How to develop a low-cost motor controller

Recently, many studies on mechatronics experiment system are conducted. In this paper, unique educational experiment systems are proposed for undergraduate students to be able to efficiently learn basic mechatronics techniques. The first system is used to learn input/output port operations, periodically LED lights ON/OFF and a stepping motor control. The second system is effective to learn A/D conversion for several sensor information, D/A conversion for DC motor control and a PID control method. Also, the third system is designed by using a robot arm with 4-DOFs to learn PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control of a DC motor and force control of an end-effector. Further, the fourth system is designed using multiple mobile robots in which a subsumption control architecture is incorporated. Each of the systems individually has an important factor which students should acquire, so that it is expected that the combination will yield promising results. The effectiveness of the proposed systems is evaluated through experimental lectures in the department of mechanical engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Yamaguchi.

Development and performance assessment of a DC electric variable-rate controller for use on grain drills

Summary form only given, as follows. The presentation will go over motor drive fundamentals including dc motor control and ac induction motor control. In general, the motor drive includes two control loops: (1) speed and (2) current. The speed loop normally deals with field and torque commands, and the current loop is to control the instantaneous armature current. Such a general motor drive control concept is applicable to both dc and ac motors. With understanding of dc motor speed control, the rationale for the need of ac motor vector control will be derived. Different vector control methods will be explained using the decoupled equivalent circuits. In terms of current control, both dc and ac motors need the so-called pulse-width-modulated (PWM) converters or inverters to regulate the current. Different PWM techniques will be explained in this presentation. Finally the PWM inverter related motor drive issues will be addressed.

The DC motors an outstanding portion of apparatus in automotive and automation industrial applications requiring variable speed and load characteristics due to its ease of controllability. Creating an interface control system for multi DC motor drive operations with centralized speed control, from small-scale models to large industrial applications much demand. By using Lab VIEW (laboratory virtual instrument engineering workbench) as the motor controller, can control a DC motor for multiple purposes using single software environment. The aim of this paper is to propose the centralized speed control of DC motor using Lab VIEW. Here, the Lab VIEW is used for simulating the motor, whereas the input armature voltage of the DC motor is controlled using a virtual Knob in Lab VIEW software. The hardware part of the system (DC motor) and the software (in personal computer) are interfaced using a data acquisition card (DAQ) -Model PCI- 6024E. The voltage and Speed response is obtained using LABVIEW software. Using this software, group of motors’ speed can be controlled from different location using remote telemetry. The propose work also focuses on controlling the speed of the individual DC motor using PWM scheme (Duty cycle based Square wave generation) and DAQ. Help of the DAQ along with Lab VIEW front panel window, the DC motor speed and directions can be change easily in remote way. In order to test the proposed system the laboratory model for an 80W DC motor group (multi drive) is developed for different angular displacements and directions of the motor. The simulation model and experimental results conforms the advantages and robustness of the proposed centralized speed control.

DC motors continue to play a fundamental role in numerous industrial, automotive, and commercial applications, due to their simple construction and ability to deliver accurate speed and torque control. In response to increasingly complex performance demands, broad control techniques were developed aiming at enhancing the adaptability and overall performance of DC motors under different operational conditions. This study provides critical overview of both classical, advanced and modern control strategies employed for DC motor systems. Classical controllers, such as the family of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers are widely employed due to their simplicity and reliable solutions for many tasks. Yet, advanced approaches including fuzzy logic, adaptive control and model predictive control (MPC) offer better and robust performance under load disturbances, nonlinearity, and dynamic uncertainties. The study also considers the role of power electronic components, such as H-bridge circuits in supporting efficient, precise and flexible regulation. This work aims to provide a critical appraisal of the operational strengths, inherent constraints, and implementation considerations of the key DC motor control techniques. Keywords: DC motors, control methodologies, PID control, advanced control, H-bridge, motor control systems, classical control, adaptive control.

The article considers the problem of the DC motors control that are often used in many electric drive systems. Due to the progress of industrial electronics and technology it has become possible to develop more efficient motor control circuits. The conventional speed control methods commit power losses in the system, which can be minimized by using the power electronics strategy. There is considered the thyristor control of DC motors of the ship electric drive. The DC motor control systems are described and simulation models in the MATLAB Simulink program are presented. The thyristor methods for controlling a DC motor speed are listed: single-phase semi-controlled converter (for motors with power up to 15 kW); single-phase drive with a controlled converter (available to operate in two quadrants); three-phase semi-controlled converter; three-phase controlled converter; single-phase reverse converter realized by connecting two single-phase converters (ensuring multi-mode operation); three-phase reverse converter realized as a single-phase converter. The mechanical characteristic of a DC motor was illustrated when the voltage supplied to the armature winding changed. It has been stated that control of the armature voltage is more favorable for speeds below the rated speed; flow control is preferable for speeds above the nominal speed. It has been inferred that speed control by means of power electronics devices provides large energy savings, in contrast to the traditional speed control methods, since the traditional methods experience significant energy losses.

In this paper, a low-voltage and high-current brushless DC motor controller is designed according to the requirements of low-voltage input and large-load output for the motor drive system of the aviation hydraulic electric pump. This paper focuses on the design method of a double closed-loop PI controller parameters, expounds a new bus bar inverter structure for high-current drives, in order to meet the requirements of long-term stable operation, a high-efficiency heat dissipation structure is designed to ensure the power MOS tube can also run stably for a long time under more severe working conditions.

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are becoming an increasingly popular motor of choice for low powered vehicles such as mopeds, power assisted bicycles, mobility scooters, and in this reported application, motorised mountain boards. With rapid developments in technology, high energy density batteries such as Lithium-ion Polymer batteries are becoming more affordable and highly suitable for such vehicles due to the superior charge rate and light weight of the lithium chemistry batteries. This combined with the high power, light weight, and low cost BLDC motor results in the BLDC motor being a very favourable solution over an internal combustion engine for low power vehicles with power requirements of up to 7kW. A BLDC motor controller was developed specifically for the motorised mountain board application. The motor controller is a sensored BLDC motor controller which takes inputs from Hall Effect sensors to determine the rotor position. Many other sensors are used to monitor the variables that are critical to the operation of the motor controller such as the motor phase current, battery voltage, motor temperature, and transistor temperature. The reported system is further enhanced by several additional features such as output for an LCD screen, regenerative braking, timing advance, cruise control, and soft start functions. These topics are discussed briefly in this paper.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">A program is underway to develop an advanced DC motor controller for use on electric vehicles. This program has now completed the first phase where a functional model was designed, fabricated, and tested. A follow-on phase will extend the development to improve and expand the system in preparation for field tests. The system under development is a self-contained, high efficiency, high frequency, pulse-width-modulated motor controller which is low in weight and cost. Its design reduces audible noise and extends battery life by reduction of battery and motor ripple currents.</div>

In Brushless DC (BLDC) motors, commutation is done externally by using a three phase inverter and therefore need more complex control algorithm as compared to brushed DC motors. BLDC motors are found to be the most suitable actuator for high performance servo drive used in robotics, industrial automation, automobiles, aerospace etc. The motor controller must adapt to the time varying motor characteristics and maintain the performance in its long service life. The controller also should be robust against external disturbances like load disturbances, measurement noise etc. This paper presents the design of robust H ∞ speed controller for BLDC servo drive to address the problems mentioned above. The H ∞ speed controller is designed and simulations are carried out in MATLAB/SIMULINK and its performance is compared with a PI controller.

With the enlargement of the application of brush less DC motor, it puts forward higher request to the stability and the precision of control system. This paper uses STM32F103 as the controller to design double closed-loop control system of brush less DC motor, and introduces the hardware structure and software process of the system. The STM32F103 improves the efficiency of the driver in the form of internal hardware cascade, which improves the efficiency of the driver. The speed loop adopt the PI control algorithm of integral separation, current loop adopt the traditional PID algorithm. The experimental results show that the system has characteristics of rapid response, small overshoots and good stability.

Eddy dynamometer is widely used in drive motor and ICE's character testing, in which it can't be loaded large torque under lower speed, and can't drag testing motor, and its dynamic response is weak .Also it changes mechanical energy to heat energy, which wastes energy resource. In this paper, a new kind of electric dynamometer based on separate-excited DC generator is introduced to overcome these shortcomings, which realizes large load torque under lower speed, and can measure motor's characters in four quadrants, and has quick dynamic response ability. The electric dynamometer can work in steady speed mode, steady torque mode and steady power mode. It can not only measure motor steady character, but also dynamic character. In this paper, the whole system hardware framework and software will be introduced. DC motor's control method is introduced in detail. At last, experiment results will be shown on.

Much work have been done lately to develop complex motor control systems. However they always rely on a physical drive/motor/encoder setup for experimental results. This paper presents a hardware DC motor emulator that can be synthesized to FPGAs. The emulator is intended to replace an actual DC motor during the development phase of motor controllers. A torque based input is required and incremental encoder output is provided, so this model can replace both the DC motor, and its power driver without modifications to the motor control system. The proposed emulator is able to reach a clock frequency of hundreds of megahertz and uses very few logic resources in current FPGA technologies. The hardware can be parameterized at synthesis time to make the model suitable for specific needs.

This research proposes a training set of digital image processing using LabVIEW for object inspection topic. The collection consists of a conveyor set, digital camera, a robot arm, a training book, and 12 VDO clips. The conveyor base and frame are elaborately created by a 3D printer with PLA plastic. The conveyor which rotates circularly is driven by a dc motor. It is graphically controlled by LabVIEW, which interfaces with a microcontroller board and dc motor. A robot arm operates as a rejecting arm, pushing an unwanted object away from the conveyor. The inspection process employs a real-time USB camera and infrared light sensors incorporating a digital image processing algorithm. Additionally, the training book comprises of 12 chapters which match with 12 VDO clips combined as a learning set. A batch of VDO clips is published online through the YouTube channel. Content examples are color detection, object shape classification, motor control, reject arm control, and water level inspection. Details of each chapter are apparatus preparation, the graphically programming process, and GUI design. The 12 VDO clips are also added to the training package for self-study. A compact size and easiness to replicate and carry of conveyor set are the advantages of the training set. The training package was evaluated by 6 expert lecturers from the department of Teacher Training in Electrical Engineering, KMUTNB, with an average value of 4.30 from 5. The training set also is assessed by 26 students from the senior class. Finally, the evaluated results show that the training set can improve student's enthusiasm, and easy understanding and serve as encouragement.

Design and Analysis of Motorized Personal Transporter