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Finite control set model predictive control is an emerging technique for the control of power electronic converters. This paper introduces a simple and efficient predictive torque control (PTC) algorithm for induction motor drive. The proposed technique eliminates the need for flux-weighting factor for the conventional PTC. As a result, tedious offline tuning is no longer required. At the same time, the proposed technique ensures that the relative importance between torque and flux ripples is determined in an online fashion. Moreover, unlike the conventional method that needs to evaluate the cost function seven times (for two-level three-phase inverter case), the proposed method needs only to test four voltage vectors at each control sample which leads to a significant reduction in the computation time and switching frequency without sacrificing the performance. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by both simulation and experimental results with comprehensive comparisons with the reported literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear permanent-magnet (PM) motors incorporate the merits of high efficiency, simple mechanism, and low cost, which have a bright future in urban rail transit. However, the position sensor costs are huge, which is the main barrier against a wider implementation. In this paper, a type of modified disturbance observer is newly proposed to improve the precision. Two disturbance observers are utilized to estimate the back electromotive force. Then, position information is detected by a phase-locked loop. Finally, the linear PM motor runs with the feedback of estimated position and speed instead of position encoder measuring. The algorithm avoids designing filters and injecting signals. Experimental results based on a linear primary PM vernier motor demonstrate the accuracy and dynamic performance. The comparisons in the aspect of the robustness to measurement errors certify that the modified disturbance observer is superior to the conventional disturbance observer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual two-level voltage source inverter (VSI) can synthesize a three-level voltage space vector employing an open-end winding induction motor. Space-vector-based pulsewidth modulation (PWM) variants for this dual VSI are proposed in this paper that offer the dual advantage of limiting the switching power loss to a single VSI at all instants and also reducing the switching commutations in the dual VSI by 50%. The influence of different error volt seconds (affected with different PWM variants) on the motor phase current in the dual VSI is critically analyzed. To this end, two analytical approaches (one using error-voltage trajectory information and the other using switching state information of the dual VSI) are also proposed in this paper to predict the current trajectory and the ripple content in the drive system. Expressions for rms ripple current are developed with different PWM variants. The efficacy of the proposed analytical approaches to predict the current trajectory and the ripple content is confirmed from the experimental results. All the PWM variants are first simulated using MATLAB and verified experimentally by conducting tests on a three-phase open-end winding induction motor drive controlled with volts per hertz control. The implementation of the PWM algorithms only requires instantaneous magnitudes of three-phase reference voltages and completely avoids the sector identification and lookup tables. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with methods and algorithms for the estimation of induction-motor equivalent circuit parameters starting from the geometrical and electrical data generally available after an electromagnetic design. The main aim of this paper is to help the readers pass from the theoretical analysis to the numerical code suitable to be included in its own design software. For this reason, the step-by-step algorithms are included in this paper. Some of the methods are based on well-known approaches while the other ones are original. For the latter ones, a complete discussion of the theoretical analysis is reported and discussed. The first part deals with the stator- and rotor-resistance computations and the determination of the leakage inductances based on an original flux classification. Finally, the skewing slot effects on the machine parameters are provided. The comparison between computed and measured values confirms the accuracy of the proposed computational algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the employment of the differential evolution (DE) to offline optimize the covariance matrices of a new reduced delayed-state Kalman-ifiter (DSKF)-based algorithm which estimates the stator-flux linkage components, in the stationary reference frame, to realize sensorless control of induction motors (IMs). The DSKF-based algorithm uses the derivatives of the stator-flux components as mathematical model and the stator-voltage equations as observation model so that only a vector of four variables has to be offline optimized. Numerical results, carried out using a low-speed training test, show that the proposed DE-based approach is very promising and clearly outperforms a classical local search and three popular metaheuristics in terms of quality of the final solution for the problem considered in this paper. A novel simple stator-flux-oriented sliding-mode (SFO-SM) control scheme is online used in conjunction with the optimized DSKF-based algorithm to improve the robustness of the sensorless IM drive at low speed. The SFO-SM control scheme has closed loops of torque and stator-flux linkage without proportional-plus-integral controllers so that a minimum number of gains has to be tuned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a flux search controller is proposed to increase the efficiency of a direct torque-controlled induction motor in full load range. The value of the flux reference is determined through a minimization algorithm. The amplitude of stator current is used as the objective function since it is shown that samples of the stator current have better statistical properties than input power. In addition, the stator current has more sensitivity to the flux variation than input power. These two properties allow implementing an adaptive algorithm to determine the proper flux step without waste of time. The minimum allowable value of the flux step has been determined based on this process to prevent the divergence problem. This adaptive algorithm set a large flux step for transient state to speed up the convergence process and a small flux step for steady state to minimize the flux ripple. Simulation and experimental results presented in this paper confirm the fast dynamic of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite-state predictive torque control (FS-PTC) is computationally expensive, since it uses all voltage vectors (VVs) available from a power converter for prediction and actuation. The computational burden is rapidly increased with the number of VVs and objectives to be controlled. Moreover, designing a cost function with more than two control objectives is a complex task. This paper proposes a simplified algorithm based on a new direct torque control (DTC) switching table to reduce the number of VVs to be predicted and objectives to be controlled. The new switching table also assists to reduce average switching frequency and its variation range. As a result, the cost function is simplified by not requiring to include the frequency term. Experimental results show that the average execution time and the average switching frequency for the proposed algorithm are greatly reduced without affecting the torque and flux performances achieved in the conventional FS-PTC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Parameter identification plays an important role in speed estimation schemes. This paper presents a speed estimation scheme based on second-order sliding-mode supertwisting algorithm (STA) and model reference adaptive system (MRAS) estimation theory, in which both variations of stator resistance and rotor resistance are deliberately treated. A stator current observer is designed based on the STA, which is utilized to take the place of the reference voltage model of the standard MRAS algorithm. The observer is insensitive to the variation of rotor resistance and perturbation when the states arrive at the sliding mode. Derivatives of rotor flux are obtained and designed as the state of MRAS, thus eliminating the integration. Furthermore, in order to improve the near-zero speed operation, a parallel adaptive identification of stator resistance is designed relying on derivatives of rotor flux and stator current. Compared with the first-order sliding-mode speed estimator, the proposed scheme makes full use of the auxiliary sliding-mode surface, thus alleviating the chattering behavior without increasing the complexity. The robustness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme have been validated experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a step toward the self-commissioning of the next generation of ac drives, this work deals with an automatic procedure for the identification of the inverse-\Gamma equivalent circuit of inverter-fed induction motors (IM) at standstill. The algorithm, cut out for the modern microprocessors combines different test signals with the aim of extracting and mapping the magnetic model nonlinearity. As a key feature, the procedure uses the existing inverter as a precise voltage probe to get the complete parameter set usually required by the advanced control of ac drives. The theoretical investigations are supported by experimental results and are reported in the paper. A distinguishing characteristic of the proposed method among the other existing solutions is the accuracy of the results confirmed by the comparison with finite-element analysis tools and tailored to the laboratory IM prototypes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a sensorless control scheme is presented for induction motors with core loss. First, a controller is designed using a high order sliding mode twisting algorithm, to track a desired rotor velocity signal and an optimal rotor flux modulus, minimizing the power loss in copper and core. Then, a super-twisting (ST) sliding mode observer for stator current is designed and the rotor flux is calculated, by means of the equivalent control method. Two methods for the rotor velocity estimation are then proposed. The first consists of a further super-twisting sliding mode observer for rotor fluxes, with the purpose of retrieving the back-electromotive force components by means of the equivalent control method. These components are functions of the rotor velocity which, hence, can be easily determined. The second method is based on a generalization of the phase-locked loop methodology. Finally, a simple Luenberger observer is designed, filtering the rotor velocity estimate and giving also an estimate of the load torque. The performance of the motor is verified by means of numeric simulations and experimental tests, where good tracking results are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-speed (HS) electric machines are gaining attention in several different applications, and the development of advanced materials, electronic components, and control algorithms is pushing ahead the technological speed limits. In the electromagnetic sizing of HS machines, the mechanical and thermal involvements are very tight to make it necessary to deal with all the different aspects at the same time. This paper aims to summarize and discuss the electrical and the mechanical aspects involved in the HS machine design, highlighting the main issues and the tradeoffs that the designer has to consider. Furthermore, the correlation between volume reduction and speed increase, based on commercial high-frequency rotor–stator units, is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grid-connected induction generators (IGs) suffer from voltage and frequency fluctuations when stator circuits are disconnected from the power grid. A typical strategy to prevent this problem is to remove the shunt capacitor to cease self-excitation. However, when paralleling the IG with the power grid, another problem of severe voltage drop caused by excitation current inrush occurs. This paper presents an active voltage and frequency regulator (AVFR) to alleviate the undesired transients for the IG in grid-connection and grid-disconnection cases. The proposed AVFR is realized using a voltage-source inverter (VSI) with a controllable resistor at the dc link. The active power at the ac side is rectified to maintain a constant dc-link voltage using a VSI that also supplies excitation current to the machine. To achieve quick ac current response for the VSI, a stationary \alpha–\beta-axis-based direct current controller is proposed. A new algorithm based on the normalized voltage vector, which features a linear relation between the \alpha-axis voltage and phase angle, leads directly to a rule that will detect the frequency deviation and provide effective frequency control. The experimental results from a 2.5-kVA digital-signal-processor-based laboratory prototype verify the effectiveness of the proposed AVFR. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes methods and algorithms for the estimation of induction motor equivalent circuit parameters, starting from the geometrical and electrical data generally available after an electromagnetic design. This part includes an approach for the skin effect determination in arbitrarily shaped rotor slots, based on the elementary layer method. In addition, a complete analytical development for the fundamental airgap flux density, including magnetic saturation phenomena and no-load characteristic determination, is reported. Finally, a comparison between the computed and measured values is provided and discussed for several induction motors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multilevel multiphase space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) algorithm has been introduced recently, in which the reference is separated into an integer part and a fractional part. The fractional part is, in essence, a two-level multiphase space vector algorithm. This paper shows that, with appropriate adaptations, the fractional part of the general space vector multilevel multiphase PWM can be applied as a stand-alone PWM method in conjunction with two-level voltage-source converters with any number of phases. Simulation results of the five- and six-phase cases are shown, and the new algorithm is compared with another recent multifrequency SVPWM algorithm, which follows the standard approach of selecting the switching vectors and calculating their application times using dq planes. The experimental verification is provided using a five-phase two-motor series-connected induction motor drive, supplied from a custom-designed five-phase voltage-source inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method for improving the control design for a high-power induction motor (IM) drive employing rotor-flux-based orientation. An offline genetic-algorithm routine is used to estimate the electrical and mechanical parameters of the machine using only speed transient measurements. This routine is applied to a range of operating conditions to obtain an accurate knowledge of the IM parameters as a function of the d-axis motor current id. The information acquired is then employed, together with an enhanced control design obtained by optimizing speed and current transient responses, to increase the performance of the vector control algorithm. The effectiveness of this design method is demonstrated through a wide range of simulations using Matlab-Simulink and experimental results at power levels up to 230 kW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal models used in overload protection relays often fail to predict the rotor temperature for motors with impaired cooling conditions. In this case, the temperature estimated from the rotor resistance can be used as an indicator of the motor's cooling capability. However, this estimated rotor temperature is often corrupted by estimation error due to the asymmetry in the power supply. A detailed analysis of the trajectories of the complex current and voltage space vectors in a synchronous reference frame is presented in this paper, and the negative sequence fundamental frequency components are identified as the major cause of the estimation error. Based on this analysis, a fast and efficient algorithm is proposed to calculate the rotor temperature for line-connected induction machines. By applying the Goertzel algorithm to the complex current and voltage space vectors, constructed directly from the motor terminal measurements, the positive sequence fundamental frequency components are extracted, and the rotor temperature is then estimated with significantly reduced estimation error. Compared to the conventional scheme based on the fast Fourier transform, the proposed algorithm is faster and more efficient, and is therefore more suitable for implementation on a low-cost hardware platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and effective space vector pulse width- modulation technique for six-phase voltage-source-inverter-fed split-phase induction motors is presented in this paper. The approach employs dual three-phase space vector modulators equipped with overmodulation schemes that compensate for the voltage gain reduction due to the use of two independently controlled three-phase inverters. It secures full control of the voltage gain up to the maximum achievable gain with negligible low-order harmonics and utilizes a simple classification algorithm for the implementation of the space vector modulation (SVM) in both linear and overmodulation modes. Experimental results are provided to verify the validity of the proposed SVM split-phase approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to spread the sliding-mode control design technique on the new class of the ac drives: an induction motor fed by a three-level voltage-source inverter (3LVSI). A comprehensive investigation of possible drive "variable structures" was carried out. Based on this analysis, an original two-step design procedure allows the use of the "classical" result of sliding-mode theory for the real variable structure system with more than 2m variable structures (m is the control space order). Based on this design procedure, the original control algorithm that includes a choice condition for 3LVSI input dc voltage and a switch table for the 3LVSI semiconductor switches are designed. The performance of the considered control structure has been examined by simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a phase-locked-loop (PLL)-assisted internal model (IM) adjustable-speed controller for brushless dc (BLDC) motors is proposed. Major contributions include proposing a new adjustable-speed module structure of PLL controllers for BLDC motor drives and integrating an IM control strategy and a novel complete motor current sensing scheme. By employing the proposed PLL-assisted IM control method, the controller can be made more robust and accurate. In addition, due to properly integrating the motor current sensing scheme with the pulsewidth modulation control, the hardware implementation of the BLDC motor drive can be made rather compact and enable further integration into chips to reduce the cost and enhance the current regulation performance. Finally, a prototype of the proposed controller is also constructed and applied to an industrial blower to verify the feasibility of the proposed control. Experimental results show that both accurate steady state and fast transient speed responses can be achieved. Moreover, compared with the conventional induction motor drives for industrial blowers, the proposed PMBLDC drives can achieve much higher efficiency with less volume and weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents system modeling, analysis, and simulation of an electric vehicle (EV) with two independent rear wheel drives. The traction control system is designed to guarantee the EV dynamics and stability when there are no differential gears. Using two in-wheel electric motors makes it possible to have torque and speed control in each wheel. This control level improves EV stability and safety. The proposed traction control system uses the vehicle speed, which is different from wheel speed characterized by a slip in the driving mode, as an input. In this case, a generalized neural network algorithm is proposed to estimate the vehicle speed. The analysis and simulations lead to the conclusion that the proposed system is feasible. Simulation results on a test vehicle propelled by two 37-kW induction motors showed that the proposed control approach operates satisfactorily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overall system performance on a production line is one of the major concerns in modern industry where induction motors are present and their condition monitoring is mandatory. Periodic offline monitoring of the motor condition is usually performed in the industry, consuming production time and increasing cost. Broken rotor bars are among the most common failures in induction motors. Reported research projects give a broken-rotor-bar-detection methodology based on personal-computer implementation that is performed offline and requires an expert technician interpretation which is not a cost-effective solution. The novelty of this paper is the development of an automatic online diagnosis algorithm for broken-rotor-bar detection, optimized for single low-cost field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) implementation, which guarantees the development of economical self-operated equipment. The proposed algorithm requires less computation load than the previously reported algorithms, and it is mainly based on the discrete-wavelet-transform application to the start-up current transient; a further single mean-square computation determines a weighting function that, according to its value, clearly points the motor condition as either healthy or damaged. In order to validate the proposed algorithm, several tests were performed, and an FPGA implementation was developed to show the algorithm feasibility for automatic online diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the sensorless speed and position control of induction motors using high-frequency injection at zero and low frequencies. A novel algorithm is presented which allows the rejection of saturation and nonlinear inverter effects without the need for an offline precommissioning process. The method is based on a set of synchronous filters to identify the disturbance waveforms and a memory algorithm that refines the quality of the disturbance waveforms as the motor's operational history is increased. The algorithm is entirely sensorless. Experimental results show sensorless low-frequency operation with and without the memory algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a robust control scheme with an outer Hoc voltage control loop and an inner current control loop is designed and implemented on a medium-voltage (MV)-level dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) system. Through a simple selection of weighting functions, the synthesized Hoc controller would exhibit significant gains in the vicinity of positive- and negative-sequence fundamental frequencies, and therefore, it would be able to regulate both positive- and negative-sequence components effectively, with explicit robustness in the face of system parameter variations. A detailed discussion of Hoc controller weighting function selection, inner current loop tuning, and system disturbance rejection capability is presented. Finally, the designed control scheme is extensively tested on a laboratory b-ky MV-level DVR system with varying voltage sag (balanced and unbalanced) and loading (linear/nonlinear load and induction motor load) conditions. It is shown that the proposed control scheme is effective in both balanced and unbalanced sag compensation and load disturbance rejection, as its robustness is explicitly specified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an automatic algorithm based an unsupervised neural network for an on-line diagnostics of three-phase induction motor stator fault is presented. This algorithm uses the alfa-beta stator currents as input variables. Then, a fully automatic unsupervised method is applied in which a Hebbian-based unsupervised neural network is used to extract the principal components of the stator current data. These main directions are used to decide where the fault occurs and a relationship between the current components is calculated to verify the severity of the fault. One of the characteristics of this method, given its unsupervised nature, is that it does not need a prior identification of the system. The proposed methodology has been experimentally tested on a 1 kW induction motor. The obtained experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an online induction motor diagnosis system using motor current signature analysis (MCSA) with advanced signal-and-data-processing algorithms is proposed. MCSA is a method for motor diagnosis with stator-current signals. The proposed system diagnoses induction motors having four types of faults such as breakage of rotor bars and end rings, short-circuit of stator windings, bearing cracks, and air-gap eccentricity. Although MCSA is one of the most powerful online methods for diagnosing motor faults, it has some shortcomings, which degrade performance and accuracy of a motor-diagnosis system. Therefore, advanced signal-and-data-processing algorithms are proposed. They are composed of an optimal-slip-estimation algorithm, a proper-sample-selection algorithm, and a frequency auto search algorithm for achieving MCSA efficiently. The proposed system is able to ascertain four kinds of motor faults and diagnose the fault status of an induction motor. Experimental results obtained on 3.7-kW and 30-kW three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors and voltage-source inverters with a vector-control technique are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AC induction motors have become very popular for motion-control applications due to their simple and reliable construction. Control of drives based on ac induction motors is a quite complex task. Provided the vector-control algorithm is used, not only the rotor speed but also the position of the magnetic flux inside the motor during the control process should be known. In most applications, the flux sensors are omitted and the magnetic-flux phasor position has to be calculated. However, there are also applications in which even speed sensors should be omitted. In such a situation, the task of state reconstruction can be solved only from voltage and current measurements. In the current paper, a method based on deterministic evaluation of measurement using the state observer based on the Lyapunov function is presented. The method has been proven in testing on a real ac induction machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a continuous approach of sliding-mode current and flux observers for an induction machine. The proposed observer structure both decouples machine equations and makes them completely insensitive to rotor resistance variation. An estimation algorithm based on these observers is proposed to calculate speed and rotor resistance independently. In the proposed algorithm, the speed and rotor resistance are considered to be unknown constants, because the speed and rotor resistance change slowly compared to the electrical variables such as currents and fluxes. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed observer and estimation algorithm and of the overall indirect-field-oriented-controlled system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to synthesize the direct torque and rotor flux control (DTRFC) algorithms of induction motor using sliding-mode theory. The choice of the sliding-mode theory has been motivated by the presence of switches in the voltage-source inverter (VSI). Changes in the state of the switches cause the variation in the topology of the controlled system. In addition, this theory offers a mathematical process that allows rigorous procedures of analysis and synthesis. The developed voltage vector is generated by two methods: direct control of the VSI (hysteresis VSI control), and indirect control of the VSI using space-vector modulation. In addition, taking into account the complementarity of the advantages of each VSI control algorithm, the high dynamic performance of the direct control and the smoothness of the indirect control, the idea of the dynamic reconfiguration of DTRFC algorithms is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new model reference adaptive system (MRAS) speed observer for high-performance field-oriented control induction motor drives based on adaptive linear neural networks. It is an evolution and an improvement of an MRAS observer presented in the literature. This new MRAS speed observer uses the current model as an adaptive model discretized with the modified Euler integration method. A linear neural network has been then designed and trained online by means of an ordinary least-squares (OLS) algorithm, differently from that in the literature which employs a nonlinear backpropagation network (BPN) algorithm. Moreover, the neural adaptive model is employed here in prediction mode, and not in simulation mode, as is usually the case in the literature, with a consequent quicker convergence of the speed estimation, no need of filtering the estimated speed, higher bandwidth of the speed loop, lower estimation errors both in transient and steady-state operation, belier behavior in zero-speed operation at no load, and stable behavior in field weakening. A theoretical analysis of some stability issues of the proposed observer has also been developed. The OLS MRAS observer has been verified in numerical simulation and experimentally, and in comparison with the BPN MRAS one presented in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, a space-vector pulsewidth-modulation (SVPWM) inverter is proposed for constant-power operation of a two-phase induction motor. The operating principle of SVPWM is described, and the algorithm for constant-power operation is presented. Analysis for dynamic operation using a simple scalar con- trol scheme is carried out and parameters for implementation of the scheme are obtained. Experimental investigation of the scheme is carried out and comparative analysis of the performance of the scheme is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various control algorithms have been proposed for the speed-sensorless control of an induction motor. These sensorless algorithms are mainly based on the speed feedback with the flux and speed estimations. This paper proposes a new scheme for the speed-sensorless control of an induction motor. The proposed scheme is based on the current estimation without the flux and speed estimations, in which the controlled stator voltage is applied to the induction motor so that the difference between stator currents of the mathematical model and motor may be forced to decay to zero. The performance of the proposed scheme is verified through simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]