A modular stator switched reluctance motor (SRM) for fault tolerant drive systems is proposed. Owing to the particular construction of the stator there is no mutual coupling between adjacent phases. Hence, the motor can work also when a part of the coils is faulted and the faulted modules can be replaced without uncoupling the machine from the load or gearbox. The sizing particularities are presented and the mathematical model of the motor is developed. The results obtained via finite element analysis are compared with the analytical ones, and with that resulting after testing the constructed laboratory model. All these prove that the proposed SRM can be used in safety–critical drives.

The chapter focuses on presenting a detailed step-by-step workflow for theoretical and practical approach of Li-ion battery electric parameter identification. Correct and precise information about the electric parameters of the batteries allows defining several types of simulation approaches. Increasing the complexity of these approaches requires more and more identified parameters and by this more complicated hardware to fulfill the identification process itself. However, the level of complexity must be justified by the need of accuracy as well as the compromise of labor, simulation power and time. In this chapter, several simulation complexity levels are presented via theory and then tested via simulations compared with actual measurements. A proper and well-done analysis of these models helps the future reader to decide whether he will use a complex model, function of the need of accuracy, simulation power and time. The compromise will be highlighted by comparing the error of different approaches compared to actual laboratory measurements. Over all, the chapter will be a gathered guideline for identification, modeling and testing of batteries, ready to be implemented both in simulation and in practical experiments.

The present paper proposes a genuine, simple to implement, robust and reliable method for current sensors fault detection and compensation used for 3-phase inverters. Its functionality is based on an algorithm programed into a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) as general controller. Usually, 3-phase inverters are controlled using field oriented control (FOC) which is generally triggered to sample the measured currents on the established switching frequency. As the latter is much smaller than the base clock of the FPGA, this allows hundreds of free time samples to perform other calculations in-between two FOC samplings. In this paper, a method that uses these free and unused time samples is presented. This method performs calculations for fault detection and compensation ensuring that at each new FOC sampling, this will receive the correct current data to reach continuous operation despite faults. The interleaving principle of the FOC with the fault detection method, as it will be proven in the paper, ensures high reliability of the complete controller diminishing the possibility of undesired or faulted readings to disturb the FOC’s calculations. The fault detection philosophy is based on continuous comparison of the instantaneous measured currents (sensor’s response) against reference values. The experimental results presented in the paper prove reliable operational performances of the method in both steady state and transient conditions. The added value of the paper consists in its genuine approach to handle the fault detection and compensation in-between two PWM ticks, ensuring that no faulted measurements can reach the control unit. This added value is based on functionality divided on several functions triggered by an internal generated clock synchronizing and handshaking their operations towards one goal: fault detection and compensation.

The switched reluctance motor (SRM) has inherently high level of fault tolerance. However despite of its high robustness and reliability it can face windings and bearings faults. The faults can cause costly downtimes in industrial environment, or they can bring about more severe consequences in safety critical applications. Therefore the detection of the faults in their incipient phase and the ability to tolerate them is a very important requirement for the electrical drive systems used in such applications. The paper deals with the most important faults of the SRMs, their effects on the machine performances and their detection. Also a reconfigurable fault tolerant control system for the SRMs is proposed, which is able to detect diverse winding faults and to mask these faults by imposing increased currents in the healthy remained coils of the machine. The fault detection capability and the correct reconfiguration of the proposed control system are proved by laboratory tests.

The present paper offers a complete, flexible and adaptable solution for electric vehicles industrial developers to test their designs from all the perspectives required by a V-mode development approach. Construction of high accuracy mechanical and electrical real-time digital-twin models fuzzing dedicated software was proven to be the proper solution to reach results confirmed by actual measurements. Methods for transitioning from real-time simulations to emulations or hardware in the loop testing are presented in detail. The digital-twin solution performing real-time simulations are considered to be the virtual test facility presented in the paper. For actual validation, preliminary the battery is studied via hardware emulation and hardware testing. The same approach is then applied to the vehicle motor together with its electronics and control. The added value of the paper is brought by several aspects such as the real-time co-simulation, performed using National Instruments VeriStand software aggregator, the methods of virtual, emulation and hardware testing of the same assemblies, all being confirmed by comparative analysis. The increased precision obtained, proved by actual measurements, estimates the value and usefulness of this study for those working in electric vehicles development. The content of the paper is an extended genuine study giving hands-on solutions for different types of approaches when it comes to developing and testing mechanical or electrical assemblies. The paper gives a theoretical background pushed to the application side confirmed by actual laboratory testing.

This paper presents an overview and the results of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based real-time simulation of a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) drive system, designed for light EV applications. The analysis is ran on a Kintex-7 FPGA using an R series board from National Instruments. The real time simulation model is designed in LabVIEW FPGA and uploaded on the R series board to perform accurate and high speed simulations of the machine. The advanced SRM hybrid model includes look-up tables and mathematical equations, describing the real model with high fidelity. The results of the analysis are validated by results based on offline simulation which proves the benefits of such real-time simulations and also validates the performances of the machine.