Observability analysis of sensorless synchronous machine drives

This paper studies the local observability of synchronous machines using a unified approach. Recently, motion sensorless control of electrical drives has gained high interest. The main challenge for such a technology is the poor performance in some operation conditions. One interesting theory that helps understanding the origin of this problem is the observability analysis of nonlinear systems. In this paper, the observability of the wound-rotor synchronous machine is studied. The results are extended to other synchronous machines, adopting a unified analysis. Furthermore, a high-frequency injection-based technique is proposed to enhance the sensorless operation of the wound-rotor synchronous machine at standstill

A Novel PMSM Hybrid Sensorless Control Strategy for EV Applications Based on PLL and HFI

In this paper, a novel hybrid sensorless control strategy for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) drives applied to Electric Vehicles (EV) is presented. This sensorless strategy covers the EV full speed range and also has speed reversal capability. It combines a High Frequency Injection (HFI) technique for low and zero speeds, and a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) for the medium and high speed regions. A solution to achieve smooth transitions between the PLL and the HFI strategies is also proposed, allowing to correctly detect the rotor position polarity when HFI takes part. Wide speed and torque four-quadrant simulation results are provided, which validate the proposed sensorless strategy for being further implemented in EV.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A comparison of analytical results for 20 K LOX/hydrogen instabilities

Test data from NASA Lewis' Effect of Thrust Per Element on Combustion Stability Characteristics of Hydrogen-Oxygen Rocket Engines test program are used to validate two recently released stability analysis tools. The first tool is a design methodology called ROCCID (ROCket Combustor Interactive Design). ROCCID is an interactive design and analysis methodology that uses existing performance and combustion stability analysis codes. The second tool is HICCIP (High frequency Injection Coupled Combustion Instability Program). HICCIP is a recently developed combustion stability analysis model. Using a matrix of models, results from analytic comparisons with 20 K LOX/H2 experimental data are presented

Injectionless Sensorless Control of Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Zero to Low Speeds Region

An alternative to the high frequency injection approach for sensorless control at zero and low speed region is proposed for synchronous reluctance machines (SyR) using finite-control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC). The saliency based position estimate aims to exploit the switching current ripple which is pronounced owing to the nature of MPC especially around zero and low speed region due to the minimal back-emf. A demerit of the high frequency injection techniques is the bandwidth hindrance of position observer by the demodulating low pass filter (LPF). In the proposed method, no such filters are required and consequently, high bandwidth is achieved. Guidelines for the calibration of observers are addressed. In addition, the effects of cross-saturation on position estimation is inherently considered. The experimental validation on a 1 kW SyR shows stable operation under torque and speed transients, and proves the feasibility of the proposed technique

Self-Adaptive High-Frequency Injection Based Sensorless Control for Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives

open5openKumar, Piyush; Bottesi, Omar; Calligaro, Sandro; Alberti, Luigi; Petrella, RobertoKumar, Piyush; Bottesi, Omar; Calligaro, Sandro; Alberti, Luigi; Petrella, Robert

Self-adaptive high-frequency injection based sensorless control for interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drives \u2020

Abstract: An auto-tuning and self-adaptation procedure for High Frequency Injection (HFI) based position and speed estimation algorithms in Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM) drives is proposed in this paper. Analytical developments show that, using conventional approaches, the dynamics of the high-frequency tracking loop varies with differential inductances, which in turn depend on the machine operating point. On-line estimation and adaptation of the small signal gain of the loop is proposed here, allowing accurate auto-tuning of the sensorless control scheme which does not rely on a priori knowledge of the machine parameters. On-line adaptation of Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) gains and of the injected voltage magnitude is also possible, leading to important advantages from the performance, loss and acoustic point of view. The theoretical basis of the method has been introduced first and the main concept demonstrated by means of simulations. Implementation has been carried out using the hardware of a commercial industrial drive and two Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors, namely a prototype and an off-the-shelf machine. Experimental tests demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposal

Low-cost, high-resolution, fault-robust position and speed estimation for PMSM drives operating in safety-critical systems

In this paper it is shown how to obtain a low-cost, high-resolution and fault-robust position sensing system for permanent magnet synchronous motor drives operating in safety-critical systems, by combining high-frequency signal injection with binary Hall-effect sensors. It is shown that the position error signal obtained via high-frequency signal injection can be merged easily into the quantization-harmonic-decoupling vector tracking observer used to process the Hall-effect sensor signals. The resulting algorithm provides accurate, high-resolution estimates of speed and position throughout the entire speed range; compared to state-of-the-art drives using Hall-effect sensors alone, the low speed performance is greatly improved in healthy conditions and also following position sensor faults. It is envisaged that such a sensing system can be successfully used in applications requiring IEC 61508 SIL 3 or ISO 26262 ASIL D compliance, due to its extremely high mean time to failure and to the very fast recovery of the drive following Hall-effect sensor faults at low speeds. Extensive simulation and experimental results are provided on a 3.7 kW permanent magnet drive

Adding virtual measurements by signal injection

We propose a method to "create" a new measurement output by exciting the system with a high-frequency oscillation. This new "virtual" measurement may be useful to facilitate the design of a suitable control law. The approach is especially interesting when the observability from the actual output degenerates at a steady-state regime of interest. The proposed method is based on second-order averaging and is illustrated by simulations on a simple third-order system

Motor control in aerospace, optimizing availability and acoustics

The objective of this research project was to investigate motor control methods applied to Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) for aerospace applications. In specific this research attempted to address two key issues that are critical in aerospace. Firstly the increase in system availability in case of a resolver failure by means of applying sensorless motor control methods. Secondly the reduction of acoustic noise generated from a motor drive. Reliability, availability and acoustics are key areas in a number of industries especially aerospace. With regards to the reliability and availability objective, a hybrid model/saliency based sensorless method was investigated that can take over motor control in case of a resolver failure. With regards to the objective on acoustics, the research attempted firstly to address the problem of acoustic noise from High Frequency Injection (HFI). A variant of the Pseudo Random High Frequency Injection (PRHFI) algorithm was thus developed aiming to reduce the perception of acoustic noise. While investigating HFI sensorless methods and observing their acoustic effects, the most novel contribution of this research was conceived. The concept of Active Noise Cancellation/Control (ANC) by means of High Frequency Injection (HFI) was thus created, implemented and presented in this thesis. The proposed availability and acoustic improvement algorithms were first simulated in Matlab/Modelsim and then tested on the Helicopter Electro-Mechanical Actuation System (HEMAS). The above hardware platform is a PMSM based drive used to control the swash-plate onboard a helicopter. The reliability enhancement sensorless observer was demonstrated successfully during testing and was shown to track the motor’s speed and angle. The acoustic suppression algorithms (Pseudo Random High Frequency Injection and High Frequency Injection Active Noise Cancellation) were also demonstrated successfully on the hardware platform by means of audio capturing using microphones and analysis within Matlab

High Frequency Injection Sensorless Control for a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine Driven by an FPGA Controlled SiC Inverter

As motor drive inverters continue to employ Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices for power density improvements, sensorless motor control strategies can be developed with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) to take advantage of high inverter switching frequencies. Through the FPGA’s parallel processing capabilities, a high control bandwidth sensorless control algorithm can be employed. Sensorless motor control offers cost reductions through the elimination of mechanical position sensors or more reliable electric drive systems by providing additional position and speed information of the electric motor. Back electromotive force (EMF) estimation or model-based methods used for motor control provide precise sensorless control at high speeds; however, they are unreliable at low speeds. High frequency injection (HFI) sensorless control demonstrates an improvement at low speeds through magnetic saliency tracking. In this work, a sinusoidal and square-wave high frequency injection sensorless control method is utilized to examine the impact an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine’s (IPMSM) fundamental frequency, injection frequency, and switching frequency have on the audible noise spectrum and electrical angle estimation. The audible noise and electrical angle estimation are evaluated at different injection voltages, injection frequencies, switching frequencies, and rotor speeds. Furthermore, a proposed strategy for selecting the proper injection frequency, injection voltage, and switching frequency is given to minimize the electrical angle estimation error