SIMULATION RESEARCH ON OPTIMIZATION OF PERMANENT MAGNET

SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR SENSORLESS VECTOR CONTROL BASED ON

MRAS
!2 ! 3
WEI-HUA U , , ZI-YING CHEN , WEN-PING CA0

1 School of Electrical Engineering and Information, Jinan University, Zhuhai 519070, China

2School of Electric Power, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
3 Qingyuan Power Supply Bureau, Guangdong Power Grid Corporation, Qingyuan 511500, China

E-MAIL: liweihuaI15@163.com

Abstract: sensorless control system has attracted widespread attention

In view of the sensorless control technology being of great
significance for solving some issues of the permanent magnet
synchronous motor control system such as high cost, poor
reliability and maintenance difficulties, this paper conducts an
in-depth simulation research on the optimization of
MRAS-based permanent magnet synchronous motor
sensorless vector control. Firstly analyze the mathematical
model of the permanent magnet synchronous motor, vector
control theory and the basic principle of MRAS, then use
MATLAB / Simulink platform to establish the optimization
simulation model of the MRAS-based permanent magnet
synchronous motor sensorless vector control on the basis of
the theoretical system optimization based on MRAS, finally
make simulation experiments and analyze overall system
performances. The simulation results show that
optimization scheme can significantly improve the system
performances, though it has some drawbacks at the same time.
Keywords:
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor; Vector Control;
MRAS; Sensorless; Simulation Research
1. Introduction
Permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) has
advantages such as small size, light weight, fast response
and high efficiency [1], and it has been widely used in
aviation and aerospace, national defense, industrial and
agricultural production and various fields of the daily life
with the development of power electronics and control
technology, and vector control has also become the core
control strategy of PMSM. Traditional PMSM vector
control system detects the motor speed by speed sensors to
achieve the closed-loop control of motor speed, but the
introduction of the speed sensors brings higher system cost,
difficulties in installation and maintenance and poor system
reliability. Therefore, in recent years, the position and speed
and become a hot research topic at home and abroad.
The key of the sensorless vector control is the correct
speed estimation, and the model reference adaptive system
(MRAS) is a relatively mature speed identification method.
the
MRAS can guarantee the system stability and make the
error signal tend to zero through the design of adaptive
parameter adjustment law, then the speed estimated would
be accurate [2]. At present, many experts and scholars have
conducted research on the MRAS-based PMSM sensorless
control system and have made certain research findings.
The literature [3] studies the use of the MRAS algorithm in
the low-speed PMSM sensorless speed control system; the
literatures [4], [5], [6], [7] give the speed identification
the
scheme of PMSM vector control system based on MRAS
and thus establish the sensorless vector control system; the
literature [8] gives the speed identification scheme of
PMSM direct torque control system based on MRAS and
achieves the sensorless control of the system; the literatures
[9], [10], [11] introduce the sliding mode control to MRAS
and propose the speed identification method of PMSM
based on sliding mode MRAS so as to improve the
robustness of the system.
On the basis of the theoretical optimization of the
MRAS-based PMSM sensorless vector control, this paper
mainly uses MATLAB 1 Simulink platform to establish the
optimization simulation model of the system, makes related
simulation experiments and analyzes overall system
performances to explore the validity of the optimization
scheme and the impacts on the system.
2. Analysis of theoretical principles
2. 1. Mathematical model ofPMSM
In order to establish the mathematical model ofPMSM,

978-1-4673-4685-6112/$31.00 2012 IEEE 350

firstly make the following assumptions: linear magnetic
circuit; completely symmetrical three-phase windings;
ignoring the cogging; excluding core loss [12]. According
to the assumptions above, establish the mathematical model
of PMSM in the d, q-axis rotating coordinate system in a
series of equations, including flux, voltage, mechanical
motion and torque.
Flux equation:
appropriate adaptive law to adjust the adjustable model
parameters and make control object track the reference
mode. The adaptive law of the speed estimation can be got
by stability principle, and the asymptotic convergence of
the system can be guaranteed by Popov Super Stability
[13].
The block diagram of MRAS is as follows:
Reference model

(1)
In above formula, lfj. is the flux generated by magnetic
pole and stator.
Voltage equation:
{ Ud : R,id + Plf/d - OJ,.lf/"

Ud - R,zq + plf/q +OJ,lf/d

Adaptive law
(2)
Tn above fonnula, R, is the phase resistance of stator
winding, Wr is the electrical angular velocity of rotor.
Fig. 1 Block diagram of MRAS
Mechanical motion equation:
(3) 3. Sensorless optimization ofPMSM based on MRAS
In above formula, Qr= wr/Pn is the mechanical angular
velocity of PMSM, pn is the pole-pairs number of rotor. 3.1. Reference model and adjustable model of MRAS
Torque equation:
T = ( lj/d id -Ij/qiq)= ,(lj/Jq +(Ld - Lq)id iq) PMSM mathematical model shows that the current
(4)
model is related to the motor speed, so we can chose
PMSM id
2.2. = 0 vector control
PMSM itself as reference model while use current model as
adjustable model, then use the parallel structure to identity
the motor speed.
Among PMSM vector control, id = 0 control is the
According to the mathematical model of PMSM in the

[. +_II/I. . =[- {O .[. +_.1///. ] +_[ +_.R.'I_I/_I.]

simplest and the most widely used method. When the
d, q-axis coordinate system, the current model of the stator
direct-axis component of the stator armature current of
can be described as:
PMSM is always equal to 0 in the control process, the
d ' 1 Vd
PMSM voltage can be simplified as:

i i
Id L Id
L L L
_

{Ud = -OJrlj/q dt L
q - _ V
= R,iq + plj/q + (j}rlj/ L lj lj (6)
Ud d (5) {O e

By id = 0 vector control method, the speed can be Process as follows:

.' . If// ., . R,lf/I
estimated after the PI regulator just using the error signal of
ld = Id + -,I" = I", Vd = Vd + --, V,, = V"
q-axis between the estimated current and the actual current. L L
It makes the whole system much simpler. Thus, the Then the MRAS reference model of PMSM can be

lii';'l=[-i' R, lli';l+lV';l
simulation research is conducted under the id = 0 vector written as:
control method. OJ

-
,

dt q (q L Vq'
2.3. Basic principle of MRAS -OJ ----!..-

, L (7)
The MRAS parallel adjustable model of PMSM can be

R
The main idea of MRAS is using the equation
containing parameters to be estimated as the adjustable written as:

:/;'l l=[.i -{O llll+ I'l l

model while using the equation not containing unknown
parameters as the reference model. These two models have
outputs with the same physical meaning and they work at q -(0 ---L q q
the same time, so their output error can constitute , L (8)

351
3.2. Adaptive law of MRAS The block diagram of MRAS speed estimation system
using the stator current vector is as follows:
Define generalized error: i* - F" make subtraction e =

Reference motor model

between formula (7) and (8) then we can get as follows:
pe= Ae _(A" - A)i" i,lirL-----.J

.* [ ..**' [ . [ .**
(9)
In above formula:
. .

1
'd ' 'd" ' * ' f', 'd - 'd
1 = 1 = "/\ '
e=1 -1 = f',
-/\

f',
- .

The formula (9) can be written as standard equation of (),/'

the state of the forward link: Fig. 2 Block diagram of the MRAS speed estimation
{pe=Ae-BfW system using the stator current vector
v=Ce (10) Intermediate parameters are substituted in the speed
identification formula (11) then the following formula can
In above formula:

}
be obtained:

Jo
IR -
- o l -ll ll}Aq -lid
J= K'rf' "A - If/r (l.q -l'Aq ) K'I"A "A - If/r (.Iq -I'Aq )
_----.. ())
ll}q -lid
l
J (O\)
A= ,B' = [,W = (m;-m,JJi',J = =[ r+ p +0
, o ,c
a i
L T
BA
(13)
, _
L The estimated position angle of the rotor is the

to
According to Popov Super Stability Theorem, if the integral of the estimated rotational speed:
following conditions are met [14]:
(1)Transfer matrix H (s) C(sf - Ar! must be a strictly = rr = ofdt
(14)
positive real matrix;
The speed identification formula (13) and the position
(2) ry(O,t,,) any finite positive angle estimation formula (14) give the estimation methods
number. based on MRAS to obtain the rotor speed and position
)e(t)=O
Then , in other words, the model reference angle of PMSM, so that sensorless control and optimization
adaptive system is asymptotically stable. ofPMSM can be achieved.
The adaptive law of the MRAS speed estimation
system can be obtained through the converse solution of 3.3. PMSM sensorless vector control system based on
Popov integral inequality. MRAS
Speed identification algorithm:
+
of = f() kj(i;i; - i,>,;)dr k2(i,i,; - iX) + a/'(O) On the basis of id 0 PMSM vector control system,
=

(11) introduce a MRAS system to constitute a PMSM sensorless

The formula (11) can be written in the form of a PI vector control system and achieve the optimization of the

kA
controller as follows: MRAS-based PMSM sensorless vector control.

OJA (kA + ) . [; ,
The block diagram of the whole control system is
_
= P
P
I1J

(12)
shown in Fig.3.

Tn above formula: 4. Simulation and results analysis

rJ'A .' 'A " 'A . "A "A - Ij/f ( . 'A)
em = e l =
I II I
l
,.
Xl
,.
= l
,.
l
,.
SIn a
,.
= l l -l l
d q q d
L
l
q
-l
q
Tn order to explore the validity, impacts and defects of the
The formula (12) shows that li", is related to the actual optimization scheme based on MRAS, add MRAS to id 0 =

stator current vector t;, the estimated stator current vector PMSM vector control system and establish the simulation
t; and the angle a,. The estimated speed of is estimated model of the MRAS-based PMSM sensorless vector control
system in MATLAB / Simulink according to the
by li", after the regulation of the PI regulator and it will
mathematical model and MRAS optimization strategy, then
make the output of the adjustable model t; approach the make related simulation experiments to analyze the
output of the reference model <. Making the error lim tend performances of control system by simulation results.
to zero will also make the estimated speed of constantly The parameters of PMSM model are as in Table 1.
approach the actual speed OJ and get the true value [15].

352
 MRAS

Fig. 5 MRAS simulation module and unfolded drawing

MRAS module is composed by two sub-modules, and
they are adjustable model module and adaptive law module.
Fig. 3 Block diagram of the MRAS-based PMSM The adjustable model module of MRAS and its unfolded
sensorless vector control system drawing are as in Fig.6, while the adaptive law module of
MRAS and its unfolded drawing are as in Fig.7.
Table 1. Simulation parameters of PMSM model
Parameter Mark Value Unit
Stator resistance Rs 2.8175 n

Ld
'-'
d-axis inductance 85 mH
q-axis inductance Lq 85 mH
Rotational inertia J 0.0008 Kgm2
Main flux coefficient F 0.175 Wb
Pole-pairs number P 4
Rated voltage U 300 V
The MATLAB simulation model of the PMSM
sensorless vector control system based on MRAS is shown Iq
in FigA. Fig. 6 MRAS adjustable model module and unfolded
drawing

> id

>iQ

> Ld

Ko
> Lq

Fig. 7 MRAS adaptive law module and unfolded drawing

4.2. Simulation results and performances analysis

Fig. 4 Simulation model of the PMSM sensorless vector
control system based on MRAS Make speed 1000r/min, and start the PMSM in the
load torque of 5N m, then suddenly increase the load

4.1. MRAS simulation module torque of the motor to ION m in 0.3s in order to verify the

robustness of the sensorless vector control system. Conduct

According to the theoretical analysis about MRAS, the
MRAS simulation module established in MATLAB /
Simulink is shown in Fig.5.
the simulation research in MATLAB / Simulink and get a
series of simulation results.
The simulation results of the actual PMSM speed, the
estimated PMSM speed and their comparison are shown in
Fig.8, Fig.9 and Fig.1o.

353
 1200

I
1----- ----
800
600 I I I
" 100 - - - - - + - - - - - ---1 - - -I------t- -
------1------
400
-----+----- I I I
___ -!- _____ ---J ____________
1 1- _____ -!- _____ _
I I
-----T-----r ---------------

0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 -0--0.1-----03------:--

t(S) t(s)

Fig. 8 The simulation result of the actual speed 11 Contrast of the actual and estimated position
Fig.
The waveform contrast of the actual rotor position and
1200
the estimated rotor position in Fig.lI shows that they are
1000 almost the same and the tracking trend situation is also
ideal. Therefore, the MRAS-based PMSM sensorless vector
I I I
___ _____ _ _____ L ____ _____ L ____ control system is able to achieve the accurate position
I
estimation of the rotor.
The torque simulation result is of PMSM is as in Fig.
200 12.
I I I
-----------r ---- -----T----
I 60
I I
I I I
- 200
0 --0.;--
1 -----;0;.2------f
0.3;-------:OL.4 ---"' 0.5c-------:c0.6 _____ l- _____ _____ _!_ _____ _!_ _____ _!_ _____
tis) I

Fig. 9 The simulation result of the estimated speed E I I I

-----r-----r -----T-----T-----T-----
1200 ,------,-- -" 30
Z

I- I I I
j I I I I
j-----I-----'-----T-----I--
20
I
1000 --- \ Ih .ill Fjj!!8I_--""""1
I
11
I I
, I I I I I
/;#
' I I I I 10 -\ - - - L - - - - - L - - - - - It)o.,,\m\;lj'll(MjII!'''''l''' I'MIN\''
1------------------------------ '\''IWt<'''*/<.kW'Pl<lJil/ki'1'''jt,lWlJ,)iJI.,, : :

t 600 /1I- - - - - - - - - - - --I == :::::::eS;ed - ----------

I I I I 0 0;-----;;0-0-, ------oCC",--;f -- - ---f0.4-;--
03;;-- - ---f05-----0.-.J6
- I I I I
t(s)

400 I : : : : Fig. 12 The torque simulation result ofPMSM

I I
B' ----- ----- ----- ----- -----------
I I
I I
0.1 02
t(5)
Fig. 10 Comparison of the actual speed and the estimated
speed
Compare the actual speed in Fig.8 and the estimated
speed in Fig.9, we can see that the estimated speed and the
actual speed of the rotor are almost the same with the
tracking trend in good condition. And the comparison in Fig.
10 shows that the error between the actual speed and the
estimated speed is quite large while the motor has just
started, but they will tend to the same once the system is
stable. Overall, in the whole operation process, the
MRAS-based PMSM sensorless vector control system can
achieve more accurate speed estimation of the motor.
The contrast of the actual position and the estimated
position of the PMSM rotor is as in Fig.ll.
I I Tn Fig.12, the speed error is large in the start-up stage
and the load torque mutant time, but it converges quickly
because of the adaptive algorithm. There is no speed
I oscillation and the system can quickly reach a new steady
03 0.5 06
state with strong robustness and good control effect. Thus,
after the optimization, the MRAS-based PMSM sensorless
vector control system not only can accurately estimate
speed and position without speed sensors, but also can
significantly improve the control performances.
Three-phase current simulation waveforms of the
MRAS-based PMSM are as in Fig.l3.
Three-phase current waveforms of the PMSM in Fig.
13 also show the convergence trend, and they indicate that
the system is stable and the control result is satisfactory. All
the simulation results indicate in the common that the
optimization scheme of the PMSM sensorless vector
control based on MRAS is effective and that it can both
achieve the accurate estimation of the rotor speed and
position without sensors and Improve the control

354
 , [2]
l'
80 ----- 1 -- - - - - - - - - - -1 - ---- - ----- -1- ------
00 - - - - - -+ - - - - - - - - - - - - +- - ---- - ----- -1- ------
_____ -.1 ____________ L _____ _ _____________
; r':}\?:J:I:t006l?00((((1?9
40
I \.
I I
-60 -----1------------1----------- -1- ------
-60 - - - - - --t - - - - - - - - - - - - t- - ---- - ----- -1- ------
.
100 , I I I
o 01 02 0,3 04
I(s)
Fig. 13 Three-phase current simulation waveforms
performances of the system.
Model reference adaptive speed observer system is
able to accurately observe the position and speed of the
rotor with good anti-disturbance ability. Compared to the
traditional vector control, this method does not require any
speed sensors, such as photoelectric encoder, to detect the
speed and the position of the rotor, thus it allows the cost
reduction and compact structure of the system. At the same
time, the simulation results also show that the identification
process of MRAS has a certain time delay and small
fluctuations occurring in the load torque mutations, and
these are what the system still needs to solve.
5. C onclusions
Permanent magnet synchronous motor sensorless
vector control system based on MRAS takes the motor
itself as the reference model while takes the current model
as the adjustable model, and uses the parallel structure to
identify the speed. The system can observe the speed and
position of the rotor in a wide speed range, and it has strong
robustness to the system disturbance. The simulation results
show that the model reference adaptive state observer is
able to track the actual signal in a higher speed range and
observe the rotor speed to achieve the system sensorless
field-oriented control. However, the MRAS-based PMSM
sensorless vector control system also has two defects. They
are time delay and the large speed estimation error in the
start-up stage and the load torque mutant time. All in all, it
is of great significance to apply the MRAS to the
optimization and design of the permanent magnet
synchronous motor sensorless vector control system,
develop the permanent magnet synchronous motor with
excellent performances, and meet the rapid development of
the modem industry.
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