Motor Controller Temperature Data Redundancy

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional motor controllers face issues with unreliable overheat protection due to data damage in non-volatile memory during temperature estimation, leading to inaccurate temperature readings and ineffective heat protection control.

Innovation Solution

A motor controller design that writes estimated temperature to both a first and a second area in non-volatile memory, ensuring that even if writing to one area fails, the temperature can still be read from the other area, allowing for reliable overheat protection control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the estimated temperature is written to a single area in non-volatile memory, then the memory usage is minimized, but the reliability of temperature data reading deteriorates when writing fails

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of temperature data readingVSAvoidmemory structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The non-volatile memory is divided into multiple independent storage areas (first area and second area) for storing the estimated temperature. This segmentation allows the system to write temperature data to multiple locations, ensuring that if one area fails to write or become unreadable, the temperature data can still be read from another area, thus improving the reliability of temperature data reading.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If the estimated temperature is written to multiple areas in non-volatile memory, then the reliability of temperature data reading is improved, but the writing operation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of temperature data readingVSAvoidease of memory writing operation

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by writing the estimated temperature to multiple storage areas (first area and second area) before any potential read operation. This preliminary multi-location writing ensures that at least one valid copy of the temperature data exists, simplifying the subsequent read operation as the system can directly read from either area without complex error handling during the read process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If the estimated temperature is written to multiple areas in non-volatile memory, then the reliability of overheat protection control is improved, but the data storage space requirement increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of overheat protection controlVSAvoidquantity of memory storage space

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates copies of the estimated temperature data in multiple storage areas (first area and second area) of the non-volatile memory. This copying approach ensures that redundant copies of the critical temperature information are available, improving the reliability of overheat protection control by ensuring data availability even if one copy becomes corrupted or unreadable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS11383762B2Motor controller and electric power steering using same

Publication Date: 2022.07.12 DENSO CORP

AI summary

A motor controller includes a temperature estimator that estimates a temperature of an element in a motor driver circuit that drives a motor, or a temperature of a winding of the motor, and a non-volatile memory that provides a first area and a second area for storing the estimated temperature. The temperature estimator writes the estimated temperature to both of the first area and the second area.