Predictive current control in electrical drives: an illustrated review with case examples using a five-phase induction motor drive with distributed windings
The industrial application of electric machines in variable-speed drives has grown in the last decades thanks to the
development of microprocessors and power converters. Although three-phase machines constitute the most common case, the
interest of the research community has been recently focused on machines with more than three phases, known as multiphase
machines. The principal reason lies in the exploitation of their advantages like reliability, better current distribution among phases
or lower current harmonic production in the power converter than conventional three-phase ones, to name a few. Nevertheless,
multiphase drives applications require the development of complex controllers to regulate the torque (or speed) and flux of the
machine. In this regard, predictive current controllers have recently appeared as a viable alternative due to an easy formulation
and a high flexibility to incorporate different control objectives. It is found however that these controllers face some peculiarities
and limitations in their use that require attention. This work attempts to tackle the predictive current control technique as a viable
alternative for the regulation of multiphase drives, paying special attention to the development of the control technique and the
discussion of the benefits and limitations. Case examples with experimental results in a symmetrical five-phase induction machine
with distributed windings in motoring mode of operation are used to this end