Sensorless Control Techniques of Switched Reluctance Motor

The Switched Reluctance Motor provides a magnetless solution for the variable speed drive which allows wider temperature variation without distorting the performance and also reduces the manufacturing cost as well as process time. It offers high efficiency in compact size. The wide constant power region makes it most suitable for the electric vehicle application. New trends in technology demand energy efficiency and compact electric motor drive all over the world which results in an increase in demand for the SRM drive.

Unfortunately, SRM can not work with direct supply, neither with ac supply like Induction Motor, nor with dc supply like a DC Motor. It needs a power electronics converter with an accurate rotor positioning system to switch the phase excitation on time. These position sensors are mounted on the shaft of the motor which increases the cost and overall size of the motor and also reduces the reliability of the drive. Thus, to eliminate the requirement of position sensor from the SRM drive is becoming a prime interest of many researchers working in the development of the switched reluctance motor. This course covers fundamentals of the sensorless techniques of the SRM Drive.

Numbers of sensorless techniques for the SRM drive have been published in the last decade. All the techniques use some basic principle of sensorless control and work around it with some modification according to requirements. This course covers two basic principles of the sensorless control techniques in detail. First is flux-linkage based sensorless operation and second is current gradient sensorless method. Working, advantages and limitations of several other sensorless control techniques are also explained in this course.

This course is designed for the research scholar who wants to work on sensorless control techniques of the SRM Drive.

This course will help understanding basic sensorless control techniques. It will also give ideas about how to modify or propose a new sensorless method.