Nonlinear Deadbeat Current Control of a Switched Reluctance Motor

Abstract

High performance current control is critical to the success of the switched reluctance motor (SRM). Yet high motor phase nonlinearities in the SRM place extra burden on the current controller, rendering it the weakest link in SRM control. In contrast to linear motor control techniques that respond to current error, the deadbeat controller calculates the control voltage by the current command, phase current, rotor position and applied phase voltage. The deadbeat controller has demonstrated superior response in three-phase inverter current control, PM motor current control, and other relatively linear control applications. This study will investigate the viability and performance of a deadbeat controller for the highly nonlinear SRM. The need for an accurate deadbeat control model first motivates the investigation of experimental inductance measurement techniques. A deadbeat control law is then proposed through multiple revisions to demonstrate the benefit of the numerical method chosen to derive the controller and a current predictor that accounts for processor latency and PWM delay. The practical problems of loop delay, feedback noise, feedback filtering, and deadbeat controller parameter sensitivity are investigated by linear analysis, simulation, experimental implementation and nonlinear model analysis. Simulation and implementation verify deadbeat performance and various measures of transient performance are presented. To address the problem of SRM model error the study ends with a brief discussion of adaptive deadbeat control modifications for possible future research.