A global tracking control for speed-sensorless induction motors

The problem of controlling an induction motor without rotor speed measurements is addressed. Arbitrary smooth reference signals for rotor speed and rotor flux modulus are required to be tracked globally (i.e. from any initial condition). A global second-order tracking control is obtained, which is based on a novel rotor speed observer. Simulation results are provided which illustrate the controller performance.     

A nonlinear tracking control for sensorless induction motors

We propose a novel tracking control for induction motors in which only stator currents are used for feedback. Local exponential rotor speed and flux modulus tracking are achieved for any constant reference value and for restricted time-varying reference signals; any known motor parameters values (including constant load torque) and any initial condition, including rotor speed and fluxes, belonging to an explicitly computed domain of attraction are allowed.     

An adaptive tracking control from current measurements for induction motors with uncertain load torque and rotor resistance

The problem of controlling sensorless induction motors with uncertain constant load torque and rotor resistance on the basis of stator current measurements only is addressed. A new eighth-order dynamic nonlinear adaptive control algorithm is designed, which relies on a closed loop adaptive observer for the unmeasured state variables (rotor speed and fluxes) and for the uncertain parameters and is not based on non-robust open loop integration of flux dynamics. Local exponential stability of the closed loop tracking and estimation error dynamics is achieved under persistency of excitation conditions which restrict the reference signals and may be interpreted in terms of motor observability and rotor resistance identifiability.     

Partial state feedback control of induction motors with magnetic saturation: elimination of flux measurements

In this paper, we present a singularity-free, rotor position tracking controller for the full order, nonlinear dynamic model of the induction motor that includes the effects of magnetic saturation. Specifically, by utilizing the π-equivalent saturation model, we design an observer/controller strategy that achieves semi-global exponential rotor position tracking and only requires stator current, rotor velocity, and rotor position measurements. Simulation and experimental results are included to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.     

Discrete time sliding mode control with application to induction motors

This work deals with a sliding mode control scheme for discrete time nonlinear systems. The control law synthesis problem is subdivided into a finite number of subproblems of lower complexity, which can be solved independently. The sliding mode controller is designed to force the system to track a desired reference and to eliminate unwanted disturbances, compensating at the same time matched and unmatched parameter variations. Then, an observer is designed to eliminate the need of the state in the controller implementation. This design technique is illustrated determining a dynamic discrete time controller for induction motors.     

A speed-sensorless indirect field-oriented control for induction motors based on high gain speed estimation

The authors design a new speed sensorless output feedback control for the full-order model of induction motors with unknown constant load torque, which guarantees local asymptotic tracking of smooth speed and rotor flux modulus reference signals and local asymptotic field orientation, on the basis of stator current measurements only. The proposed nonlinear controller exploits the concept of indirect field orientation (no flux estimation is required) in combination with a new high-gain speed estimator based on the torque current tracking error. The estimates of unknown load torque and time-varying rotor speed converge to the corresponding true values under a persistency of excitation condition with a physically meaningful interpretation, basically equivalent to non-null synchronous frequency. Stability analysis of the overall dynamics has been performed exploiting the singular perturbation method. The proposed control algorithm is a “true” industrial sensorless solution since no simplifying assumptions (flux and load torque measurements) are required. Simulation and experimental tests show that the proposed controller is suitable for medium and high performance applications.     

Design and sensitivity analysis of a reduced-order rotor flux optimal observer for induction motor control

This paper aims to give simple and effective design criteria of rotor flux reduced-order observers for motion control systems with induction motors. While the observer is optimized for rotor and stator resistance variations, a sensitivity analysis is carried out in the presence of variations of all the motor parameters by means of either transfer function from true to observed rotor flux or simulation in a MATLAB-SIMULINK environment, assuming the voltages supplying the motor to be different from those supplying the observer. The sensitivity analysis makes it possible to establish design criteria for the observer in question. The behaviour of the proposed reduced order observer is compared with current model and voltage model observers. Experimental results are also given, with the dual aim of confirming the validity of this design method and showing that the observer can be implemented on microprocessor-based devices.     

Hopf bifurcation in indirect field-oriented control of induction motors

The appearance of self-sustained oscillations in high performance AC drives, and in particular, in induction motors whose speed is regulated with the industry standard field-oriented control, is a well-documented but little understood phenomenon. It is well known that the oscillations may be quenched by returning the outer-loop PI speed control, but no precise rules to carry out this task, which may be time consuming, are known. In this paper, we show that these oscillations may arise due to the existence of Hopf bifurcations. Some simple rules for selecting the gains of the PI controller are obtained as a result of our analysis.     

Global observability analysis of sensorless induction motors

The current problems to successfully apply sensorless controllers for induction motors are the existence of operation regimes for which the performance is remarkably deteriorated, due to the difficulties in estimating correctly motor speed and flux, and the lack of a theoretical explanation for this kind of behavior. In this paper a global observability analysis for these machines is carried out. It is first shown that all indistinguishable trajectories of the system, i.e. pairs of state trajectories with the same input/output behavior, can be described by a differential equation on a manifold, named here the indistinguishable dynamics. Studying the stability properties of this latter system it can be shown that the induction motor is not completely observable nor detectable in a local or in a global sense, and for every set of parameters. This implies that it is impossible to construct a state observer for the motor that converges for every trajectory of the system. Moreover, the indistinguishable dynamics provides a systematic method to study, understand and explain particular operation regimes, and this is illustrated by some case studies of practical relevant operating conditions.     

Nonlinear control of induction motors: torque tracking with unknownload disturbance

Ortega and Espinosa (1993) presented a globally stable controller for torque regulation of a complete induction motor model with partial state feedback, i.e., no assumption of flux measurement. The result was established under the assumptions that both the desired and load torques are constant, that the former does not exceed certain bounds which depend on the systems natural damping, and that the motor parameters are known. In the present contributions the authors extend these results in several directions. First, by “adding mechanical damping” to the closed-loop system the authors relax the upper bound condition on the desired torque. Second, the authors use a new controller structure that allows them to treat the case of time-varying desired torque. Finally, a new estimator is proposed to handle time-varying (linearly parameterized) unknown loads     

Transient model of induction machine using rotating magnetic field approach

Most simulation models of electric machines use the coupled circuit approach, where the machine is considered as an electric circuit element with time-varying inductances (abc model) or with constant inductances (dq0 model). On the other hand, the rotating magnetic field approach, which considers the electric machine as two groups of windings producing rotating magnetic fields and can give insight into internal phenomena of the machines, has not yet received much attention in electric machines modeling, especially for machine transient analysis. Based on the rotating magnetic field approach, this paper presents a transient model of the induction machine including main flux saturation effect. Based on the direct computation of the magnetizing fluxes of all machine windings, the model represents instantaneous main flux saturation by simply introducing a main flux saturation factor. No iteration process is involved to incorporate the saturation effects. The model combines the advantages of the dq0 and abc models advantages, such as rapid computation time and nonsymmetrical conditions simulation, respectively. The simulation results and the experimental tests show advantages and verification of the model.     

Finite-time tracking control for robot manipulators with actuator saturation

This paper addresses the finite-time tracking of robot manipulators in the presence of actuator saturation. The commonly-used proportional-derivative (PD) plus dynamics compensation (PD+) scheme is extended by replacing the linear errors in the PD+ scheme with saturated non-smooth but continuous exponential-like ones. Advantages of the proposed controller include semi-global finite-time tracking stability featuring faster transient and high-precision performances and the ability to ensure that actuator constraints are not violated. This is accomplished by selecting control gains a priori, removing the possibility of actuator failure due to excessive torque input levels. Lyapunov's direct method and finite-time stability are employed to prove semi-global finite-time tracking. Simulations performed on a three degree-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and the improved performance of the formulated algorithm.     

A modified direct torque control with fault tolerance

The use of inverters in induction motor control has reduced classical motor faults, such as broken rotor bars or windings short-circuit, besides improving control performance. The control becomes faster and more precise, reducing peaks in current and torque, so that the motor can have a softer operation. On the other hand, new elements are included in the system and it will be necessary to take into account their faults. These elements are sensors and power electronic devices that since a control point of view are the system sensors and actuators. Fault tolerance tries to maintain the system under control in case a fault appears in the system. If this is not possible, it takes the system to a safe operational point. In this paper a fault-tolerant control for induction motors is designed. Based on a direct torque control, new control strategies have been added in case current sensor and power switch faults are detected. The challenge is to overcome these faults without any physical redundancy of sensors or power switches as other authors propose. With the proposed control, it will be possible to guarantee the motor operation in the whole speed-torque range with one or none current sensors instead of the two usually used, though the performance will be slightly worsened. In case of inverter faults, the operation range will be restricted but the performance with respect to the fault situation is improved.     

Robust robot manipulator control with autonomous consideration algorithm of torque saturation

As each joint actuator of a robot manipulator has a limit value of torque, the motion control system should consider the torque saturation. Conventional motion control based on robust acceleration controller cannot consider the torque saturation and it often causes an oscillated or wrong response. This paper proposes a new autonomous consideration method of joint torque saturation for robust manipulator motion control. The proposed method consists of three on-line autonomous algorithms. These algorithms are the torque limitation algorithm in joint space, the adjustment algorithm of motion control in Cartesian space, and the adjustment algorithm of motion reference in Cartesian space. The robot motion control using the proposed algorithms realizes smooth and robust robot motion response.     

Implicit fault-tolerant control: application to induction motors

In this paper we propose an innovative way of dealing with the design of fault-tolerant control systems. We show how the nonlinear output regulation theory can be successfully adopted in order to design a regulator able to offset the effect of all possible faults which can occur and, in doing so, also to detect and isolate the occurred fault. The regulator is designed by embedding the (possible nonlinear) internal model of the fault. This idea is applied to the design of a fault-tolerant controller for induction motors in presence of both rotor and stator mechanical faults.     

Improving transient performance in tracking control for linear multivariable discrete-time systems with input saturation

In this paper, we present a composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control technique for linear discrete-time multivariable systems with actuator saturation. The CNF control law serves to improve the transient performance of the closed-loop system by adding an additional nonlinear feedback. The linear feedback can be designed to yield a quick response at the initial stage, then the nonlinear feedback is introduced to smooth out overshoots when the system output approaches the target reference. As such, the resulting closed-loop system typically has very fast transient response and small overshoots. The goal of this work is to complete the theory for general discrete-time systems. The technique is applied to a magnetic-tape-drive servo system design and yields a huge improvement in settling time compared to that of a purely linear controller.     

Sensorless induction motor drive: An innovative component for advanced motion control

This paper reports the basic concept and recent industrial applications of a sensorless vector-controlled speed-control system for an inverter-fed induction motor in Japan. The vector control artificially gives the linear torque controllability, which is inherent for a separately excited DC motor, to the induction motor drive. First, in this paper, the fundamental concept of vector control is introduced. Next, representative speed-sensorless vector-control systems will be related. Also, a method for the automatic measurement of the electrical parameters of the induction motor is introduced. To know the motor parameters precisely is especially important for a speed-sensorless vector-control system. Finally, several examples of industrial applications of the sensorless speed control are described.     

Bifurcations and chaos in indirect field-oriented control of induction motors

Stability of indirect field-oriented control (IFOC) of induction motor drives is greatly influenced by estimated value of rotor time constant. By choosing estimation error of rotor time constant as bifurcation parameter, the conditions of generating Hopf bifurcation in IFOC drives are analyzed. Dynamic responses and Lyapunov exponents show that chaos and limit cycles will arise for some ranges of load torque with certain PI speed controller setting. Stable drives are required for conventional applications,but chaotic rotation can promote eflqciency or improve dynamic characteristics of drives. Thus, the study may be a guideline for designing a stable system or an oscillating system.     

Adaptive output feedback quantised tracking control for stochastic nonstrict-feedback nonlinear systems with input saturation

This paper is concerned with the problem of adaptive output feedback quantised tracking control for a class of stochastic nonstrict-feedback nonlinear systems with asymmetric input saturation. Especially, both input and output signals are quantised by two sector-bounded quantisers. In order to solve the technical difficulties originating from asymmetric saturation nonlinearities and sector-bounded quantisation errors, some special technique, approximation-based methods and Gaussian error function-based continuous differentiable model are exploited. Meanwhile, an observer including the quantised input and output signals is designed to estimate the states. Then, a novel output feedback adaptive quantised control scheme is proposed to ensure that all signals in the closed-loop system are 4-moment (2-moment) semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded while the output signal follows a desired reference signal. Finally, the effectiveness and applicability of the design methodology is illustrated with two simulation examples.     

Bandwidth vs. gains design of H∞ tracking controllers for current-fed induction motors

This paper describes a systematic procedure for designing speed and rotor flux norm tracking H_∞ controllers with unknown load torque disturbances for current-fed induction motors. A new effective design tool is developed to allow selection of the control gains so as to adjust the disturbances’ rejection capability of the controllers in the face of the bandwidth requirements of the closed-loop system. Application of the proposed design procedure is demonstrated in a case study, and the results of numerical simulations illustrate the satisfactory performance achievable even in presence of rotor resistance uncertainty.