Our Capabilities

Motor Controller Design

The motor control design department is led by Chief Engineer and Co-founder Graham Fick. Graham is a vastly experienced, award winning engineer, who has specialised in motors and motor control electronics since graduating from university in 2008. Graham has led the Zikodrive design department since the company launched in 2015 and has completed a wide range of projects for applications including F1, Space / Satellite applications, laboratory and automotive.

We continually invest in our design capability, whether it be through recruitment, training opportunities or new equipment.  Our award winning design team boast over 40 years experience between them in the design and programming of motor controllers and related applications. We have completed over 20 custom design projects in the last 5 years for a wide variety of clients from startups and small customers all the way through to publicly listed companies with thousands of employees.

We typically work up to a ceiling of 10Kw with 120V being the maximum voltage we operate at. However, we will consider projects outside of this scope subject to terms being agreed.

If you are not 100% certain on what the best solution is for your project we can advise on the available options. 

Equally, if you have a particularly cost sensitive project we can run through any preliminary specifications you have any advise on how best to implement the design to facilitate the cost constraints. 

If the project requires fast prototyping or proof of concept solutions to enable you to get the next stage in your project, we can look to develop a fast initial prototype or potentially even modify an existing stock motor controller to meet these requirements. We can then address the main design challenges in a separate project.

We fully understand that investing in a custom motor control solution can seem like a daunting prospect. We will work as closely as we can with you to remove the barriers and structure the project in a way that works for you.

Motor Control Firmware and Programming

We offer a fully supported motor control programming service to ensure that the controllers we offer meet your exact requirements. This can involve a wide range of functionality including integration into a wider system, application specific functionality or a range of safety precautions. We continuously invest in firmware development including developing our own motor drive algorithms and drive methods. Where many of our competitors rely on standard ‘off the shelf’ solutions such as those offered by the larger chip manufacturers, we have developed our own modules that can be used to deliver the optimum performance from your brushless DC or stepper motor. 

This continuous investment in new firmware modules and in house capability enables us to get your project moving faster. It also means that we have a detailed understanding of how motors and motor controllers work from first principles, enabling us to come up with a wide range of solutions for your project.

If you have any questions on motor control firmware development or are unsure of what is possible then please do get in touch.

In addition to this, if you have a requirement where software is required we can work with to either develop this software or to work with a separate design partner to ensure successful performance.

Software Development

If you have a specific requirement for software development then we can accommodate this. Our stock range of controllers is available with software enabling parameter changes and a range of other options. This can be adapted to enable setup or adaptation of the firmware for a number of projects. 

Equally, if you need something more bespoke either to interface with other software you have or to operate with a range of other specific requirements then please get in touch and we will be happy to advise on how we can help.

Motor Control Manufacturing

Our fully automated manufacturing facility in Halifax, West Yorkshire is capable of manufacturing thousands of controllers a day. Our production facility boasts fully automated SMT manufacturing, as well as TH and prototyping facilities. We continuously invest in new equipment and cost reduction measures to enable us to deliver improved technical capability as well as producing controllers more cost effectively.

We’re proud of our manufacturing capability and it represents a central part of our commitment to producing the highest quality motor controllers at prices that work for your project. Equally, the fact that we have complete control of our product offering from design, through programming and into full manufacturing, enables us to ensure that we deliver high quality solutions continuously.

In house manufacturing reduces lead times and costs which we can then pass onto you. Our facility is equipped with a wide range of equipment to enable us to deal with a large number of different build types. Whether its a large, high powered controller or a small, integrated, double sided unit, we can manufacture, inspect and test it to industry recognised standards such as IPC-A-610 or ISO-9001.

If you have any questions on our manufacturing capability please let us know and we would be happy to discuss. Equally, if you have a large potential project we’d be very happy to offer a tour of the facility and discuss the options available for your controller.