Offline Measurement of Stator Resistance and Inverter Voltage Drop Using Least Squares

Modern industrial and commercial electrical drives are typically designed to control motors of different types, operating under scalar, field-oriented or direct torque control. These drives execute various algorithm such as sensorless control, temperature monitoring, etc., which require the knowledge of motor drive parameters. In order to do this, the inverters allow data to be input manually or execute self-commissioning routines before running the motor. The parameters necessary for proper operation include motor phase resistance and inverter voltage drop, which are especially important in low-speed range. This paper presents an offline technique for estimation of mentioned parameters, which can be obtained with enough precision for the overwhelming majority of applications. The proposed algorithm consequently injects DC-current of several levels into the stator of a motor, measuring the corresponding voltages. Each pair of current and voltage is a point in the voltage current characteristic of motor drive, thus set of these points maybe approximated with a first order polynomial using least squares method. The parameters of polynomial are desired inverter voltage drop and phase resistance. The experimental Section analyzes estimation errors and their dependence on the number of injected levels, their values and filtering capability of measuring algorithm. After that, the authors give suggestions on algorithm parameters selection, depending on the demanded precision. Finally, the authors demonstrate a mass-producing dishwasher motor drive, which adopted this technique.