Patent ID: 7800326

Claim:
A brushless D.C. motor comprising: a rotor having a surface with a plurality of permanent rotor magnets distributed therealong, each said rotor magnet having an RFID tag attached thereto containing a unique identification character serving to identify the rotor magnet; a stator having a plurality of pole teeth separated by axially extending slots, each one of said pole teeth having a power coil wound thereabout; and a plurality of RFID interrogation antennae each mounted adjacent a different one of said pole teeth for providing r.f. interrogation signals for said RFID tags for enabling said RFID tags to broadcast an r.f. signal containing said unique identification character to an interrogating one of said antennae when a given one of said RFID tags is within the broadcast range of a given one of said antennae, said unique identification signal serving to identify the particular one of said rotor magnets entering said broadcast range.