Despite the ability of matrix converters (MCs) to generate a higher number of voltage vectors compared with standard voltage-source inverters, most of the applications reported in the literature utilize only those having larger amplitudes. This paper investigates the use of MC input voltages with different amplitudes in order to reduce the inherent torque ripple that appears when direct torque control (DTC) is used to drive ac machines, particularly permanent-magnet synchronous motors, as its stator inductance is typically half of that of an induction machine of similar ratings. Utilizing a wider range of input voltage vectors for the MC, but not using the rotating vectors, a new lookup table that distinguishes between small and large torque errors is developed, leading to an enhanced MC-fed DTC. The enhancement enables a reduction in the electromagnetic torque ripple and output-current total harmonic distortion. Furthermore, the proposed control strategy improves the MC voltage transfer ratio up to 86.6% compared with 50% achieved by the conventional DTC using MCs at the expense, however, of slightly decreasing the input power factor control capability. The proposed enhanced MC DTC was tested experimentally, and results comparing its performance with MC DTC using an adapted lookup table are shown.

In this paper, a novel robust torque control strategy for permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance machine drives applied to electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles is presented. Conventional control techniques can highly depend on machine electrical parameters, leading to poor regulation under electrical parameters deviations or, in more serious cases, instabilities. Additionally, machine control can be lost if field weakening is not properly controlled and, as a consequence, uncontrolled regeneration is produced. Thus, advanced control techniques are desirable to guarantee electric vehicle drive controllability in the whole speed/torque operation range and during the whole propulsion system lifetime. In order to achieve these goals, a combination of a robust second-order current-based sliding mode control and a look-up table/voltage constraint tracking based hybrid field weakening control is proposed, improving the overall control algorithm robustness under parameter deviations. The proposed strategy has been validated experimentally in a full-scale automotive test bench (51-kW prototype) for being further implemented in real hybrid and electric vehicles.

Investigations were carried out on a novel direct torque control system, which not only reduces the undesirable torque ripple by up to 98% by means of introducing a modulation between the selected active state and a zero state, but also maintains constant switching frequency. Additionally, this two-state modulator is fuzzy adaptive and may be applied to any induction motor. Simulation and the results of experiment illustrate the operation and performance of the proposed fuzzy-logic-based controller.

High-frequency injection (HFI) is an alternative method to estimate permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) rotor position using magnetic saliency. Once the maximum fundamental electrical frequency and the power converter switching frequency are set, the HFI voltage amplitude tuning is generally based on trial and error. This paper proposes a methodology to select the appropriate high-frequency signal injection voltage amplitude for rotor position estimation. The technique is based on an analytical model taking into account the noise in the voltage supply to derive the resulting currents containing the information on the rotor position. This model allows setting the injection voltage amplitude that leads to the maximum acceptable position error for a given signal-to-noise ratio and a speed range. The approach is validated with the analytical and the global drive models through extensive simulations. Experimental results on a 1-kW PMSM drive confirm the interest of the proposed solution.

A fixed switching period sliding mode control (SMC) for permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) is presented. The aim of this paper is to design an SMC that improves the traditional PI-based field-oriented control transient response, as well as to reduce the switching frequency variations of the direct torque control. Such SMC requires a decoupling method of the control actions, which also brings constant switching functions slopes. These constant slopes allow to calculate the required hysteresis band value to control the switching frequency. The digital implementation degrades the performance of the hysteresis comparator, and as a consequence, the previously calculated band becomes inaccurate to regulate the switching frequency. In order to recover the analogue hysteresis band comparator performance, a predictive algorithm is proposed. Finally, a set of experimental results with constant switching frequency during a torque reversal and speed control tests are provided.