Permanent magnet ac motors have been extensively utilized for adjustable-speed traction motor drives, due to their inherent advantages including higher power density, superior efficiency and reliability, more precise and rapid torque control, larger power factor, longer bearing, and insulation life-time. Without any proportional-and-integral (PI) controllers, this paper introduces novel first- and higher-order field-oriented sliding mode control schemes. Compared with the traditional PI-based vector control techniques, it is shown that the proposed field oriented sliding mode control methods improve the dynamic torque and speed response, and enhance the robustness to parameter variations, modeling uncertainties, and external load perturbations. While both first- and higher-order controllers display excellent performance, computer simulations show that the higher-order field-oriented sliding mode scheme offers better performance by reducing the chattering phenomenon, which is presented in the first-order scheme. The higher-order field-oriented sliding mode controller, based on the hierarchical use of supertwisting algorithm, is then implemented with a Texas Instruments TMS320F28335 DSP hardware platform to prototype the surface-mounted permanent magnet ac motor drive. Last, computer simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed field-oriented sliding mode control approach is able to effectively meet the speed and torque requirements of a heavy-duty electrified vehicle during the EPA urban driving schedule
