In high-performance control of ac machines through variable frequency drives, the knowledge of machine parameters plays a decisive role. The accuracy with which machine parameters can be known is directly related to the time and effort put in testing and commissioning process. In the ever-demanding industrial environments, the time spent on parameter identification translates into loss of production. To reduce commissioning times, research in this direction has focused on automatizing the identification procedure without loss of accuracy. This paper reviews different lines of research adopted over the past few decades for machine parameter identification. Parameter estimation of ac machines is considered because of their widespread applications from servomechanisms to traction to aviation. The surveyed works include self-commissioning schemes that have become an integral part and salient feature of modern electric drives. This feature enables the drives to automatically identify machine parameters and tune the control loops.

This paper proposes a standstill method for the identification of the magnetic model of synchronous reluctance motors (SyRMs). The saturation and cross-saturation effects are properly taken into account. The motor is fed by an inverter with a short sequence of bipolar voltage pulses that are first applied on the rotor dand q-axes separately and then simultaneously on both the axes. The stator flux linkages are computed by integrating the induced voltages. Using the current and flux samples, the parameters of an algebraic magnetic model are estimated by means of linear least squares. The proposed method is robust against errors in the stator resistance and inverter voltage, due to the high test voltages (of the order of the rated voltage). The fitted model matches very well with the reference saturation characteristics, measured using a constant-speed method, and enables extrapolation outside the sample range. The method was tested with a 2.2-kW SyRM, whose shaft was uncoupled from any mechanical load, which is the most demanding condition for this method. The proposed method can be used for automatic self-commissioning of sensorless SyRM drives at standstill.

This paper proposes a sensorless control scheme for synchronous reluctance (SyR) motor drives based on the direct-flux vector control (DFVC) method. The control operates in stator-flux-oriented coordinates, using constant switching frequency. A hybrid position and speed observer is proposed, based on the combination of the active flux concept and high-frequency signal injection and demodulation. The two methods are fused together to form a unique position and speed estimate signals, with seamless transition between the two models based on reference speed. The proposed observer covers a wide speed range, from standstill operation at full load to flux weakening (FW). Furthermore, it is inherently immune from position estimation error caused by cross saturation, as proven mathematically and experimentally. The motor is operated according to the maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) law. Specific issues related to MTPA around zero torque are addressed in this paper. The proposed control technique extends the range of application of the DFVC to encoderless drives, and can be usefully adopted in those applications where both zero-speed and FW speed range operations are necessary, such as home appliances, or automotive and aerospace actuators and generators. A 2.2-kW SyR motor prototype was tested to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. Key tuning aspects are addressed in this paper.

This paper proposes a sensorless direct flux vector control scheme for synchronous reluctance motor drives. Torque is controlled at constant switching frequency, via the closed loop regulation of the stator flux linkage vector and of the current component in quadrature with it, using the stator flux oriented reference frame. A hybrid flux and position observer combines back-electromotive force (EMF) integration with pulsating voltage injection around zero speed. Around zero speed, the position observer takes advantage of injected pulsating voltage. Instead of the commonly used current demodulation, the position error feedback is extracted here at the output of the observer's flux maps, thus resulting in immunity toward the cross-saturation position error. The maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) strategy is used. A detailed analysis puts in evidence the key advantages and disadvantages related to the use of the MTPA in the sensorless control of the synchronous reluctance machine, for both the saliency-based and the back-EMF based sensorless methods. Extensive experimental results are reported for a 2.2 kW synchronous reluctance motor prototype, showing the feasibility of the proposed method. These include speed response to step and sinusoidal load disturbances at standstill, up to 121% of rated torque, and speed response tests covering the flux weakening speed region.

Sensorless control of synchronous reluctance motors relies on the knowledge of the machine current-to-flux maps. Previous work demonstrated the feasibility of sensorless identification of the flux maps, performed by exciting the machine with square-wave voltage pulses at standstill, and without the need of rotor locking. The rotor position was initially estimated and then used throughout the identification, in open-loop fashion. In some cases, rotor oscillation and eventually position drift led to stop the identification before the programmed dq current domain was covered entirely. In this paper, the rotor position is closedloop tracked during the motor commissioning to counteract the occurrence of rotor movement. The hysteresis-controlled excitation voltage is augmented with an high-frequency squarewave voltage component, and the position is tracked through demodulation of the current response to such high-frequency component. The proposed approach is experimentally verified on a 2.2 kW synchronous reluctance motor prototype. The results show that the (id,iq) commissioning domain is substantially extended, resulting in more accurate flux maps. Moreover, selftuning of the method is addressed and possible causes of error are analyzed and commented.

The rapid spread of electric vehicles is pushing for more and more compact and reliable e-axle architectures. In this scenario, the integration of the on-board battery charger with the traction drive can be a feasible way to reduce the embedded volume and number of components. Anyway, integrated chargers often present safety issues due to the absence of an isolation stage. In this work, a solution is proposed for integrating the on-board battery charger with the traction drive of road electric vehicles equipped with a 6-phase traction motor drive. The proposed charger is deeply integrated within the e-drive powertrain, to reduce the cost and volume of the e-axle with respect to non-integrated solutions, but still providing galvanic insulation, differently from all fully integrated charger in the literature. Dedicated control strategies are developed and tested for regulating the AC grid current at unitary power factor and low THD, and to avoid torque production or rotor movement during charging independently from the rotor position. Extensive simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed solution, together with a proof-of-concept validation on a commercial traction motor.