A Review of Sliding Mode Observer Based Sensorless Control Methods for PMSM Drive

For permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs), high-performance control strategies rely on sensors to obtain accurate information of rotor position and speed. However, mechanical sensors are expensive and susceptible to harsh environment. Therefore, various sensorless control strategies have been proposed and intensively investigated for decades. Among them, sliding mode observer (SMO) based sensorless control method has drawn increasing attention due to its simple implementation and strong robustness. This article presents a comprehensive review of SMO-based sensorless control strategies for PMSMs reported in the literature. State-of-the-art SMO-based sensorless control strategies have been reviewed and investigated, and the design of SMO under nonideal conditions is presented as well. In addition, future research trends for SMO-based sensorless control strategies are also discussed.