Sensorless Induction Motor Speed Control via High Gain Observer

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing speed sensorless induction motor drives face performance degradation due to inaccurate measurement and slow speed tracking, primarily because of the accumulation of errors in voltage model-based direct integration and the ad-hoc nature of adaptive observer and extended Kalman filter approaches, which lead to unstable estimation error dynamics.

Innovation Solution

The method involves transforming the induction motor model into a non-triangular observable form using state coordinates, allowing for high gain observer design, and implementing observers in original coordinates to address numerical stability issues, with techniques such as dynamic gain estimation and matrix inversion approximations to ensure practical effectiveness.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If voltage model-based direct integration is used for speed estimation, then speed sensorless control is achieved, but error accumulation occurs leading to performance degradation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespeed estimation accuracyVSAvoidspeed measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an observer system as an intermediary between the voltage model and the control system. This observer processes the integrated voltage signals and produces corrected speed and flux estimates, acting as a mediator that eliminates direct integration errors while maintaining the sensorless control architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the observer continuously monitors the motor state and adjusts the speed and flux estimates based on the difference between expected and actual behavior. This feedback loop prevents error accumulation by constantly correcting estimation deviations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Speed

If adaptive observer or extended Kalman filter approaches are used, then speed tracking is improved, but estimation error dynamics become unstable due to ad-hoc design

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespeed tracking performanceVSAvoidestimation error dynamics stability
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent systematically adjusts observer parameters such as gain matrices and filtering coefficients to achieve optimal performance. By carefully selecting and tuning these parameters, the system achieves stable error dynamics while maintaining good speed tracking performance, avoiding the ad-hoc parameter selection of prior methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs structured feedback mechanisms where the observer error dynamics are explicitly designed to be stable. The feedback gain is chosen to ensure that estimation errors converge to zero, providing mathematical guarantees of stability while achieving fast speed tracking.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Measurement precision

If high gain observer design is implemented in transformed coordinates, then estimation accuracy is improved, but numerical stability issues arise due to matrix inversion

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestate estimation accuracyVSAvoidnumerical stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces intermediate coordinate transformations and auxiliary variables that avoid direct inversion of ill-conditioned matrices. By working in transformed coordinates and using intermediate computational steps, the system achieves high gain observer performance without the numerical instability of direct matrix inversion.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces direct matrix inversion operations with alternative computational approaches such as iterative solvers or factorization methods that are numerically more stable. This substitution maintains the high gain observer's estimation accuracy while avoiding the numerical instability associated with direct inversion of transformed coordinate matrices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS9985563B2Method and system for controlling angular speeds of motors in speed sensorless induction motors
Publication Date: 2018.05.29 MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC RESEARCH LABORATORIES INC
  • US9985563B2 patent drawing
  • US9985563B2 patent drawing
  • US9985563B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Angular speed of a rotor of an induction motor without an encoder for rotor position and speed sensing is controlled by first sensing stator currents and voltages of the induction motor. A dynamic gain estimator is designed by applying a state transformation to a model of the induction motor. A states of the induction motor is estimated by applying the dynamic gain estimator to the currents and the voltages, and then the state is used to control the angular speed of the rotor of the induction motor.