Field programmable gate array hardware in the loop validation of fuzzy direct torque control for induction machine drive

Introduction. Currently, the direct torque control is very popular in industry and is of great interest to scientists in the variable speed drive of asynchronous machines. This technique provides decoupling between torque control and flux without the need to use pulse width modulation or coordinate transformation. Nevertheless, this command presents two major importunities: the switching frequency is highly variable on the one hand, and on the other hand, the amplitude of the torque and stator flux ripples remain poorly controlled throughout the considered operating speed range. The novelty of this article proposes improvements in performance of direct torque control of asynchronous machines by development of a fuzzy direct torque control algorithm. This latter makes it possible to provide solutions to the major problems of this control technique, namely: torque ripples, flux ripples, and failure to control switching frequency. Purpose. The emergence of this method has given rise to various works whose objective is to show its performance, or to provide solutions to its limitations. Indeed, this work consists in validation of a fuzzy direct torque control architecture implemented on the ML402 development kit (based on the Xilinx Virtex-4 type field programmable gate array circuit), through hardware description language (VHDL) and Xilinx generator system. The obtained results showed the robustness of the control and sensorless in front of load and parameters variation of induction motor control. The research directions of the model were determined for the subsequent implementation of results with simulation samples.Вступ. В даний час пряме управління моментом дуже популярне в промисловості і викликає великий інтерес у вчених у галузі частотно-регульованого приводу асинхронних машин. Цей метод забезпечує розв'язку між керуванням моментом, що крутить, і магнітним потоком без необхідності використання широтно-імпульсної модуляції або перетворення координат. Тим не менш, ця команда представляє дві основні незручності: з одного боку, частота комутації сильно варіюється, а з іншого боку, амплітуда пульсацій моменту і потоку статора залишається погано контрольованою у всьому діапазоні робочих швидкостей. Новизна цієї статті пропонує поліпшення характеристик прямого керування моментом, що крутить, асинхронних машин шляхом розробки нечіткого алгоритму прямого управління моментом, що крутить. Останнє дозволяє вирішити основні проблеми цього методу управління, а саме: пульсації моменту, що крутить, пульсації потоку і нездатність контролювати частоту перемикання. Мета. Поява цього методу породило різні роботи, метою яких є показати його ефективність чи запропонувати рішення стосовно його обмежень. Дійсно, ця робота полягає у перевірці нечіткої архітектури прямого управління моментом, що крутить, реалізованої в наборі для розробки ML402 (на основі схеми Xilinx Virtex-4 з програмованою користувачем вентильною матрицею), за допомогою мови опису обладнання (VHDL) та генераторної системи Xilinx. Отримані результати показали робастність керування та безсенсорного керування при зміні навантаження та параметрів керування асинхронним двигуном. Визначено напрями дослідження моделі для подальшої реалізації результатів на імітаційних вибірках

FPGA design methodology for industrial control systems—a review

This paper reviews the state of the art of fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) design methodologies with a focus on industrial control system applications. This paper starts with an overview of FPGA technology development, followed by a presentation of design methodologies, development tools and relevant CAD environments, including the use of portable hardware description languages and system level programming/design tools. They enable a holistic functional approach with the major advantage of setting up a unique modeling and evaluation environment for complete industrial electronics systems. Three main design rules are then presented. These are algorithm refinement, modularity, and systematic search for the best compromise between the control performance and the architectural constraints. An overview of contributions and limits of FPGAs is also given, followed by a short survey of FPGA-based intelligent controllers for modern industrial systems. Finally, two complete and timely case studies are presented to illustrate the benefits of an FPGA implementation when using the proposed system modeling and design methodology. These consist of the direct torque control for induction motor drives and the control of a diesel-driven synchronous stand-alone generator with the help of fuzzy logic

FPGA in-the-loop implementation of direct torque control for induction motor

In this study, the hysteresis based direct torque control (DTC) of a three-phase induction motor was carried out experimentally. The DTC algorithm was also modelled in the hardware environment by using FPGA’s in-the-loop feature. The dSPACE DS1103 controller board was used in the experimental study and Altera DE2-115 model development board was used in the hardware modelling. Both applications had the same sample time and all of the DTC algorithm was tested within the FPGA. The hardware simulation study conducted in FPGA environment was carried out in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The experimental results were compared with the hardware simulation results obtained from FPGA. As a result of the comparison, it was shown that DTC algorithm could be realized easily in FPGA environment without experimental installation, and the obtained current, voltage and velocity graphs were similar

Simulink modeling and design of an efficient hardware-constrained FPGA-based PMSM speed controller

The aim of this paper is to present a holistic approach to modeling and FPGA implementation of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) speed controller. The whole system is modeled in the Matlab Simulink environment. The controller is then translated to discrete time and remodeled using System Generator blocks, directly synthesizable into FPGA hardware. The algorithm is further refined and factorized to take into account hardware constraints, so as to fit into a low cost FPGA, without significantly increasing the execution time. The resulting controller is then integrated together with sensor interfaces and analysis tools and implemented into an FPGA device. Experimental results validate the controller and verify the design

Induction Motors

AC motors play a major role in modern industrial applications. Squirrel-cage induction motors (SCIMs) are probably the most frequently used when compared to other AC motors because of their low cost, ruggedness, and low maintenance. The material presented in this book is organized into four sections, covering the applications and structural properties of induction motors (IMs), fault detection and diagnostics, control strategies, and the more recently developed topology based on the multiphase (more than three phases) induction motors. This material should be of specific interest to engineers and researchers who are engaged in the modeling, design, and implementation of control algorithms applied to induction motors and, more generally, to readers broadly interested in nonlinear control, health condition monitoring, and fault diagnosis

Analysis and investigation of different advanced control strategies for high-performance induction motor drives

Induction motor (IM) drives have received a strong interest from researchers and industry particularly for high-performance AC drives through vector control method. With the advancement in power electronics and digital signal processing(DSP), high capability processors allow the implementation of advanced control techniques for motor drives such as model predictive control (MPC). In this paper, design, analysis and investigation of two different MPC techniques applied to IM drives; themodel predictive torque control (MPTC) and model predictive current control (MPCC) are presented. The two techniques are designed in Matlab/Simulink environment and compared interm of operation in different operating conditions. Moreover, a comparisonof these techniques with field-oriented control (FOC) and direct torque control (DTC) is conducted based on simulation studies with PI speed controller for all control techniques. Based on the analysis, the MPC techniques demonstrates a better result compared with the FOC and DTC in terms of speed, torque and current responses in transient and steady-state conditions

Improvements the direct torque control performance for an induction machine using fuzzy logic controller

This article examines a solution to the major problems of induction machine control in order to achieve superior dynamic performance. Conventional direct torque control and indirect control with flux orientation have some drawbacks, such as current harmonics, torque ripples, flux ripples, and rise time. In this article, we propose a comparative analysis between previous approaches and the one using fuzzy logic. Results from the simulation show that the direct torque control method using fuzzy logic is more effective in providing a precise and fast response without overshooting, and it eliminates torque and flux fluctuations at low switching frequencies. The demonstrated improvements in dynamic performance contribute to increased operational efficiency and reliability in industrial applications

Direct torque control using cascaded h-bridge multilevel inverter for induction motora

This thesis proposes methods to improve the performance of a Direct Torque Control (DTC) of induction motor drives. The basic principle and theoretical aspects of the DTC using a conventional inverter (DTC-Conv) and the DTC using a 5-level Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (DTC-CHMI) are reviewed with emphasis on two major problems: high torque and flux ripple and variable switching frequency. Based on the basic principle of the DTC, torque and flux are directly controlled by selecting appropriate voltage vectors. A DTC-Conv offers eight voltage vectors to increase (or decrease) both torque and flux. Regardless of the torque’s demand, for the DTC-Conv, the application of voltage vector is limited to these eight voltage vectors. This will give a high torque and flux ripple because of the possible voltage vector selected is not optimal for the condition. Based on the investigation, by proposing the DTC-CHMI, a smaller torque and flux ripple can be achieved. Moreover this method offers a good torque response. This is due to the capability of the DTC-CHMI to offer 61 voltage vectors which give more options to choose the most optimum vector for any circumstances. In addition, less switching burden on the switching devices for the DTC-CHMI compared to DTC-Conv, which results in a lower power rating device to be used. It is well known that the implementation of the DTC-Conv consists of a hysteresis-based controller which results in a variable switching frequency in the switching devices. This undesirable condition will affect the inverter design since it is related to the rate of change of the torque which varies with various operating conditions. Therefore, this thesis proposes the proportional-integral controller constant switching frequency together with the DTC-CHMI to replace the DTC-Conv with a hysteresis-based controller. The proposed torque controller consists of three pairs of triangular carrier signals with three pairs of comparators. With this proposed controller, the variation of switching frequency can be narrowed and fixed at the carrier frequency. Furthermore, it minimizes the torque ripples. Design of the proposed controller is thoroughly discussed in this thesis. To verify the enhancement made by the proposed method, simulation and experiment, as well as the comparison with the DTC-Conv were carried out. Results prove that by using the proposed system, torque and flux ripple are reduced by 38.5% and 7.76% respectively. Apart from that, the switching frequency is fixed at 1.667 kHz and a less distorted sinusoidal phase current is obtained

Optimal speed and torque estimations for improving the DTC dynamic performance of induction machines

High-performance AC drives require accurate speed, flux, and torque estimations to provide a proper system operation. Thus, this thesis proposes a robust observer, i.e. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), to offer optimal estimations of these components in order to improve the dynamic performance of Direct Torque Control (DTC) of induction motor drives. The selection and quality of EKF covariance elements have a considerable bearing on the effectiveness of motor drives. Many EKF-based optimization techniques involve only a single objective for the optimal estimation of speed without giving concern to the other variables. In addition, the optimization is performed on a complicated EKF structure. Nevertheless, in this study, both speed and torque are concurrently estimated. The work presents a new method to investigate the selection of EKF filters by using a Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) developed for resolving problems with multiobjectives. Filter element selection is the process of improving the concurrent estimation of speed and torque in order to increase EKF accuracy and allow higher drive efficiency. The proposed multi-optimal EKF-based estimation observer is used in combination with the sensorless direct torque control of induction motor. The investigated results for the multi-objective optimization indicate that the speed optimization gives superior performance when compared to the optimal torque. Owing to the large computation time of EKF algorithm, it increases the sampling time of DTC which leads to an increase in the motor torque ripples. The thesis proposes a Constant Frequency Torque Controller (CFTC) to replace the hysteresis torque controller that offers constant switching frequency and reduces torque ripples. Moreover, the CFTC has the capability of continuous switching regardless of speed variation; hence, leading to a consistent rotation of flux. Consequently, improvement on speed estimation, particularly at low and zero speed regions is accomplished and enhancement on the dynamic performance of torque is achieved when the reference speed change is applied from 0 rad/s, on the condition that the EKF observer is accurately optimized. To verify the improvements of the proposed methods, simulation and experimentation as well as comparison with the EKF-based DTC with the hysteresis controller are carried out