This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TIE.2015.2432105, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 1

A New Formulation of Reactive Power Based

Model Reference Adaptive System for Sensorless
Induction Motor Drive
A. V. Ravi Teja, Vimlesh Verma, and Chandan Chakraborty, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—Various functional candidates such as flux, back- I. I NTRODUCTION

emf, reactive power etc. are used to form a model reference
adaptive system (MRAS) to estimate speed of an induction
motor (IM) drive. Of these, reactive power (Q) based controllers
perform well at low speeds and are inherently independent of
S QUIRREL cage induction motor drives are widely used
in industries because they are rugged and inexpensive.
Vector control of induction motor drives can provide high
stator resistance. However, such configuration fails to provide
stability in the regenerative mode. This paper proposes a new dynamic performance [1], [2]. However, implementation of
formulation of Q-based MRAS that is stable in all the four indirect vector control requires the rotor speed information.
quadrants of operation. A detailed MATLAB/SIMULINK based Use of a speed sensor for obtaining the rotor speed information
simulation study is presented. Superior performance of the degrades the reliability of the system especially in hostile
proposed controller is confirmed by prototype experimentation environments. It also injects noise into the system. Moreover,
using an FPGA based controller in the laboratory.
it is difficult to mount sensors in certain applications. Thus,
Index Terms—Variable speed drives, induction motors, vector speed estimation from machine terminal quantities (i.e. volt-
control, sensorless control, model reference adaptive system, ages and currents) is preferred over speed sensing. Several
reactive power, field programmable gate arrays.
speed sensorless schemes have been proposed in literature
[3]–[31]. These techniques are classified based on full-order
N OMENCLATURE and reduced-order observers [5]–[9], Kalman filter [20]–[24],
α, β stationary reference frame sliding modes [27]–[31], artificial neural networks (ANN)
∗ ∗ [17], [18], predictive control [25], [26], saliency and signal
vsα , vsβ reference stator voltages in α, β reference frame
vs stator voltage vector injection [3], [4], and model reference adaptive systems [9]–
isα , isβ actual stator currents in α, β reference frame [19], [25]–[27].
is stator current vector Observer based methods [5]–[9] use the complete or partial
d, q rotor flux reference frame machine model equations to estimate the rotor speed. These
∗ ∗ methods need all the machine parameters. Observer based
vsd , vsq reference stator voltages in d,q reference frame
vsd , vsq actual stator voltages in d,q reference frame methods also suffer from instability problems at low speeds
i∗sd , i∗sq reference stator currents in d,q reference frame and regenerative mode of operation. More complicated meth-
isd , isq actual stator currents in d,q reference frame ods [5]–[7] are proposed to overcome instability and parameter
ψrd , ψrq rotor flux in d,q reference frame dependency problems.
ρmr position of the rotor flux vector with respect to α- Kalman filter based speed estimation methods [20]–[24] are
axis robust to noise in the system but computation intensive.
R s , Rr stator and rotor resistances referred to stator Sliding mode methods [27]–[31] have the advantage of finite
Lm magnetizing inductance referred to stator time convergence unlike exponential convergence of observer
L s , Lr stator and rotor inductances referred to stator based methods. They can also reject matched disturbances
τr rotor time constant = Lr /Rr but have the serious problem of chattering. Recent papers
L2 eliminated the chattering problem by using higher order sliding
σ leakage factor = 1 − Lrm Ls
ωr actual rotor speed (electrical) modes as in [29], [30] but at the cost of increased complexity
ωr∗ reference rotor speed in the system demanding a powerful controller.
ω̂r estimated rotor speed ANN based methods [17], [18] are also popular for rotor
ωsl slip speed speed estimation and if trained properly, they are capable of
ωe synchronous speed providing stable operation at all speeds. Usually, they are used
in combination with other methods such as model reference
Manuscript received September 8, 2014; revised December 19, 2014 and adaptive systems. The only disadvantage with such methods is
February 16, 2015; accepted April 4, 2015.
Copyright (c) 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. that they require training for the adjustment of weights of the
However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be neural network and also there is no straight forward method
obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to pubs-permissions@ieee.org. for choosing the neural network.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, In-
dian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, India (e-mail: ra- Predictive control methods [25], [26] predict the input vector
biteza@gmail.com; vv991760@gmail.com; chakraborty@ieee.org). to be applied in the next instant of time. These methods

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 2

also involve parameter dependencies and large computational in Section-II. The stability analysis of the proposed system is
overhead [25], [26]. presented in Section-III while the sensitivity of the system
Rotor speed can also be estimated by taking into account is studied in Section-IV. Section-V reports the simulation
the saliency of the machine or by injecting high frequency results using MATLAB/SIMULINK. An FPGA based low cost
signals [3], [4]. These methods may or may not require the experimental setup is developed in the laboratory (Section-
complete machine model but has the following disadvantages. VI) and the experimental results are presented in Section-VII.
They require special machine constructions or extra hardware Section-VIII concludes the work.
circuitry for injecting high frequency signals. Also, the in-
jected signals may interfere with the normal operation of the II. T HEORETICAL D EVELOPMENT
drive causing oscillations in speed and torque. The basic structure of the proposed MRAS is presented
Model reference adaptive system (MRAS) based methods in Fig.1, which mainly comprises of reference model, ad-
[9]–[19], [25]–[27] for rotor speed estimation has earned justable model and adaptation mechanism. Reference model is
popularity due to its simplicity, performance and ease in independent of the estimated quantity, whereas the adjustable
implementation. Schauder proposed one such technique using model depends directly or indirectly on the same.
rotor flux as the functional candidate [10]. From control The reference model computes kr using the stationary frame
systems point of view, flux based MRAS is stable in all variables and hence does not require the information of rotor
the four quadrants of operation but the performance is not speed. The adjustable model on the other hand, computes
satisfactory at low speeds due to the presence of pure integrator ks with the quantities in the rotating reference frame and
in the reference model. Also, the estimator is dependent on the rotating reference frame quantities are obtained from the
all the machine parameters. To overcome the problem of pure stationary frame quantities using the rotor speed dependent
integrator, a different functional candidate namely, back-emf vector rotator ρmr as shown in Fig. 1.
is chosen [13] instead of rotor flux. The performance of the The functional candidate ‘k’ can be instantaneous active
back-emf based MRAS is better at low speeds when compared power (P = vs • is ), instantaneous reactive power (Q = vs ×
to rotor-flux based MRAS but its practical implementation is ), or fictitious quantities such as Y (Y = vs∗ • is ) and X
requires differentiation operation which can amplify noise (X = vs∗ × is ) [16]. The computation of these quantities in
in the system. A further improvement is done in [11], [12] stationary and rotating reference frames is presented next to
where a stator resistance independent functional candidate viz., explore possible functional candidates to form the MRAS.
reactive power is chosen for forming the MRAS. Performance Expression for active power is given as
of this MRAS is much better at low speeds as compared to
P = vs • is (1)
rotor flux and back-emf based techniques. The main problems
of this MRAS formulation are differentiation operation and In stationary reference frame, (1) is given as
instability in the regenerative modes. The reactive power based
Pαβ = (vsα + jvsβ ) • (isα + jisβ ) = (vsα isα + vsβ isβ ) (2)
MRAS is further improved and made free from differentiation
operation by forming the MRAS in the synchronously rotating Similarly, P in rotating reference frame is given by
reference frame as given in [14] but the instability problem Pdq = (vsd isd + vsq isq ) (3)
in the regenerative mode of operation remains. An alternative
formulation of reactive power based MRAS is proposed in [15] The voltages and currents in the two phase stationary reference
but the MRAS structure involves the full machine model and frame can be written as
hence dependent on all the machine parameters. The controller        
is also unstable in regenerative mode. In an attempt to make vsα Vm cos(ωt) isα Im cos(ωt − φ)
a stable MRAS, a new functional candidate ‘X’ is chosen = , = (4)
vsβ Vm sin(ωt) isβ Im sin(ωt − φ)
which was found to be stable even in regenerative mode as
given in [16] but it involves stator resistance. Therefore, the where Vm and Im are the peak values of fundamental voltages
performance at low speed is unsatisfactory without the use and currents, ω is the fundamental frequency, and φ denotes
of on-line estimation and correction of stator resistance. In the phase angle between the fundamental components of
another attempt [17], an artificial neural network is used in voltage and current. Substituting (4) in (2), we get
the MRAS to make it stable in the regenerative mode but Pαβ = Vm Im cos(φ) (5)
as already stated, use of neural network requires training and
there is no standard method of choosing the neural networks. The rotating frame quantities can be obtained by transforming
Apart from these, many authors tried to combine MRAS with the stationary frame quantities using the vector rotator ‘ρmr ’
other methods stated above like sliding modes [27], ANN [17], as
       
[18], predictive control [25], [26] etc., but only resulted in vsd vsα isd isα
more complicated methods especially when the comparison is =T , =T (6)
vsq vsβ isq isβ
made in terms of computational burden.
This work removes the limitation of traditional reactive where T is given as
 
power based MRAS. A new formulation is proposed that cos(ρmr ) sin(ρmr )
makes the controller stable in all the four quadrants of opera- T = (7)
− sin(ρmr ) cos(ρmr )
tion. The conditions for forming such an MRAS are discussed

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 3

∗
vsβ ∗
vsβ
∗ ∗
vsα Reference kr vsα Qr
∗ ∗
isβ Model
vsβ isα − vsα isβ
+
isβ
isα isα +
ω̂r ω̂r
PI + PI
∗
vsq - + ∗
+
ωsl vsq - +
∗
vsd ωsl
Adjustable ks ∗
vsd
 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
isd − vsd Qs
i∗sq Model ∗
vsq isq 
isq ρmr
i∗sd
ρmr i∗sd
isq d−q
isβ Fig. 3. Structure for Speed Estimator using Q-MRAS.
isd α−β isα

Fig. 1. Structure for Speed Estimation. Here, small signal stability analysis of the proposed speed
estimators is performed in synchronously rotating reference
∗
vsβ frame. The state space representation of the machine is given
∗ in (12), where stator currents and rotor flux are the state
vsα ∗ ∗ Pr
vsβ isβ + vsα isα variables.
isβ ⎡ ⎤
isα + ⎡. ⎤ a1 ωe a2 a3 ωr ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
ω̂r isd ⎢ ⎥ isd vsd
PI ⎢. ⎥ ⎢ e −ω a 1 −a ω
3 r a 2 ⎥
+ ⎢ isq ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ 1 ⎢vsq ⎥
⎢
⎥ ⎢ sq ⎥ ⎥
∗ i
+ ⎢ . ⎥ = ⎢ Lm 1
vsq - ωsl ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 0 − ωsl ⎥ ⎢⎣
⎥+
⎦ σL
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
∗
vsd ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ Ps ⎣ψrd ⎦ ⎢ τr τr ⎥ rdψ s 0
vsq isq + vsd isd  . ⎣ Lm 1⎦ ψ
i∗sq ρmr ψrq 0 −ωsl − rq 0
τr τr
i∗sd (12)
Fig. 2. Structure for Speed Estimator using P-MRAS. where
 
1 L2m 1 Lm 1 Lm
a1 = − Rs + , a2 = , a3 =
After substituting (6), (4) in (3) and simplifying, we get σLs L r τr σLs Lr τr σLs Lr
(13)
Pdq = Vm Im cos(φ) (8)
and
which is the same as (5). Therefore the quantity P , which
is reference frame independent is a suitable candidate for the ωsl = ωe − ωr (14)
formation of MRAS as in Fig. 1. Similarly, it may be proved
   
that isd 1 0 0 0 T
= isd isq ψrd ψrq (15)
Q = is × vs = Qαβ = Qdq = Vm Im sin(φ) (9) isq 0 1 0 0
Hence, Q is also reference frame independent and a suitable General form of state space representation is
candidate. If we check the same for the quantity ‘X’(= vs∗ ×is ) .
as defined in [16], it can be found that x = Ax + Bu (16)
y = Cx + Du (17)
Xαβ = Vm Im cos(2ωt − φ) (10)
Xdq = −Vm Im sin(φ) (11) Comparing (16) and (17) with (12) and (15), we get
Xαβ = Xdq . Therefore, X is not reference frame independent.  T
Similarly, it can be shown that ‘Y’ is also not reference frame x = isd isq ψrd ψrq (18)
independent.  T
u = vsd vsq 0 0
Thus, only P and Q can be used to estimate the speed as  T
shown in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. Fig. 4 shows the system = r3 (i∗sd − isd ) r2 (r1 (ωr∗ − ωr ) − isq ) 0 0 (19)
configuration. The next step is to check which functional
candidate among P and Q will make the vector controlled where
system stable in all the four quadrants of operation. This is ki1 ki2 ki3
r1 = kp1 + , r2 = kp2 + , r3 = kp3 + (20)
presented in the following section. s s s
are the transfer functions of the speed PI controller, q-axis,
III. S TABILITY A NALYSIS IN S PEED -T ORQUE D OMAIN and d-axis current PI controllers respectively and
Instability under regeneration is one of the major issues of a  T
speed estimation algorithm [5]–[7], [9], [13], [14], [16]–[18]. y = isd isq (21)

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 4

∗ ∗
+ PI-speed isq PI-current vsq
ωr∗ ∗
controller + controller vsβ
- - isq α−β II
r1 r2 III I
ω̂r i∗sd isq ∗
vsα
IV VI
d−q V
+ PI-current
i∗sd ∗ SVPWM
ωsl = 1 isq controller vsd
τr i∗ -
sd
isd r3 ρmr PWM
+
+ ωe  Signals
ρmr
isβ
∗
vsβ d−q
∗
vsα isα
Speed
α−β 3−φ
isβ Estimation
α−β Inverter
isα Block ω̂r isa
ρmr isb
∗
vsq (M odif ied
∗
vsd Q − M RAS) a−b−c
∗
isq
i∗sd SQIM

Fig. 4. Sensorless Vector Controlled IM drive with Proposed MRAS based Speed Estimator.

Using the small signal analysis with respect to an operating The error () of the speed estimation block is given by
point x0 , (16) and (17) become
.  = kr − ks (29)
Δx = AΔx + ΔAx0 + BΔu (22)
Δy = CΔx (23) where k can be P or Q. As already discussed, the stability
analysis is carried out in rotating reference frame, hence both
Taking laplace transform and substituting (22) in (23), we reference and adjustable model will be calculated in rotating
get reference frame as shown below.
Δy = C(sI − A)−1 [ΔAx0 + BΔu] (24) For Q-MRAS,
where ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
 = Qr − Qs = (vsq isd − vsd isq ) − (vsq isd − vsd isq )
T
x0 = isd0 isq0 ψrd0 ψrq0 (25) = vsq0 (isd − i∗sd ) − vsd0 (isq − i∗sq )
= vsq0 (isd − i∗sd ) − vsd0 (isq − r1 (ωr∗ − ω̂r ))
and
 T (30)
Δy = Δisd Δisq (26)
Considering a small perturbation in , Δ can be expressed
Using small signal analysis, the expression for ΔA and Δu as,
become:
⎡ ⎤
0 0 0 a3 Δ = vsq0 Δisd − vsd0 Δisq − vsd0 r1 Δω̂r (31)
⎢0 0 −a 0⎥
⎢ 3 ⎥ Dividing both sides by Δωr , we get
ΔA = ⎢ ⎥ Δωr (27)
⎣0 0 0 −1⎦
Δ Δisd Δisq Δω̂r
0 0 1 0 = vsq0 − vsd0 − vsd0 r1
Δωr Δωr Δωr Δωr
T Δω̂r
Δu = Δvsd Δvsq 0 0 = G(s) − vsd0 r1 (32)
Δωr
T
= −r3 Δisd −r2 (r1 Δωr + Δisq ) 0 0 (28) Also, from the MRAS adaptation mechanism,

Substituting the values of A, B, C, ΔA and Δu from (12), kimras

Δisd (kpmras + )Δ = Δω̂r (33)
(15), (27) and (28) in (24), we obtain the expression for s
Δωr
Δisq The closed loop representation of the modified MRAS for
and . speed estimation is shown in Fig. 5. The closed loop transfer
Δωr

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89

Δωr + Δ kimras Δω̂r
kpmras +
431
G(s)
s
-

vsd0 r1
4
231

67 
7
Fig. 5. Closed Loop Representation of the Proposed Speed Estimator.

0212


32 67892
 12

42

79

Fig. 7. Sensitivity plot of the proposed Q-MRAS to 1/τr variation assuming

Δωsl = 0.

2 0.7
ÿ

, rad
042 0.6

Δ(1/τr ) (Δωr =0)

030212 2 12
0.5

567789
8 0.4


Δω̂sl 
0.3
Fig. 6. Unstable Points in the Speed-Torque domain for P-MRAS.
0.2
−50 0 50
function is given by, ωr , rad/s
kimras Fig. 8. Sensitivity plot of the proposed Q-MRAS to 1/τr variation assuming
Δω̂r G(s)(kpmras + ) Δωr = 0.
= s (34)
Δωr kimras
1 + vsd0 r1 (kpmras + )
s IV. S ENSITIVITY A NALYSIS
Using Routh-Hurwitz criteria the stability is checked for Q-
Since the proposed Q-MRAS is independent of stator re-
MRAS in speed-torque domain covering the whole range with
sistance variation, the next important parameter which needs
small increments in torque and speed values and it is found
to be considered for the sensitivity analysis is the rotor
to be stable in all the modes of operation.
resistance. Note that in indirect vector controlled IM drive,
The stability is also studied considering ‘P’ for the estima-
slip equation (14) is also dependent on rotor time constant.
tion of speed.
So, the sensitivity analysis of the proposed system to rotor
For P-MRAS, time constant variation is done in two parts, one assuming the
Δ = vsd0 Δisd + vsq0 Δisq + vsq0 r1 Δω̂r (35) change in rotor speed to be zero and the other assuming that
the change in slip speed to be zero as shown below.
After checking for various operating points in the speed-torque  
Δω̂r Δω̂r  Δω̂sl 
domain, it is observed that P-MRAS has unstable points in I, = + (36)
II, and IV quadrants of operation as shown in Fig. 6. The final Δ(1/τr ) Δ(1/τr )  Δ(1/τr ) 
(Δωsl =0) (Δωr =0)
conclusion is that the Q-MRAS as shown in Fig. 3 is stable which are obtained by linearizing the A matrix with respect
in all four quadrants of operation and hence is used for speed to 1/τr and putting the respective conditions. The sensitivity
estimation. Δω̂r 

plot of the Δ(1/τ r) 
is shown in Fig. 7 where it can
It is important to note that small signal analysis considers a (Δωsl =0)
linear system and cannot guarantee large signal stability e.g. be seen that the sensitivity of the speed estimator is quite
a motor undergoes a transient condition when subjected to low but it suddenly increases to high value at the point where
large disturbance (such as when starting with a reference signal ωr = −ωsl implying  zero stator frequency. The sensitivity
from zero speed to rated speed). For model reference adaptive Δω̂sl 

plot of the Δ(1/τ r 
) is shown in Fig. 8 which is
systems, Popov’s criteria [10] need to be satisfied. Here in (Δωr =0)
this work, such criteria are implemented in the controller (in basically the sensitivity of the slip equation with respect to
simulation and also in experimental setup). While use of PI 1/τr . Of all the inductances, magnetizing inductance is most
controllers makes the error to converge asymptotically, the important, as saturation plays a very important role. In a vector
feed-forward gain is assured to be positive by a gain tuning controlled drive under constant flux operation, the variation of
block (not shown in Fig. 4) that is standard for such systems the magnetizing inductance is not significant and hence the
[14]. sensitivity to this parameter is not considered.

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40

ωr∗ and ωr , rad/s

ωr∗ and ωr , rad/s 30
ωr ωr
ωr∗ 20
ωr∗
20

0
10

−20
0

−40
−10 0 2 4 6 8 10
0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s time, s
(a)
(a)
Fig. 10. Simulation Result for a Ramp Speed Command (Around Zero Speed).
30
ω̂r and ωr , rad/s

(a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds.

ωr
20
ω̂r
V. S IMULATION R ESULTS
The proposed Q-MRAS based speed sensorless vector
10
controlled IM drive is mathematically modeled in MAT-
LAB/SIMULINK. This section presents some simulation re-
0 sults corresponding to the proposed algorithm. The machine
parameters are given in Table I. The machine is run at no
−10 load first to check the performance of the speed estimator and
0 2 4 6 8 10
then subsequently loaded. Achieving satisfactory performance
time, s at low speed is a challenge for speed sensorless controller.
(b)
Hence, performance at low speed is highlighted here.
30
ω̂r and ωr , rad/s

ωr A. Step Response
20
ω̂r
The response of the proposed speed estimator for a step
reference command is shown in Fig. 9. A speed reference of
10 20 rad/s is applied at 3.5s as shown in Fig. 9a. The actual rotor
speed (ωr ) matched with the reference (ωr∗ ) and estimated
0 rotor speed (ω̂r ) as shown in Fig. 9a and 9b respectively.
The magnified version of the estimated and actual speeds are
shown in Fig. 9c to highlight the transient response. The flux
−10
3.45 3.5 3.55 3.6 orientation is well maintained (ψrd = Lm isd and ψrq = 0) as
time, s shown in Fig. 9d.
(c)
B. Ramp Response
ψrd and ψrq , Wb

3
Performance of the speed estimator at slow zero crossing
is studied with the help of a ramp command. The actual
2
speed follows the reference speed, as shown in Fig. 10a
ψrd which confirms excellent tracking performance of the speed
1 estimator.
ψrq
0 C. Forward and Reverse Motoring
The performance of the speed estimator in forward and
−1
0 2 4 6 8 10 reverse motoring modes including zero speed is shown in Fig.
time, s 11. The command speed is started from zero, changed to +20
(d) rad/s at 3.5s and then to -20rad/s at 6.2s. It is observed that
actual speed follows the reference with good accuracy (Fig.
Fig. 9. Simulation Result for a Step Speed Command of 20 rad/s. (a) 11a). The actual and estimated speeds are presented in Fig.
Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds.
(c) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds. (d) d- and q- axis Rotor Flux. 11b. Rotor flux components are presented in Fig. 11c, which
confirms flux orientation.

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30 30
ωr∗ and ωr , rad/s ωr

ωr∗ and ωr , rad/s

ωr
20 ωr∗ 20 ωr∗
10 10
0 0
−10 −10
−20 −20
−30 −30
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s time, s
(a) (a)

30 30
ω̂r and ωr , rad/s

ωr

ω̂r and ωr , rad/s

ωr
20 ω̂r 20 ω̂r
10 10
0 0
−10 −10
−20 −20
−30 −30
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s time, s
(b) (b)
ψrd and ψrq , Wb

3
ψrd and ψrq , Wb

2 2
ψrd ψrd
1 1
ψrq ψrq
0 0

−1 −1
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s time, s
(c) (c)

Fig. 11. Simulation Result Showing Forward and Reverse Motoring. (a)
Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds.
4
isq
i∗sq and isq , A

(c) d- and q- axis Rotor Flux.

2 i∗sq
D. Motoring and Regenerative Mode of Operation 0
Performance of the proposed speed estimator under motor-
ing and regenerative mode of operation is presented in Fig. 12. −2
Here, the load torque is set at 0.5pu. A speed command that
alternates between 0 rad/s, +20 rad/s and -20 rad/s is given as −4
shown in Fig. 12a. Since the load torque is always positive, a 0 2 4 6 8 10
positive speed reference means motoring mode and a negative time, s
(d)
speed corresponds to the generating mode of operation. This
can be confirmed by observing the torque component of Fig. 12. Simulation Result Showing Loading and Regenerative Mode of
current (isq waveforms) in Fig. 12d. The estimated speed Operation. (a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual
is following the actual rotor speed as shown in Fig. 12b. Rotor Speeds. (c) d- and q- axis Rotor Flux. (d) Torque Component of Currents
i∗sq and isq .
Orientation of flux is confirmed in Fig. 12c.

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 8

ωr∗ and ωr , rad/s 30

ωr
25
ωr∗

20

15

10
0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s
(a) Fig. 14. A View of the Experimental Setup.

30
ω̂r and ωr , rad/s

ωr E. Performance under variation of stator resistance

25
ω̂r As seen from Fig. 3, the speed estimator is independent of
stator resistance. To study the performance of the drive under
20 the variation of stator resistance, a simple test is performed
where the stator resistance of the machine model is suddenly
increased to twice its nominal value and again decreased as
15 shown in Fig. 13d. In this case, the reference, estimated and
actual rotor speeds can be observed in Figs. 13a and 13b. The
10 flux orientation is maintained throughout as shown in Fig. 13c.
0 2 4 6 8 10
time, s Thus, excellent performance of the speed estimator subjected
(b)
to stator resistance variations is demonstrated.

VI. E XPERIMENTAL S ET- UP

ψrd and ψrq , Wb

3
A laboratory prototype is developed to validate the proposed
2 scheme. A Xilinx FPGA (SPARTAN XC3S1400an) based
controller board is used for this purpose. The photographic
ψrd view of the hardware set-up is shown in Fig. 14. The FPGA
1
ψrq board consists of logic gates, external ADC (ADS8361) and
DAC (DAC8554) and dedicated I/O ports. The PWM pulses
0 generated from FPGA board are fed to the gate driver of
the inverter through an op-amp circuit that shifts the voltage
−1 level of 3.3V (from FPGA) to 15V. The motor currents are
0 2 4 6 8 10
sensed through current sensors (LA-55P) and given to the
time, s controller board (FPGA) with the help of ADC. Speed of
(c)
the motor is obtained from the speed encoder. The encoder
pulses are given to the I/O pins of FPGA board via a buffer
12
circuit. Note that speed signal from the encoder is used only
to check the accuracy of the speed estimator. The sampling
10 and switching frequencies employed are given in Table II
Rs , ohms

and the PI controller parameters used are given in Table III.

The induction machine (details in Table I) is coupled with
8
a separately excited DC machine. For loading the induction
machine (to any value between zero and rated load) at low
6 speeds and to operate the induction machine in regenerative
modes, the DC machine armature current is controlled through
0 2 4 6 8 10 a Four Quadrant DC Chopper allowing the hardware set up to
time, s run in motoring or regenerative modes and also for performing
(d) any load test on the machine at any speed.
Fig. 13. Simulation Result Showing Effect of the Proposed Speed Estimator
on Stator Resistance Variation. (a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b)
VII. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds. (c) d- and q- axis Rotor Flux. (d) Stator Experimental results are obtained from a laboratory devel-
Resistance (Rs ) Variation.
oped prototype, as discussed in Section-VI. All the results are

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 9

ωr∗
ωr∗ ωr
ωr

(a)
(a)
Fig. 16. Experimental Result for a Ramp Speed Command (Around Zero
Speed). (a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds.

ω̂r observed through DACs interfaced with the FPGA board. In

the waveforms presented, 1V correspond to 10rad/s of speed,
ωr 0.79224Wb of flux, and 1.697A of current. Similar loading
conditions are maintained as detailed in simulation and the
machine parameters are the same as given in Table I.

A. Step Response
The experimental result of step response corresponding to
(b) the simulation result in Fig. 9 is shown in Fig. 15. Here also,
the estimated rotor speed closely matches with the reference
and actual rotor speeds as shown in Fig. 15a and Fig. 15b
respectively. The transient response is highlighted in Fig. 15c.
ω̂r Although the system is of higher order, a first order critically
damped response is observed. The flux orientation is well
maintained as shown in Fig. 15d.
ωr
B. Ramp Response
Performance of the speed estimator for a ramp command is
shown in Fig. 16. The actual speed follows the reference speed,
as shown in Fig. 16a which confirms the tracking performance
of the speed estimator.
(c)

C. Forward and Reverse Motoring

The performance in the forward and reverse motoring modes
is presented in Fig. 17. A command speed similar to that in
the corresponding simulation result in Fig. 11a is applied as
ψrd shown in Fig. 17a. The actual speed follows the reference
and estimated speed, as shown in Fig. 17a and Fig. 17b
ψrq respectively. Flux is oriented as shown in Fig. 17c.

D. Motoring and Regenerative Mode of Operation

(d)
Fig. 15. Experimental Result for a Step Speed Command of 20 rad/s. (a)
Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds.
(c) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds. (d) d- and q-axis Rotor Flux.
Experimental result for the performance of the proposed
speed estimator under motoring and regenerative modes of
operation is presented in Fig. 18. Here, the armature current
of the DC machine coupled with the induction machine is
maintained at +2A always (by a PI controller) keeping the
load torque always positive and constant at 0.5pu (same as
in the corresponding simulation result in Fig. 12d). A speed

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 10

ωr∗
ωr∗
ωr ωr

(a) (a)

ω̂r
ωr
ω̂r
ωr

(b) (b)

ψrd ψrd
ψrq ψrq

(c) (c)

Fig. 17. Experimental Result Showing Forward and Reverse Motoring. (a)
Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds.
(c) d- and q-axis Rotor Flux.
i∗sq
command that alternates between 0 rad/s, +20 rad/s, and -20
rad/s (as in the corresponding simulation result in Fig. 12a)
is given as shown in Fig. 18a. In this case also, the estimated isq
speed is following the actual rotor speed as shown in Fig. 18b.
Orientation of flux is presented in Fig. 18c. So, this confirms
the operation of the proposed speed estimator on motoring and
regenerative modes experimentally.
(d)
E. Performance under variation of stator resistance
Fig. 18. Experimental Result Showing Loading and Regenerative Mode of
Fig. 19 presents the experimental result to show the per- Operation. (a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b) Estimated and Actual
formance of the drive under the variation of stator resistance. Rotor Speeds. (c) d- and q-axis Rotor Flux. (d) Torque Component of Currents
i∗sq and isq .
Three equal resistances are connected in series with the three

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS 11

TABLE I
I NDUCTION M ACHINE R ATING AND PARAMETERS

ωr∗ Symbol
-
Meaning
Rated Shaft Power
Value
1.3kW
- Line to Line Voltage 400V
- Rated Speed 1430 rpm
ωr P
Ls
Pole Pair
Stator Self-Inductance
2
0.6848H
Lr Rotor Self-Inductance 0.6848H
Lm Magnetizing Inductance 0.6705H
Rs Stator Resistance 5.71Ω
Rr Rotor Resistance 4.0859Ω
J Machine Inertia 0.011kg − m2
B Viscous Coefficient 0.0015

TABLE II
(a) S AMPLING AND S WITCHING F REQUENCIES

Parameter Value
Sampling Frequency 195.312 kHz
Inverter Switching Frequency 6.103 kHz

ω̂r ωr TABLE III

PI C ONTROLLER VALUES

Symbol Parameter Value

kpmras , kimras MRAS PI Conroller 0.225, 11.25
kp1 , ki1 Speed PI Controller 0.1, 0.04
kp2 , ki2 q-axis Current PI Controller 1, 200
kp3 , ki3 d-axis Current PI Controller 1, 200

(b) VIII. C ONCLUSION

A new formulation of reactive power based model reference
adaptive system is proposed which is stable in all the four
quadrants of operation of the speed sensorless vector con-
trolled induction motor drive. The proposed form of Q-MRAS
ψrd is also free from integration and differentiation terms and
independent of stator resistance. Estimation of flux and extra
hardware/sensors are not required for its implementation. The
ψrq drive works well at low speeds. A low cost implementation
using FPGA is demonstrated in laboratory. Stability analysis,
simulation, and experimental results confirm the advantages of
the proposed speed estimator.

(c)
Fig. 19. Experimental Showing Effect of the Proposed Speed Estimator
on Stator Resistance Variation. (a) Reference and Actual Rotor Speeds. (b)
Estimated and Actual Rotor Speeds. (c) d- and q-axis Rotor Flux.
phases of the stator using a switch arrangement such that they
can be added or removed simultaneously as per requirement.
The external resistances are selected such that when they are
added, the total stator resistance equals double its nominal
value. Using this, the stator resistance per phase is varied
online similar to the profile in Fig. 13d in simulation. Ref-
erence, actual and estimated speeds are presented in Fig. 19a
and Fig. 19b. Fig. 19c confirms the orientation of flux. Thus,
the superior performance of the drive subjected to change in
stator resistance is experimentally confirmed.
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10.1109/TIE.2015.2432105, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
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A. V. Ravi Teja received the B.E. degree in Elec-
trical and Electronics Engineering from Osmania
University, Hyderabad in 2008 and the M. Tech.
degree in Machine Drives and Power Electronics
specialization from Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur in 2010 respectively. He is currently
working towards his Ph.D. degree in the department
of Electrical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, India.
His research areas of interest include electric ma-
chine drives, power electronics, and control systems.
Vimlesh Verma was born in Mumbai, India. He
received B.Tech degree in Electrical and Electron-
ics Engineering from Andhra University, Andhra
Pradesh, India, in 2002 and M.Tech degree in Power
apparatus and Systems from Nirma University, Gu-
jarat, India, in 2005. He obtained his Ph.D degree
from the Department of Electrical Engineering, In-
dian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in
2014. His research interests include sensorless con-
trol of AC drives, fault diagnosis of IM drives and
renewable energy. He was awarded the Queensland-
India Friendship Scholarship to pursue a part of his research at The University
of Queensland, Australia.
Chandan Chakraborty (S’92-M’97-SM’01-F’15)
received B.E and M.E degrees in Electrical Engi-
neering from Jadavpur University in 1987 and 1989
respectively and Ph.D degrees from Indian Institute
of Technology Kharagpur and Mie University, Japan
in 1997 and 2000 respectively. Presently, he is a
professor in the Department of Electrical Engineer-
ing, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. His
research interest includes power converters, motor
drives, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Dr.
Chakraborty was awarded the JSPS Fellowship to
work at the University of Tokyo during 2000-2002. He has received the
Bimal Bose award in power electronics in 2006 from the IETE (India). He
has regularly contributed to IES conferences such as IECON, ISIE and ICIT
as technical program chair/track chair. He is an ADCOM member of the
IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. He is one of the Associate Editors of
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics and IEEE Industrial Electronics
Magazine and an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. He
is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of IE Technology News (ITeN), a web-only
publication for IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. He is a Fellow of IEEE
and Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).