A Modulation Technique for Sensorless Control of Switched Reluctance Motor

  • S. Srinivasan DRDO-Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Chennai
  • S. Manikandan Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai – 600 044
  • D. Govindaswamy DRDO-Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Chennai – 600 054
  • K. Ravichandran DRDO-Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Chennai – 600 054
Keywords: Switched reluctance motor

Abstract

The switched reluctance motor (SRM) uniquely bears several merits with respect to other motor configurations. Especially, the construction of the rotor is simple in the sense that it neither contains copper not contains permanent magnets. Because of this construction, likelihood of rotor’s failure is less than the other motor configurations. This makes this motor more suitable for harsh environments. On the flip side, this motor cannot directly operate with AC or DC power source and needs electronic commutation. For commutation, the information on instantaneous orientation of the rotor is essential. Since inclusion of appropriate sensor adds to the cost and complexity of the system, sensor-less commutation of SRM gained interest among the researchers and has been studied extensively in literature. The techniques for sensorless control of SRM can be broadly classified into Active phase and Idle phase techniques. Idle phase techniques are generally believed to be not suitable for high speed operation beause of tail current in a phase, i.e., because of inductive nature of the phase, it takes time for flow of current to stop. This paper proposes a novel idle phase technique that is conducive for high speed operation of switched reluctance motor.

Author Biographies

S. Manikandan, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai – 600 044

Mr S. Manikandan completed his Diploma in Electronics and Robotics Engg. followed by Bachelor of Engg. In 2011. He studied Masters in Automobile Engineering from 2014 to 2016.

D. Govindaswamy, DRDO-Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Chennai – 600 054

Mr D. Govindasamy completed BE in Electronics and Instrumentation Engg. at Govt. College of Technology, Coimbatore. He did his ME in instrumentation and control in 2001 from National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh in 2001. His research interests include Embedded Systems and he is currently working as scientist at CVRDE, DRDO, India.

K. Ravichandran, DRDO-Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Chennai – 600 054

Dr K. Ravichandran, received BE in Mechanical Engineering from Madras University, ME in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy. He received PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, India in 2006. He is currently working as scientist in CVRDE, DRDO, India.
In the present work,

Published
2019-04-30
How to Cite
Srinivasan, S., Manikandan, S., Govindaswamy, D., & Ravichandran, K. (2019). A Modulation Technique for Sensorless Control of Switched Reluctance Motor. Defence Science Journal, 69(3), 223-229. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.69.14409
Section
Special Issue Papers