Initial Rotor Position Detecting Algorithm of PM
Synchronous Motor using Incremental Encoder
HyunchalOh
Dept. of Control & Instrumentation
Korea National University of Transportation
Chungju, Korea
Abstract- This paper proposes the initial rotor position
detecting algorithm of a PM synchronous motor using an
incremental encoder. The proposed algorithm estimates the
phase offset between the rotor magnet flux and the z-pulse of the
incremental encoder by applying six aligning modes. The
absolute rotor position for driving PM synchronous motor is
calculated by using the phase offset of the z pulse and A, B pulse
signals of the encoder. The PMSM drives based on the estimated
rotor position is applied to the elevator door system. The
experimental results show that the real speed tracks the reference
speed for opening and closing the elevator door.
Keywords-PMSM; Encoder; Initial position; Elevator door
I. INTRODUCTION
The PM synchronous motor is widely used in the industrial
fields and home appliance products such as air-conditioners,
refrigerators, and washers due to its high efficiency, compact
volume, and high performance of the speed and position
control. Recent researches of PM synchronous motor drives are
focused on the application to the main traction and
MDPS(Motor driven power steering) for an (hybrid) electric
vehicle, and elevator systems including elevator doors. The PM
synchronous motor requires the absolute rotor position to
generate the stator flux, which is perpendicular or places an
arbitrary angle to the rotor magnet flux. The resolver and the
absolute encoder give the absolute rotor position with high
resolution, but they are very expensive. The Hall sensors are
very cheap, but they have very low resolution for the rotor
position, generally 60 electrical degrees. Therefore, the Hall
sensors are commonly used for BLDC drives, where the phase
current waveforms are rectangular.
The incremental encoder is one of the candidates for the
low cost to detect the rotor position with high resolution. The
incremental encoder, however, gives only relative rotor
position to the initial standstill position so that the absolute
position of the rotor magnet flux can't be acquired.[l] The
incremental encoder with Hall sensors are applied to some
industrial fields such as motor driven power steering for
vehicles. In this case, the Hall sensors detect the absolute rotor
position with 60 electrical degrees, and the information of the
rotor position between the Hall sensor signals can be obtained
978-1-4799-0482-2/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
! ! !
Ki Young Song , Kwan Yuhl eho , Hag Wone Kim ,
2
Byung Moon Han
I Dept. of Control & Instrumentation, Korea National
University of Transportation, Chungju, Korea
2 Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Myungji University,
Yongin, Korea
from the pulses of the incremental encoder[2]-[3]. The
incremental encoder without Hall sensors is the best solution
for the low cost if the absolute initial rotor position is detected
or estimated without additional sensors or circuits. The z pulse
of the incremental encoder may be the reference for the
absolute rotor position if it is aligned accurately to the position
of the rotor magnet flux. For mass production, however, it is
impossible to align the z pulse position of the incremental
encoder to the rotor magnet flux. Therefore, the detecting
algorithm for the initial position of the z pulse of the
incremental encoder is required.
To detect the absolute position of the rotor magnet flux, the
estimation algorithm using two phase currents having the phase
difference of 90degrees for the PM linear synchronous motor[41,
and the detecting algorithm for the linear motor using the force
generated from each ±45degrees based on the q-axis[5] were
presented. But the rotor position detecting algorithm using the
z pulse of the incremental encoder for a PM synchronous motor
has not been reported.
In this paper, the detecting algorithm of the initial position
of the z pulse of the incremental encoder is proposed. The
initial phase offset between the z pulse of the incremental
encoder and the rotor magnet flux is detected by aligning the
rotor to six positions per one revolution. The rotor is aligned to
the certain position by applying the predetermined stator flux
without generating the rotating torque. Based on the estimated
rotor position, the PMSM drive is applied to the elevator door
system. The experimental results of the speed control for the
opening and closing of the elevator door is presented.
II. INITIAL ROTOR POSITION DETECTING ALGORITHM
Fig. 1 shows the optical incremental encoder, and the
encoder signals are shown in Fig. 2. The incremental encoder
signals consist of A and B pulses for high resolution
information, and z pulse for the reference signal that appears
only one time for a revolution. The rotor speed can be
calculated by counting the number of A and B pulses. The
direction of the rotor rotation can be detemined by the phase
difference between A and B pulses. When the rotor rotates in
the forword(clockwise) direction, the pulse A proceeds the
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pulse B by 90degrees as shown in Fig. 2. On the contrary,
when the pulse B proceeds the pulse A by 90degrees, the rotor
rotates in the reverse(counter-clockwise) direction.
Fig. I Optical incremental encoder disk
Pulse A
Pulse B
Pulse Z
___ 1L
Fig. 2 A, B, and z pulses of encoder
Fig. 3 shows a-phase back emf and a-phase current with the
rotor position, and Fig. 4 shows the z pulse position of the
incremental encoder when the z pulse is aligned to the rotor
magnet flux. The initial offset phase between the z pulse
position and the rotor magnet flux can be considered as zero. In
this case, the rotor position can be detected by counting the
encoder pulses starting from the z pulse signal. But the aligning
the z pulse to the rotor magnet flux as given in Fig. 4 is very
difficult because there is no reference or mechanical guidelines
to align both signals. Furthennore, it is an almost impossible
work for the case of mass production.
Fig. 3 Back emf and z pulse when BofJ", is zero
a-axis
Fig. 4 z- pulse position when BojJs" is zero
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Fig. 5 shows a-phase back emf and a-phase current with the
rotor position, and Fig. 6 shows the z pulse position of the
incremental encoder for the case that the z pulse is not aligned
to the rotor magnet flux. The initial offset phase between the z
pulse and the rotor magnet flux is not zero. The initial offset
phases for the PM synchronous motors are different because
there is no reference or mechanical guide to align the z pulse to
the rotor magnet flux when the incremental encoder is attached
to the rotor shaft.
z pulse
Fig. 5 Back emf and z pulse when BofJ,,' is not zero
z pulse
�
G-CJ.'Cis
Fig. 6 z pulse position when BojJser is not zero
The phase offset between the rotor magnet flux and the z
pulse of the incremental encoder as shown in Fig. 5 can be
detected from the encoder signals when the rotor is aligned to
the certain position by applying the predetennined stator flux
without generating the rotating torque. Fig. 7 shows six
aligning modes by applying six active voltage vectors to the
PM synchronous motor. The encoder signal and the real rotor
position for six aligning modes are shown in Fig. 8.
b c
o o
Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
o
Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6
Fig. 7 Six step aligning operation
 model i mode2 i mode3 mode4 modeS mode6 III. EX PERIMENTS: INITIAL ROTOR POSITION DETECTION

The proposed algorithm for detecting the initial offset

phase between the z pulse and the rotor magnet flux is verified
by experiment. Fig. 9 shows the PM synchronous motor and
(a) a phase current the inverter unit for the elevator door system.
240"

120"

O° r---�-L�----�--�----�---r--�-----
(b ) (Jo!!se, Odeg
=

240"

120"

(c) (Jo!!ser 30deg

=

(a) PM synchronous motor

Fig. 8 Encoder and real rotor position for six-step operation

At the mode 1 in Fig. 8, the pole voltages of phases a and c

are Vdc, but the pole voltage of phase b is zero. Therefore, the
current flows to phase b from phase a and phase c. At the mode
2, the pole voltages of phase a is Vdc and the pole voltages of
phases b and c are zero so that the current flows to phases b
and c from phase a. In this case, the north pole of the
permanent magnet of the rotor is aligned to the position of the
stator flux generated by phase currents of a, b, and c. When the
offset phase between the z pulse of the encoder and the rotor
magnet flux is zero, as shown in Fig. 8(b), the encoder rotor (b) Control board
position starting from the z pulse is coincident to the real rotor Fig. 9 PMSM and control board
position. The phase difference between the measured rotor
position from the incremental encoder and the actual rotor Fig. 10 shows the current of phase a, the encoder rotor
position is 90degrees because the rotor is aligned to the d-axis. position, and the real rotor position. The encoder rotor position
In this case, the relationship between the actual rotor position at mode 2 is 117.5degree so that the estimated offset phase of
and the encoder rotor position can be expressed as (1) the z pulse to the rotor magnet flux is 27.5degree. To verify
the offset phase of the z pulse, the encoder rotor position is
compared with the real rotor position based on the back emf of
(1) the phase a as shown in Fig. 11. The real offset phase of the z
pulse as shown in Fig. 11 is 29.9degree, so that the error
When the offset phase between the z pulse and the rotor between the estimated offset phase and the real offset phase is
magnet flux is not zero as shown in Fig. 8(c), the encoder rotor 2.4degree.
position starting from the z pulse has BOjjie/corresponding to the
initial phase offset between the z pulse and the rotor magnet
flux. The phase offset for mode 2 can be expressed as (2)

1<
BojJset = Belle mode2 - 2 (2)

The error of the phase offset can be reduced by averaging

the offset phases detected at mode 2. Based on the average r1
offset phase, the estimated rotor position for driving the PM
synchronous motor can be derived as (3)
A
117.5° (80ff", = 27.5°)
Br = Belle + BojJset (3)
Fig. I0 Estimated phase offset of encoder: case I

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 PMSM

•
Close Open
� �
• •

Pulley Pulley

Door Door

Fig. II Real phase offset of encoder: case I

Fig. 12 shows the phase current and the encoder rotor

position for another motor. The encoder rotor position at mode CLS OLS
2 is 95.2degree so that the estimated offset phase is 5.2degree.
The real offset phase of the z pulse detected from the back emf Fig. 13 Structure of elevator door
is 7.5degree, therefore the error between the estimated offset
phase and real offset phase is 2.3degree. speed
CLS OLS

t t2 tJ t4 t5 time
� l
Creep speed Creep speed

Fig. 14 Speed profile for opening the door

J current: IOOmAldiv.
Fig. 15 shows the block diagram of the speed control of a
PM synchronous motor for the elevator door system. The
Fig. 12 Estimated phase offset of encoder: case 2
reference speed is generated from the speed pattern generator
for opening, closing, and reopening. The dq reference currents
IV. S PEED CONTROL OF PMSM FOR ELEVATOR DOOR are compared with dq currents transformed from abc currents
based on the estimated rotor position. Proportional-integral (PI)
Based on the estimated rotor position, PM synchronous current controller with decoupling generates dq reference
motor drives are applied to the elevator door system. The main voltages. Three phase voltages corresponding to the dq
operations of the elevator door system are opening, closing, reference voltages are applied to the motor through the space
and reopening when a person is caught between the elevator vector PWM inverter. The rotor speed and rotor position are
doors. Fig. 13 shows the mechanical structure of the elevator estimated by the phase offset of the z pulse and A, B pulses of
system. The elevator door is connected to a PM synchronous the incremental encoder.
motor through two pulleys. When the motor rotates clockwise,
the elevator door is opened. The elevator door is closed when
the motor rotates counter-clockwise. CLS(Close limit switch) i� v'
Sabc
Speed Current dq Voltage
and OLS(Open limit switch) are the sensors that detects the
control control control
door position, where door is closed or opened.
Fig.14 shows the speed profile of the PM synchronous
motor for the opening of the elevator door. The elevator door
starts to open by creep speed until the door arrives at CLS
position, and the door is accelerated to the maximum speed. Position
The elevator door slides at constant speed from t2 to 13, and the speed
door starts to decelerate at G. From t4 to t5, the door slides at estimator
creep speed and door is completely closed. The time periods
from t1 to t5 are predetermined for the given sliding distance of
the elevator door. The closing of the elevator door operates as a Fig. 15 Speed control of PMSM
similar way for the opening operation.

684
 Fig.16 shows the experimental setup of the elevator door
system. The PM synchronous motor is connected to the
elevator door through two pulleys. The PM synchronous
motor is an interior PM type, where the permanent magnets
are buried in the rotor core. The number of poles is 8 and the
d-axis and q-axis inductances are 0.643H and 1.006H,
respectively.
incremental encoder and the rotor magnet flux is detected by
six aligning operations. The absolute rotor position can be
estimated from the initial phase offset between the rotor
magnet flux and the z pulse, and A, B pulses of the
incremental encoder. Based on the estimated rotor position,
the speed control of a PM synchronous motor is applied to the
elevator door system. It was verified through the experiment
that the real speed well tracks the speed reference for both
cases of opening and closing of the elevator door.

50rpm/div., 1 sec/div.
---

Fig. 16 Experimental setup for elevator door

(a) Reference and real speeds

TABLE!. MOTOR PARAMETERS

Parameters Value
Rated voltage 220V / 60Hz
Number of poles 8
8ryrojile
Phase resistance (R,) 118 0
d-axis inductance (Ld) 0.643 H

q-axis inductance (Lq) 1.006 H 8r

Magnet flux (Am)

Moment of ineltia (Jm)
0.645 Wb

0.00041 Nm2
jl 540deg/div., lsec/_d_iv. _
_
__
_

(b) Profiled and real rotor position

Fig. 17 shows the speed response for opening and closing
of the elevator door. The sliding distance of the elevator door
is 40cm and the motor rotates 3.6revolutions for opening and
closing. The acceleration velocity and the deceleration
velocity are 30cmlsec and the required time for opening and
closing is set to 2.5sec. The maximum speed to satisfy the
time requirements is 103rpm, which is calculated from the --- --- --- --+ --
I --
r-- --- --- ----------

speed profile as given in Fig. 14. During the acceleration

H·��
periods, larger torque is required due to the large moment of
inertia of the motor and door, compared when the motor
rotates at constant speeds. The q-axis currents for acceleration
and constant speed are 400mA and 200mA, respectively.
Experiment shows that the rotor speed well tracks the speed
reference when the door is opened and closed. Fig. 17(b) (c) q-axis and phase currents
shows that the actual door position for both opening and Fig. 17 Speed and cun'ent for opening and closing
closing is well matched to the profiled door position, which is
the integration of the speed reference.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the estimation algorithm of the absolute rotor
position using the pulses of the incremental encoder was
proposed. The phase offset between the z pulse of the
This work was supported by Sungam Co. and the Human
Resources Development program(No. 20114010203030) of
the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and
Planning(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

685
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