Robust Field Oriented Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) have an important role in motion control applications in the low and medium power range (e.g., robotics and machine tool drives). The desired features of PMSMs are fast dynamical response, high torque to weight ratio and dependence of the torque on one component of the current in a suitable reference frame. To achieve fast four quadrant operation, smooth starting and acceleration, the field oriented control (FOC), or vector control, is used in the design of the PMSM drive. Electromechanical parameter variations are a well-recognized problem in electric drive systems and to overcome this drawback a possible solution is presented in this talk, where a field oriented control system based on discrete time variable structure control (DTVSC) is designed. The introduction of DTVSC ensures robustness with respect to disturbances and model uncertainties and allows to take directly into account the issue of control law digitalization providing higher performance in embedded systems for real-time applications.