Evaluation of the Efficiency Measurement Uncertainty of Electric Drive Test Benches for Direct Data-Driven Control Optimization

Increasing efficiency of electric drives combining electrical machines, power electronics and control algorithms, is a major task in industry and academia. Considering the already high efficiency levels of modern drive systems, expected improvements are in the single digit and below percentage point range. Therefore, a low measurement uncertainty of the electrical input and the mechanical output power is necessary to compare the efficiency of different drive designs or to perform an online optimization of control-related operation strategies (such as optimal pulse patterns). Hence, a measurement model is proposed to analyze the occurring power and efficiency uncertainty along the measurement chain in the whole torque-speed plane of three-phase drive test benches. This measurement model is published as an open-source software, allowing others to evaluate their test bench setup or to optimize new test bench designs during the specification process. An exemplary evaluation for a traction drive test bench demonstrates the functionality of the proposed model and highlights the importance of rigorous measurement uncertainty assessments in today's data-driven world.