.
Switching from a 24V to a 48V system while keeping the same power output cuts the needed current (I) in half. The I2R link shows that this drop in current makes resistance losses four times smaller ($ (I/2)^2 R = I^2R/4 $).
This basic electrical rule leads straight to much better system efficiency. Less current also means the power electronics (like MOSFETs in the motor driver) create less heat, which helps the whole system work even better.
For battery-powered mobile robots, longer operational times result in fewer charging needs, which leads to better productivity and smaller fleet requirements to keep operations going non-stop. In factory settings, the better performance of 48V motors results in lower power use and, as a result, decreased running costs.
This also means that less heat produced will give smaller or even passive cooling techniques for control cabinets, which makes them easier to design and reduces stress on the parts, which also reduces the carbon footprint of the robotic system.
So, don’t you think the 48V BLDC motors are great for robotics? Well, it is a good option, and there are a number of manufacturers producing energy efficient 48V BLDC motors. Brushless.com’s 48V BLDC motor product line offers patent-pending winding configurations and advanced magnet materials. The other options include Maxon Motor.
A Short Comparison
- Brushless.com focuses on maximizing energy efficiency (typically at nominal operating points greater than 96%) by utilizing unique winding and magnetic designs. For applications using batteries like mobile robots, this maximal energy efficiency produces longer battery life and lower ownership costs.
- In contrast, Maxon Motor provides ultra-high precision and dynamic response for compact applications, producing a very small ironless-winding design that is optimal for high-accuracy applications (like surgical robotics) but comes at a higher price point.
- Portescap has a middle ground and specializes in achieving smooth, high-performance operation from low-inertia motors using unmagnitized, very optimized electromagnetic designs for demanding, compact robotic systems.
Reason 3 – Better And Improved, Speed And Torque Control
As said, robotics demands precise and rapid motor control. Particularly for advanced Field-Oriented Control (FOC) purposes, a greater supply voltage—say, 48V—gives considerable “voltage headroom” for the motor controller. The increased headroom lets the controller create bigger voltage differentials across the motor windings.
That’s why the voltage-current correlation in an inductor (V=L⋅di/dt) tells that for a given inductance (L), a greater V (applied voltage) causes a quicker di/dt (rate of change of current). In the motor phases, this translates into quicker current rise times.
Quicker rise times of currents directly relate to improved dynamic response; hence, the motor can more quickly meet commanded torque or speed variations. In robotic applications, this means that robotic arms, grippers, and mobile vehicles move much more smoothly, precisely, and responsively.
For example, in fast pick-and-place tasks, the higher control bandwidth of 48V systems is required. Tighter control loops made possible by this help to greatly lower overshoot, so reduce oscillations and enhance general operational stability.
Reason 4 – A Simplified And Better Thermal Management
Professionals know that robotic systems’ reliability and longevity depend on good thermal management. A 48V system, as noted earlier, can exceptionally lower the operating current (I) for a given power output relative to lower voltage choices (e.g., 24V).
This decrease in current has a direct effect on heat generation, especially through the I2R resistive losses in the motor windings and connected power electronics. To be noted, less internally produced heat will allow the motor to run at a lower steady-state temperature.
This means the thermal load will reduce on the components of the motor. Also, if the operating temperatures are lowered, the overall operational lifespan of the components of the motor (bearings, insulation, and magnetic materials) is increased.
This entire thermal load reduction will improve the reliability of the motor, and thus the robot in which this motor is used will have better thermal management.
Reason 5 – You Get An Improved Safety And Compliance
Do you know that 48V BLDC motor safety features align with Safety Extra-Low Voltage (SELV) specifications?
Well, as a matter of fact, there are technical provisions set by international standards like IEC 60364-4-41 regarding electrical installation, and IEC 60950/62368 for IT/AV equipment safety that apply to voltages below 60V DC, provided it is classified as being intrinsically safe in normal and single fault conditions.
Compared with high DC bus voltages, for example, the 200V, 400V ones, or mains AC voltages, which require mandatory strict isolation, increased creepage and clearance distances, and a very strong fault protection, being under SELV means 48V is not considered a shock hazard if a person comes in contact with it. This sounds great for robotics in 2025.
For robotics safety standards and with a particular emphasis on collaborative robots or *cobots*, which are intended for a person to work in collaboration with, SELV specifications reduce the risks of personal electric shock – a major safety concern.
The use of SELV means the complex certification processes across the multiple robotics system standards, such as ISO 10218-1/2 (Robots and robotic devices – Safety requirements for industrial robots) and ISO/TS 15066 (robots and robotic devices – safety requirements for collaborative robots).
The use of simplified safety circuits means lower cost of design and reduced time to market. Similarly, 48V systems reduce the friction for deployment as they are easier to integrate into existing factory environments without up-front investment in specialized high voltage infrastructure or the need to provide employees with extensive electrical safety training before they start working with robotics (cobots).
Reason 6 – The Integration With Modern Power Systems Is Easy
Well, from a technical standpoint, 48V is an intermediate voltage bus within automotive, data centers, and renewable energy storage systems.
The expanding usage of a common 48V bus creates a strong ecosystem of larger volume, readily available, and inexpensive components for robotics. This could consist of power supplies, DC-DC converters, and smart battery management systems (BMS).
Therefore, if we consider its usage in the field of robotics, it will reduce the design challenges for power supplies and battery integration.
The overall architecture of the design will be simple. With this ease of integration, the designers will have the free will to choose standardized or off-the-shelf components to save their time and cost on custom development of components. This is good news for the supply chain reliability.
A Short Comparison
For example, when comparing a 48V BLDC motor to a 24V BLDC motor, the 48V BLDC motor can deliver the same power while using only half the current.
This reduces I2R losses and allows for much smaller, lighter motors and cables, while simultaneously increasing efficiency and power density. A 48V BLDC motor, like all BLDC motors, will also deliver longer life, faster speeds, and zero maintenance, because a BLDC motor has no brushes.
AC servo motors can be as accurate as possible, and have greater power when needed but 48V BLDC motors present themselves as a better and more accessible option for most robotic applications requiring this type of power, especially if battery power is used or integration into existing environments will benefit from using voltages lower than industrial levels, especially in terms of safety (SELV).
Reason 7 – You Get To Future Proof For Advanced Robotics
The growth in computing power needed for today’s robotic systems is all due to machine learning and advanced sensor fusion.
For example, the high-resolution LiDAR and deep-learning vision systems all warrant a scalable, robust power architecture. Although each compute module usually uses low voltages like 3.3V, 5V, and 12V, a 48V main power bus allows an increased overall power distribution efficiency and opportune scalability.
The reason a higher bus voltage allows for increased efficiency is that in order to deliver a given power, a higher bus voltage reduces the current drawn, which lowers I2R losses in power lines and reduces heat in the primary distribution network as loads increase.
In technical terms, this means that the installation of traditionally power-hungry components like embedded GPUs for real-time perception requires multi-core processors to support complex AI algorithms, and high bandwidth.
Also, if we dig deeper, the 48V architecture provides the electrical infrastructure to sustain these power requirements without sacrificing the robot’s size, weight, or battery life.
Now you might be thinking that the industry of robotics is evolving each year, and the average power consumption of advanced robotic AI and perception units is estimated to grow 20-30% annually.
That’s why a robust 48V power architecture is better suited to accommodate an escalating demand for future scalable power utilization for AI-driven robotic capabilities.
Conclusion
In short, we would recommend 48V brushless motors in robotics as a strategic integration for their quantifiable technical advantages. These seven reasons are just the beginning; designers and developers will see the usage and demand for these motors in the upcoming years.
