Energy Efficient Control of Electric Motors

Abstract: This paper presents development of an optimal feedback linearization control (OFLC) for interior permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machines operating in a non steady-sate operating point, i.e., varying torque and speed, to achieve precision tracking performance and energy saving by minimizing the copper loss. An isomorphism mapping between the dq-axes phase voltages and two auxiliary control inputs over full ranges of torque and speed is established by the linearization controller using the notion of orthogonal projection. The auxiliary control inputs are defined to be exclusively responsible for torque generation and power consumption. Subsequently, an analytical solution for the optimal-linearization control is derived in a closed-form by applying the Hamiltonian of optimal control theory in conjunction with the Pontryagin's minimum principle. The optimal controller takes the maximum voltage limit and torque tracking constraint into account while maximizing machine efficiency for non-constant operational load torque and speed. Unlike the convectional quadratic regulator-based control of electric motors, the proposed control approach does not rely on steady-state operation conditions and hence it is suitable for such applications as electric vehicles and robotics.