Sensorless Scheme for Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors with a Wide Speed Control Range

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) have higher torque and superior output power per volume than other types of AC motors. They are commonly used for applications that require a large output power and a wide range of speed. For precise control of PMSMs, knowing the accurate position of the rotor is essential, and normally position sensors such as a resolver or an encoder are employed. On the other hand, the position sensors make the driving system expensive and unstable if the attached sensor malfunctions. Therefore, sensorless algorithms are widely researched nowadays, to reduce the cost and cope with sensor failure. This paper proposes a sensorless algorithm that can be applied to a wide range of speed. The proposed method features a robust operation at low-speed as well as high-speed ranges by employing a gain adjustment scheme and intermittent voltage pulse injection method. In the proposed scheme the position estimation gain is tuned by a closed loop manner to have stable operation in tough driving environment. The proposed algorithm is fully verified by various experiments done with a 1 kW outer rotor-type PMSM.