Design and implementation of a closed-loop observer and adaptive controller for induction motor drives

This paper discusses the implementation and experimental results of a closed-loop rotor flux observer and model reference adaptive system (MRAS) of a direct field-oriented control (FOC) of an induction motor drive. The motor was supplied from a high-frequency (20 kHz) AC resonant link via a MOS-controlled-thyristor (MCT)-based bidirectional converter. Hardware and software implementations of the various motor control functions are presented. The closed-loop observer combines the current and voltage models via a speed-dependent gain (SDG). The current model was formulated to operate in the rotor reference frame and requires only an encoder angle and not the actual rotor speed for implementation. The closed-loop observer permits the use of a pure analog integrator to calculate an adequate stator flux. The use of an AC resonant link further complicated an all-digital calculation of the stator flux. The observer and adaptive controller were tested on a 400-Hz 2-hp induction motor for low and high speeds. The closed-loop observer showed sensitivity at low speeds to the rotor circuit time constant which attributed to the current model rotor flux estimation. At high speed, the closed-loop observer followed the voltage model rotor flux estimation attributes. The MRAS was able to improve the complete speed response by correcting the current model rotor flux observer for errors in estimation of its parameters.