In this article, a fixed-time observer-based sliding-mode control strategy is proposed for a permanent-magnet synchronous motor. Both the current regulation loop (inner loop) and the speed-tracking loop (outer loop) are controlled by the designed fixed-time convergence sliding-mode controller, improving the control performance and guaranteeing the convergence in a fixed-time manner. To guarantee the robustness of the proposed control algorithm, an observer is constructed to estimate and attenuate the parameter uncertainties and load disturbance in the outer loop. The fixed-time convergence of the inner and outer loop error systems are proved. Moreover, a parameter tuning method of the designed controller is proposed to provide guidance for practical applications. Finally, experiments are conducted by using three different control schemes, that is, PI control, super-twisting sliding-mode control, and the controller designed in this article, the results of which show the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed control scheme.

In this article, a nonlinear high-gain observer (NHGO)-based second-order sliding mode (SOSM) control strategy is proposed for the three-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) converter. This controller applies the advanced SOSM algorithm both in the voltage regulation loop and in the power tracking loop, which provides a fast dynamic for the dc-link voltage, and also assures a good steady-state behavior for the NPC converter. Additionally, an NHGO technique is implemented in the voltage regulator combining with the SOSM algorithm. The conventional observer-based controllers suffer from the destructive effects of measurement noise, and it can only be addressed by diminishing the observer gain, which sacrifices the observer property. The NHGO technique adopts a time varying gain, that is, high gain in transient while low gain in steady state, which minimizes the adverse influence of measurement noise. The tuning method of the proposed NHGO-based SOSM controller is given to simplify the implementation process. Finally, the simulation and experimental results of the proposed control scheme for the NPC converter are given and compared with the conventional PI controller as well as the well-known linear extended state observer-based control method, which validates the feasibility and superiority of the proposed controller.

Both the proportional-integral (PI) controller and the super-twisting algorithm (STA) are attractive alternatives to effectively govern power converters. The PI controller is smooth but is less robust to disturbances, while the STA exhibits good robustness with respect to disturbances but suffers from the negative effect of chattering when some high control gains are required in actual applications. To combine the advantages of both controllers, this paper explores a novel observer-based varying exponent gain STA control scheme for the three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) converter. By introducing a time-varying exponent gain into the STA, the proposed novel varying exponent gain STA combines the attractive traits of the PI controller (smooth control input) and the STA (robustness and fast dynamic response) simultaneously. In this sense, the controller exhibits high performance in steady state as well as transient and provides strong robustness with respect to disturbances. In addition to the new controller, a higher-order sliding mode observer is integrated into the control scheme to compensate the disturbances and further enhance the disturbances rejection ability of the system. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control method is confirmed by comparing its results with the PI controller and the STA based on a set of experiments.

In this article, a two-stage control scheme consisting of an adaptive-gain second-order sliding mode (SOSM) controller and a switched high-gain observer (HGO) is proposed for the three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) converter. The adaptive-gain SOSM control method is applied both in the voltage regulation loop and instantaneous power tracking loop, thus, the boundary of the disturbance derivative does not need to be known a priori . Compared with the fixed-gain SOSM, it provides a faster dynamic and a better steady-state response for the NPC converter. On the other hand, the conventional disturbance compensation observer used in the power system suffers from the adverse effects of measurement noise, which limits the performance of the observer. A switched HGO is combined with the adaptive-gain SOSM controller in the voltage regulation loop to address this issue. By using a switched observer gain, the switched HGO greatly diminishes the performance degradation induced by the inevitable measurement noise. Finally, several experiments between the representative extended state observer-based SOSM control scheme and the proposed control method are carried out for a comparison. The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

This article explores a novel variable-gain super-twisting observer (VGSTO)-based fixed-time sliding mode control (FTSMC) method for the dc-link voltage control of three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) active front-end (AFE) converters. Among the literature review, the super-twisting observer is an attractive solution for disturbance estimation. However, its convergence velocity is limited when the trajectories are far away from the origin. To overcome this drawback, a novel VGSTO is proposed in this work, whose innovation lies in adopting dynamically adapted exponent coefficients in the conventional super-twisting observer; thus, it turns into a linear observer outside a ball around the origin, which increases the convergence rate of conventional super-twisting observer, and the disturbance rejection ability is enhanced significantly. In addition, an FTSMC is designed for the NPC converter and its settling time is independent of the initial states, which breaks through the limitation of the traditional finite-time sliding mode controllers and assures the dynamic performance of the NPC converter. The proposed control scheme is assessed and compared with other representative observer-based sliding mode control methods based on a three-level NPC AFE converter test bench, and the experimental results verify its feasibility and effectiveness.

In this paper, a generalized proportional integral observer (GPIO)-based finite-time sliding mode control scheme is proposed to enhance the convergence rate and disturbance rejection capacity of the grid-connected three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) converter. Firstly, a generalized super-twisting algorithm (GSTA) is designed in the voltage regulation loop and the instantaneous power loop of the NPC converter. Compared with the conventional super-twisting algorithm (STA), this method provides a faster convergence speed while the system trajectories are far from the origin, which is applied to the NPC converter to improve its dynamic performance and robustness. Additionally, by introducing a generalized proportional integral observer (GPIO) combined with the GSTA in the voltage regulation loop, the unknown time-varying disturbances can be rejected effectively. The stability of the proposed control scheme is proved. Finally, a set of comparative experiments between the proposed controller and the classic STA-based method have been carried out based on a three-level NPC converter prototype, and the results confirmed the efficacy of the proposed control strategy.