Cheapest BLDC Driver IC

[Llama Rancher]

I'm currently in the feasibility stage of design and hit a bit of a snag. I'm designing a potential merch item / toy for a FRC team I work with and I want to implement a PCB based Brushless motor. This would be given away at competitions as a DIY kit so the total BOM price will make or break if I should even make a prototype. I know the reputable brands have their place and are worth their prices, but in my head I have to imagine there is an extremely cheap all in one solution that is on the order of ~$0.50 or less in the Asian market. As far as requirements other than cost, I need it to take in PWM speed control, hall sensors (Low speed control required), and direction as inputs and output directly to the PCB coils. Ideally in an SOIC package as I would like this to be accessible for beginners to solder. The closest chip on digikey that checks most of the boxes is the BD63282EFV-E2 from Rohm, it's a tssop but otherwise has everything I want other than price. The closest chip I found that might work is the JY01 from a company called JUYI. I can get it for $0.69 from Alibaba at quantity 100. This chip however still requires external mosfets, driving up the bom count and cost and is still a bit more expensive than I would like.

I wanted to ask and see if anyone knows of a cheaper all in one driver IC that meets the requirements above or at least comes close. If we ended up making it, would probably get 100-200. Western friendly sellers like LCSC and Ali would be a nice touch as well.

[Postal2]

Search LB1854.
https://aliexpress.com/item/32832431801.html

[jasonquin]

I think the rohm one is by far your best option. There are some Chinese manufacturers selling cheap BLDC drivers on LCSC (for example MS8313, XL33035) but they either require external MOSFET or lack Hall comparators, these features don't come free. Most of these all-in-one chips come with small package (many of them are QFN) because there are special applications for a small motor and a highly integrated driver, it contradicts with beginner-friendly soldering.

[JoeyG]

How about a complete  low medium / high voltage  3 phase BLDC/PMSM/ACIM  driver  (BYO  mcu controller) from Meanwell.

https://www.meanwell.com/newsInfo.aspx?c=1&i=1267

All the hazard driver  side taken care of in the module 

[Infraviolet]

"PCB based Brushless motor"
By that, do you mean the motor itself will be made from PCB coils (you'd still have to buy magnets for it and such), or are you talking about a PCB with a BLDC driver which the competition winners can use in a "bring your own motor" scenario?

The scenario with a PCB coil motor means you've got to produce some of the mechanical side too, you'd end up designing something like this   https://hackaday.io/project/196576-brushless-motor-and-driver-business-card-kit or one of the things this guy often works on https://www.youtube.com/@CarlBugeja/videos  . Either of those examples mght give some suggestions for chips to use, though I'm not if either has gotten down to as cheap as your desired price.

The bring-your-own-motor type of design would save you some costs in terms of how many parts you've got to design, but you might have to have bigger MOSFETS incase the motor someone wants to attach it to is a low resistance type which needs high currents. Mosfets rated to handle higher currents will increase the cost over something which only handles low current.

[Llama Rancher]

Search LB1854.
https://aliexpress.com/item/32832431801.html

This is definitely a step in the right direction. Thank You

[Llama Rancher]

"PCB based Brushless motor"
By that, do you mean the motor itself will be made from PCB coils (you'd still have to buy magnets for it and such), or are you talking about a PCB with a BLDC driver which the competition winners can use in a "bring your own motor" scenario?

The scenario with a PCB coil motor means you've got to produce some of the mechanical side too, you'd end up designing something like this   https://hackaday.io/project/196576-brushless-motor-and-driver-business-card-kit or one of the things this guy often works on https://www.youtube.com/@CarlBugeja/videos  . Either of those examples mght give some suggestions for chips to use, though I'm not if either has gotten down to as cheap as your desired price.

The bring-your-own-motor type of design would save you some costs in terms of how many parts you've got to design, but you might have to have bigger MOSFETS incase the motor someone wants to attach it to is a low resistance type which needs high currents. Mosfets rated to handle higher currents will increase the cost over something which only handles low current.

More along the lines of the Carl Bugeja style. I did see his video, but the chips he uses are even more expensive than the Rohm. Mechanically, I'm just going to use cheap 1x2 mm magnets ether press fit or superglued in a PCB rotor "cage". The idea would be that it is free spinning at relatively low RPM so it would have to handle very little load/current.