CHAPTER -2

REVIEW OF INDUCTION
MOTOR PARAMETER
ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES
WITH ROTOR FLUX ORIENTED
CONTROL

Contents of this chapter has been published in

1. “Rotor Resistance Estimation Methods for Performance Enhancement of

Induction Motor Drives – A Survey” by M.Nandhini Gayathri, S.Himavathi ,
R.Sankaran in International Review on Modelling and Simulations
(Volume.4.No.5, October 2011- SCOPUS Indexed)

8
 CHAPTER -2

REVIEW OF INDUCTION MOTOR PARAMETER ESTIMATION

TECHNIQUES WITH ROTOR FLUX ORIENTED CONTROL

2.1 Introduction

The basic principle governing field oriented control schemes for a three phase Cage

Induction motor drive are introduced in this chapter. The theory here involves the

transformation of the stator current variables into a synchronously rotating d-q axis frame

of reference, which yields the control variables in the form of DC quantities for ease of

control. The two major classifications of vector control namely, direct field oriented and

indirect field oriented control are discussed. The vector control requirement on the power

side implies control of frequency, voltage magnitude and instantaneous phase of the

stator terminal variables which is possible only through a PWM inverter. To maximize

utilization of the DC bus link voltage, a Space Vector Modulation scheme is employed in

the six pulse power inverter. Accurate knowledge of the machine parameters becomes

imperative for maintaining field orientation. As the rotor resistance varies with

temperature and operating conditions there is a need to estimate the rotor resistance

accurately. Various methods for rotor resistance estimation are presented.

2.2 Field Oriented Control

A major breakthrough in the area of high performance induction motor drive is the

invention of Field Oriented Control (FOC) by Blaschke [1] in 1972. The armature and

field fluxes are always perpendicular to each other in the dc motor. In an Induction

9
machine, a similar condition can be created with the appropriate control of stator current

components in the synchronously rotating frame of reference.

FOC makes use the idea of decoupling the two components of stator current, one

producing the flux and the other producing the torque. Thereby it provides independent

control of torque and flux during both dynamic and steady state conditions. In FOC, the

stator phase currents are transformed into a synchronously rotating reference frame and

field orientation is achieved by aligning the rotor flux vector along the d-axis of the

synchronously rotating reference frame. Fig.2.1 shows how the stator current vector can

be aligned along the rotor flux vector. The d-q axis model of the induction motor with the

reference axes rotating at synchronous speed ω is governed by the following equations

[4] where all variables are instantaneous quantities:

JJG JG d JJG JJG

Vs = R s is + (λ s ) + jωλ s … (2.1)
dt
JG d JJG JJG
0 = R r i r + (λ r ) + j(ω − ωr )λ r … (2.2)
dt

3 L
Te = P m (λ dr i qs − λ qr i ds ) … (2.3)
2 Lr

dωm
Te -TL = J + Bm ω m … (2.4)
dt
2
Where, ωm = ωr
P
JJG
Vs = Vds + jVqs … (2.5)

JG
is = i ds + ji qs … (2.6)

10
JG
i r = i dr + ji qr … (2.7)

JJG
λ s = λ ds + jλ qs … (2.8)

JJG
λ r = λ dr + jλ qr … (2.9)

In the above equations, λ refers to the flux linkages and these quantities are expressed

in the synchronously rotating reference frame, the d and q in the subscript stand for the

direct and quadrature axes respectively and s and r in the subscript stand for the stator

and rotor quantities respectively. j represents a space angle of 90 degree electrical.

The field orientation concept implies that the current components supplied to the

machine should be oriented in phase (flux component) and in quadrature (torque

JJG
component) to the rotor flux vector λ r and locking the phase of the reference system

such that the rotor flux is entirely in the d-axis (flux axis), resulting in the mathematical

constraint λqr =0. It should be noted that the control is performed on quantities obtained in

the synchronous reference frame and when the rotor flux vector is chosen for decoupling,

the control scheme is referred to as the Rotor Flux Oriented Control (RFOC). With this

arrangement, the control dynamics of the highly nonlinear structure of the induction

motor becomes linearized and decoupled [5]. The two basic schemes of field orientation

are [4]:

• Direct Field Oriented Control (DFOC)

• Indirect Field Oriented Control (IFOC)

Direct Field Orientation originally proposed by Blaschke [1], requires stator flux

acquisition which is mostly obtained from computational techniques using machine

terminal quantities. Whereas IFOC avoids the direct flux acquisition, by adding an

11
estimated and regulated slip frequency to the shaft speed and integrating the total to

obtain the stator flux position.

Fig 2.1 Transformation of Stator Current Vector

2.2.1 Direct Field Oriented Control

In Direct Field Oriented Control the position of the stator flux, which is essential for

the correct orientation, is either directly measured using search coils or estimated from

terminal measurements. However using sensors to acquire the flux information makes it

impossible to use off- the shelf induction motors because installation of such sensors can

be done only during machine manufacturing. Instead, the measured terminal quantities

such as stator voltages and currents can be used. The block diagram of such a system is

shown in Fig.2.2. To estimate the rotor flux, one of the possible ways is to use the

machine equations as an open loop observer using voltage equations (2.10) – (2.13) given

below.

λ sds = ∫ (Vdss −R sisds )dt … (2.10)

12
λ sqs = ∫ (Vqss −R sisqs )dt … (2.11)

Lr s
λ sdr = (λ ds − σLsisds ) ... (2.12)
Lm

Lr s
λ sqr = (λ qs − σLsisqs ) … (2.13)
Lm

Gabriel et al [6] estimated the rotor flux using these equations and these are

commonly known as Voltage Model Flux Observer (VMFO). At low frequencies

(including zero speed) the control becomes difficult with the voltage model based

estimation, as the voltages are very low and variations in stator resistance due to

temperature rise and switch voltage drops, dead times etc tend to reduce the accuracy of

the estimated signals. One of the solutions to this problem is to use current model

equations for flux estimation at low speeds. This requires a proper mechanism to switch

between the voltage and current models for successful operation. A variety of flux

observers can be employed to obtain improved response and reduced sensitivity to

machine parameters as described in [7], [8], [9], [10] and [11].

The scheme proposed by Jansen et al [7] reduces the dependence of rotor flux

estimation on the stator resistance by using a current model observer at low speed, where

the stator resistance effect is more significant. At high speed, the rotor flux is estimated

using a voltage model flux observer where the stator resistance effect is reduced. Here

also it is necessary to have a proper mechanism to switch between the voltage and current

models for successful operation. Jansen et al [8] improved the observer performance by

using closed loop rotor flux observers which used the estimated stator current error.

13
 Also, flux observers have been designed by Yen et al [9] and Benchaib et al [10],

using the sliding model technique for speed sensorless control of induction motors.

Rehman et al [11] proposed a current model flux observer using a new sliding mode

technique. In the current and flux observers, all the terms that contain rotor time constant

and rotor speed have been replaced by the sliding mode functions. Thus the proposed

current and flux estimations were completely insensitive to rotor time constant variations

and any error in the estimated speed. In spite of this modification with the sliding mode

controller, the drive could only reach up to ±5% of the reference speed.

The closed–loop velocity invariant, flux observer with current model input has the

desirable low speed attributes of the current model, and the desirable high speed

attributes of the voltage model. Hence these observers are ideally suitable for wide speed

range applications requiring both zero speed and field weakening operations.

14
 Speed iqs
Controller Controller Vds* Vdss *
Va*
ω
*
r i *
qs
d-q ds - qs
Vb*
+ - + -
Vqs* SVPWM
λ *
r +
VSI
IM
ωr
ds - qs
a, b, c
+ -
 
i *d s  
-
i *ds
Flux ids Controller
θ Vqss * Vc*
Controller
ids isds ic VDC
Encod
ds - qs
Rotor er
ia
iqs Flux
i s
Observer qs

Vc
V dss
a, b, c
Va
λr Vqss

Fig.2.2 Direct Field Oriented Drive System

15
2.2.2 Indirect Field Oriented Control

Implementation of indirect field oriented control scheme aims at obtaining the field

orientation θ calculated from stator terminal voltage and current variables, through a set

of dynamic machine equations formulated in a suitable frame of reference. The most

convenient reference frame is the d-q axis synchronously rotating frame of reference.

Resolving the rotor flux along the above orthogonal axes generates flux linkage

components. An algorithm for alignment of the rotor flux along the d-axis using the

machine parameters and equations as given below leads to indirect field orientation [4].

The rotor circuit equations of the induction motor can be written as:

dλ dr
+ R r i dr − (ω − ωr )λ qr = 0 … (2.14)
dt
dλ qr
+ R r i qr + (ω − ωr )λ dr = 0 … (2.15)
dt

The rotor flux linkage expressions are:

λ dr = L ri dr + L mids … (2.16)

λ qr = L ri qr + L mi qs … (2.17)

The rotor currents can be written from (2.16) and (2.17) as:
1 L
i dr = λ dr − m i ds … (2.18)
Lr Lr
1 L
i qr = λ qr − m i qs … (2.19)
Lr Lr

16
Substituting the rotor current equations (2.18) and (2.19) into (2.14) and (2.15), they

become:

dλ dr R r L
+ λ dr − m R r i ds − ω sl λ qr = 0 … (2.20)
dt Lr Lr
dλ qr R r L
+ λ qr − m R ri qs + ωslλ dr = 0 … (2.21)
dt Lr Lr

Where, ωsl = ω − ωr

For FOC, it is necessary that

λ qr = 0 at steady state … (2.22)

This implies,
dλ qr
= 0 at steady state … (2.23)
dt
and the total rotor flux λr is directed along the d- axis.

Substituting the above conditions in Equations (2.20) and (2.21), we get

L r dλ r
+ λ r = L mi ds … (2.24)
R r dt
L R
ωsl = m r i qs … (2.25)
λ r Lr
where λ r = λ dr has been substituted.

An expression for steady state slip speed and torque when running at constant speed can

be obtained from equation (2.24) by specifying a constant value for λr as

λ r = L mi ds … (2.26)

Then the slip signal can be written as:

1 i qs
ωsl = … (2.27)
Tr i ds

Where Tr is rotor time constant.

17
The torque developed by the induction motor under these conditions is given by:
3P
Te = (λ dr i qr − λ qri dr ) … (2.28)
22
Because of decoupled control, from (2.22), (2.28) can be written as follows:
3P
Te = λ dri qr … (2.29)
22
Using (2.19) to replace iqr in (2.29), it follows:

3P 1 L
Te = λ dr ( λ qr − m i qs ) , yielding … (2.30)
22 Lr Lr
3 P Lm
Te = λ r i qs in magnitude … (2.31)
2 2 Lr

It may be noted that equation (2.31) for Te is analogous to that of a DC motor. An

alternative to the direct sensing of flux position is to employ the slip relation, given in

equation (2.27), to estimate the flux position. Fig.2.3 illustrates this concept and shows

how the rotor flux position can be obtained by integrating the sum of the rotor speed and

the command slip frequency calculated using equation (2.27). In the steady state this

corresponds to setting the slip to the specific value which resolves the stator current into

flux producing and torque producing components. Indirect field orientation does not have

inherent low speed problems and is thus preferred in most systems which must operate

near zero speed.

The Voltage Source Inverter in Fig.2.3 uses Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation

technique because of its well known advantages of better DC bus voltage utilization,

reduced harmonic currents and considerable freedom of placement of the space vector in

a sector through the choice of switching frequency. The detail of the above technique is

given in Section 2.3.

18
 Speed iqs
Controller Controller
Va*
+ + V*
ds
Vdss *
d, q ds -
Vb*
ωmref - * SVPWM
i qs -
VSI IM
Vqs* Vqss *
Vc*
a, b,
i*ds ds - qs
+ -
ids Controller
VDC
ids i sds ia
Encoder
d, q ds - qs

iqs
ic
i*ds ds - qs a, b, c

Lm
λ*r isqs
L
1 + s( r )
Rr
ω*sl *
ωs l

ω θ

i *qs ∫
Lm ωr
L
( r)
Rr

Fig.2.3 Indirect Field Oriented Drive System

19
2.3 Space Vector PWM Inverter

The circuit model of a three-phase voltage source PWM inverter is shown in

Fig.2.4 S1 to S6 are the six power switches that shape the output, which are controlled by

the switching variables a, a1, b, b1, c and c1. When an upper transistor is switched on, i.e.,

when a, b or c is 1, the corresponding lower transistor is switched off, i.e., the

corresponding a1, b1 or c1 is 0. Therefore, the on and off states of the upper transistors S1,

S3 and S5 can be used to determine the output voltage [4], [12].

Fig.2.4 Three Phase Voltage Source PWM Inverter

The relationship between the switching variable vector [ a,b,c ] and the line – to – line
t

voltage vector [ Vab Vbc Vca ] is given by the following:

t

⎡ Vab ⎤ ⎡1 − 1 0 ⎤⎡ a ⎤
⎢ V ⎥ = V ⎢0 1 − 1⎥⎢ b ⎥ … (2.32)
⎢ bc ⎥ dc ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ Vca ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ −1 0 1 ⎥⎢
⎦⎣c ⎥⎦

Also, the relationship between the switching variable vector [ a,b,c ] and the phase
t

voltage vector for a star connected load [ Va Vb Vc ] can be expressed below.

t

20
 ⎡ Van ⎤ ⎡2 − 1 − 1⎤⎡a ⎤
1
⎢ V ⎥ = V ⎢ −1 2
⎢ bn ⎥ 3 dc ⎢ − 1 ⎥⎢ b ⎥ … (2.33)
⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ Vcn ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ −1 − 1 2 ⎥⎢
⎦⎣c ⎥⎦

In Fig.2.4, there are eight possible combinations of on and off patterns for the three

upper power switches. The on and off states of the lower power devices are

complementary to the upper one and so are easily determined once the states of the upper

power transistors are determined, According to equations (2.32) and (2.33), the eight

switching vectors, output line to neutral voltage called phase voltage, and output line –to

–line voltages in terms of DC link Vdc, are given in Table.2.1 and Fig.2.5 shows the eight

inverter voltage vectors (V0 to V7).

Table.2.1 Switching Vectors, Phase Voltages and Output Line to line Voltages

Space Vector PWM (SVPWM) refers to a special switching sequence of the upper

three power switches of a three phase power inverter. It has been shown to generate less

harmonic distortion in the output voltages and or currents applied to the phases of and

AC motor and to provide more efficient use of DC link voltage.

21
 To implement the space vector PWM, the voltage equations in the abc reference frame

are transformed into the stationary dq reference frame that consists of the Horizontal (d)

and Vertical (q) axes as depicted in Fig.2.6.

Fig.2.5 The Eight Inverter Voltage Vectors (V0 to V7)

Fig.2.6 The Relationship of abc reference frame and stationary dq reference frame

From this figure, the relation between these two reference frames is given below

f dq0 = K s f abc

22
 ⎡ −1 −1 ⎤
⎢ 1
2 2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
2⎢ 3 − 3⎥
f 0 ⎤⎦ ,f abc = [ f a f c ] and
T T
Where, K s = ⎢ 0 , f dq0 = ⎡⎣ f d fq fb
3 2 2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢1 1 1⎥
⎢⎣ 2 2 2 ⎥⎦
f denotes either a voltage or a current variable.

The three control inputs [a, b, c] can map into eight combinations shown in Fig.2.5. As a

result, six non-zero vectors and two zero vectors are possible. Six nonzero vectors (V1 –

V6) define the axes of a hexagon as depicted in Fig.2.7. The angle between any adjacent

two non-zero vectors is 60 degrees. Meanwhile, two zero vectors (V0 and V7) are at the

origin and apply zero voltage to the load. The eight vectors are called the basic space

vectors and are denoted by V0, V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7. The same transformation

can be applied to the desired output voltage of the inverter to get the desired reference

voltage vector Vref in the d-q plane.

The objective of space vector PWM technique is to approximate the reference

voltage vector Vref using the eight switching patterns. One simple method of

approximation is to generate the average output of the inverter over a small period, T to

be equal to Vref in the same period.

Therefore, Space Vector PWM can be implemented by the following steps:

Step 1: Determine Vd, Vq, Vref, and angle (α)

Step 2: Determine time duration T1, T2, T0 shown in Fig.2.7

Step 3: Determine the switching time of each switch (S1 to S6) in a sector specific
way

23
 Fig.2.7 Basic Switching Vectors and Sectors

2.3.1 Step 1: Determine Vd, Vq, Vref, and angle (α)

From Fig.2.8 the Vd, Vq, Vref, and angle (α) can be determined as follows:

Vd = Van − Vbn ⋅ cos60 − Vcn ⋅ cos60

1 1
= Van − Vbn − Vcn
2 2

Vq = 0 + Vbn ⋅ cos30 − Vcn ⋅ cos30

3 3
= Vbn − Vcn
2 2

Fig.2.8 Voltage Space Vector and its components in (d,q)

24
 ⎡ −1 −1 ⎤ V
1 ⎡ an ⎤
⎡ Vd ⎤ 2 ⎢ 2 2 ⎥⎢ ⎥
∴⎢ ⎥ = ⎢ ⎥ Vbn
⎣ Vq ⎦ 3 ⎢0 3 − 3⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢V ⎥
⎢⎣ 2 2 ⎥⎦ ⎣ cn ⎦

V ref = Vd 2 + Vq 2
Vq
α = tan −1 ( ) = ωs t = 2πf s t
Vd
(where, f s = fundamental frequency)

2.3.2 Step 2: Determine time duration T1, T2, T0

Fig.2.9 Reference Vector as a combination of adjacent vectors at sector 1

From Fig.2.9, the switching time can be calculated as follows:

Switching time duration at sector 1:

Tz T1 T1 + T2 Tz

∫V
0
ref = ∫ V1dt +
0
∫
T1
V 2dt + ∫
T1 + T2
V0 which yields

Tz ⋅ V ref = (T1 ⋅ V1 + T2 ⋅ V 2 ), which leads to

⎡cos(α) ⎤ 2 ⎡1 ⎤ 2 ⎡cos(π / 3) ⎤
Tz ⋅ V ref ⋅ ⎢ ⎥ = T1 ⋅ ⋅ Vdc ⋅ ⎢ ⎥ + T2 ⋅ ⋅ Vdc ⋅ ⎢ ⎥
⎣sin (α) ⎦ 3 ⎣0⎦ 3 ⎣sin (π / 3) ⎦
(where, 0 ≤ α ≤ 60°)

25
 sin (π / 3 − α)
T1 = Tz ⋅ a ⋅
sin (π / 3)
sin (α)
T2 = Tz ⋅ a ⋅
sin (π / 3)
⎛ ⎞
⎜ 1 V ref ⎟
T0 = Tz − (T1 + T2 ), ⎜ where, Tz = and a = ⎟
fs 2
⎜ Vdc ⎟
⎝ 3 ⎠

Switching time duration at any sector:

3 ⋅ Tz ⋅ Vref ⎛ ⎛ π n −1 ⎞⎞
T1 = ⎜ sin ⎜ − α + π⎟⎟
Vdc ⎝ ⎝ 3 3 ⎠⎠
3 ⋅ Tz ⋅ Vref ⎛ n ⎞
= ⎜ sin π − α ⎟
Vdc ⎝ 3 ⎠

3 ⋅ Tz ⋅ Vref ⎛ ⎛ n −1 ⎞⎞
T2 = ⎜ sin ⎜ α − π⎟
Vdc ⎝ ⎝ 3 ⎠ ⎟⎠
⎛ where, n = 1 through 6(that is,Sector1 to 6) ⎞
T0 = Tz − T1 − T2 , ⎜ ⎟
⎝ 0 ≤ α ≤ 60° ⎠

2.3.3 Step 3: Determine the switching time of each transistor (S1 to S6)

Fig.2.10 shows Space Vector PWM switching patterns at each sector, which uses two

adjacent Tz periods for symmetric switching. Tz is the sampling time.

(a) Sector 1

26
(b) Sector 2

(c) Sector 3

(d)Sector 4

27
 (e)Sector 5

(f) Sector 6

Fig.2.10 Space Vector PWM Switching Patterns at each Sector

Based on Fig.2.10 the switching time at each sector is summarized in Table.2.2.

Table.2.2 Switching Time Calculation at Each Sector

28
2.4 Influence of Parameter Variations on Drive Performance

In Indirect Field Oriented Control, the major problem is the variation of rotor

resistance which is sensitive to temperature. R.Krishnan and F.C. Doran [13] have

reported a maximum temperature rise of 80ºC above the ambient temperature, resulting in

a rise in Rr by 50 percent. This increases the rotor resistance by over its ambient or

nominal value. When this parameter value is incorrect in the controller, the calculated

slip frequency is also incorrect and the flux angle is no longer appropriate for field

orientation. This results in instantaneous error in both flux and torque which can be

shown to excite a second order transient characterized by an oscillation frequency equal

to the command slip frequency [13]. The rotor flux could rise by 20% in theory, but

practically this cannot happen due to magnetic saturation [13]. There can also be 20%

error in the amplitude of steady-state torque since the steady –state slip is also incorrect.

In addition, steady-state slip errors also cause additional motor heating and reduced

efficiency.

Both in direct and indirect field oriented control schemes, parameter sensitivity

depend on L/R ratio of the machine with larger values giving greater sensitivity. Thus

large high efficiency machines tend to have higher sensitivity to parameter errors.

Accordingly, this results in a non-ideal torque control characteristics when control

parameters differ from the actual machine values. In general, both steady-state and

dynamic responses of torque deviate from the ideal instantaneous torque control that

could be achieved in theory by a correctly tuned controller.

29
2.5 Status of Rotor Resistance Estimation Techniques

The on-line methods of rotor resistance identification developed so far could be

broadly classified under the following categories.

• Spectral Analysis Techniques

• Observer Based Techniques

• Model Reference Adaptive System Based Techniques

• Heuristic Methods

2.5.1 Spectral Analysis Techniques

The Spectral Analysis Techniques are based on the measured response to a

purposely injected test signal on an existing characteristic harmonic in the voltage/current

spectrum. Stator currents and/or voltages of the motor are sampled and the parameters are

derived from the spectral analysis of these combined samples. In the case of spectral

analysis, a perturbation signal is used because under no load conditions of the induction

motor, the rotor induced currents and voltages become low leading to small values of slip

frequency and rotor voltages. Hence the rotor parameters cannot be estimated using this

method. This class of parameter estimation technique involving signal injection is

proposed in [14], [15].

Matsuo and Lipo [14] and Toliyat and Hosseiny [15] have proposed, injecting

negative sequence components as the disturbance to the system. The former publication

deals with an on-line technique for determining the value of rotor resistance by detecting

the negative sequence currents at two different frequencies so that the rotor resistance can

be uniquely derived. Toliyat and Hosseiny [15] presented another on-line estimation

technique by using the d-q model in the frequency domain. By keeping the q-axis

component of the motor flux same, the disturbance is confined to the d-axis component.
30
By employing FFT of the currents and voltages the fundamental components of the

sampled spectral values are obtained for the parameters estimation. It is shown that the

stator as well as rotor parameters can be determined on line with minimum disturbances

while the motor is driving the load.

Gabriel and Leonard [16] proposed a correlation method to detect misalignment

between the actual motor flux and the rotor flux given by the model. A small auxiliary

signal is added to the d-axis flux component of the stator current and a correlation

function is evaluated. The nonzero value of the correlation function indicates both

coupling between fluxes and discrepancies between the parameters of the model and

those of the motor.

Zhi Gao, Thomas G.Habetler, Ronald G.Harley and Roy S.Colby [17] proposed a

sensor less rotor temperature estimator for small to medium sized mains fed induction

machines. With measurements obtained only from voltage and current sensors, the

proposed estimator can capture the rotor temperature online. The rotor speed is first

extracted from the stator current harmonic spectrum based on the estimated rotor slot and

eccentricity harmonic frequencies. Then the inductances are estimated according to the

induction machine equivalent circuit. The stator winding resistance at ambient

temperature is the only motor parameter needed as input in this stage. Once the

inductances are obtained, they are fed into the rotor resistance estimation algorithm to

yield an estimate of the rotor resistance. The whole scheme is efficient and reliable and is

therefore suitable for implementation in a motor over load protection relay to provide

thermal protection against rotor overheating.

31
 In this method, the rotor resistance can be obtained from the spectral analysis of the

stator current or stator voltage measurements. The main drawbacks of this method are the

adverse effect of injecting signal on motor dynamics and the requirement of extra

hardware for signal injection.

2.5.2 Observer Based Techniques

The second classification of rotor resistance identification methods can be grouped

under Observer Based Techniques. This class of parameter identification technique is

based on either Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), or Extended Luenberger Observer (ELO),

or adaptive observer. Here, the rotor time constant is treated as additional state variable

along with rotor speed so that, the above methods can be used for joint state and

parameter estimation efficiently. The authors have applied extended observer techniques

for state and parameter estimation for high performance ac drives. However, the

problems related to Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Extended Luenberger Observer

(ELO) are the large memory requirement, computational intricacy, and the constraint

such as treating all inductances to be constant in the machine model.

J.W.Finch, D.J.Atkinson and P.P.Acarnley [18] proposed an application of EKF for

tuning an IFO drive. Here, the Riccati difference equation is replaced by a lookup table.

Although the complexity of Riccati equation is reduced, the full-order EKF is

computationally very intensive. In this paper, the application of the full extended Kalman

filter algorithm to the online estimation of rotor resistance required for the slip

calculation algorithm of indirect vector control is presented. Temperature variations in

rotor resistance can be tracked as they occur by making use of a Riccati equation.

32
 G.R.Arab Markadeh, J.Soltani and N.R.Abjadi [19] proposed a new adaptive rotor

flux observer for speed sensorless induction motor drives which provides the rotor speed,

stator and rotor resistances estimations simultaneously. The rotor speed and rotor flux

controllers are designed based on combination of input-output feedback linearizing,

sliding mode control and Linear Quadratic feedback control. It was shown that the

composite rotor speed and rotor flux controllers in combination with adaptive flux

observer guarantee the system stability and robustness against the parameter variations

and external load disturbance under persistency of excitation condition. The persistency

of excitation condition is satisfied if a low frequency ac signal is superimposed to the

rotor reference flux under motor load operation.

Li-Cheng zai, Christopher L.DeMarco and Thomas A.Lipo [20] proposed a method

for detection of the inverse rotor time constant using the EKF by treating the rotor time

constant as the fifth state variable along with the stator and rotor currents. Here, the wide

band harmonics generated by the PWM inverter serve as the perturbation signals. This

method works on the assumption that when the motor speed changes, the machine model

becomes a two input/two output time varying system with the above signal as the noise

input. The drawbacks are that this method assumes that all other parameters are known

and the time constant estimation is adversely affected by the large magnetizing

inductance.

Bader Aloliwi, Hassan K.Khalil and Elias G.Strangas [21] proposed a nonlinear

robust adaptive output feedback speed controller for induction motors. The control uses

only measurements of the rotor position, stator current and temperature. It contains two

observers, a ninth – order adaptive observer to estimate the rotor flux and rotor resistance,

33
and a third-order high- gain observer to estimate the rotor speed and acceleration from its

position. The control is robust to uncertainties in the motor parameters and a bounded

time varying load torque.

Edouard Laroche, Emmanuel Sedda and Cecile Durieu [22] proposed a method for

online estimation of states and parameters of an induction motor with Kalman Filter. In

order to ensure a good level of confidence of the estimation, a suitable methodology was

proposed and two main points were investigated. First, an original method was used for

tuning the covariance matrices, relying on the evaluation of the state noise due to

modelling errors. Second, an observability analysis was developed to validate the model

and the proposed excitation trajectory. Experimental results show that, with the chosen

input signal, the parameters can be estimated with good accuracy in less than two

seconds.

For joint speed and parameter estimation these methods are efficient. However, the

problems related to Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), or Extended Luenberger Observer

(ELO) is the large memory requirement, computational intricacy, and the constraint such

as treating all inductances to be constant in the machine model.

2.5.3 Model Reference Adaptive System Based Techniques

The third group of on-line rotor resistance adaptation methods is based on

principles of model reference adaptive control. This is the approach that has attracted

most of the attention due to its relatively simple implementation requirements. Here the

basic idea is to estimate certain states from two different directions, one is to calculate

using the states of the controllers and the other is to estimate the same states using

measured signals. One of the estimates should be independent of rotor resistance, so that

34
the error between these two estimates provides the correction to the rotor resistance,

using an adaptive mechanism which can be a proportional integral controller. These

methods essentially utilize the machine model and its accuracy is therefore heavily

dependent on the accuracy of the model used. In general, these methods primarily differ

with respect to which quantity is selected for adaptation purposes. Some of the best

known are electromagnetic torque based, rotor flux based, outer product of stator current

and back emf based, reactive power based and d-axis and q-axis stator voltage based. One

of the common features that all of the methods of this group share is that rotor resistance

adaptation is usually operational in steady-states only and is disabled during transients.

(i) Torque Reference Model

D.Lorenz and B.Lawson proposed [23] a simplified approach to the continuous on-

line tuning of rotor flux feed forward field oriented induction motor drive. This

procedure offers the advantages of not requiring a special test signal or special test

conditions. The approach takes advantage of the stator voltage equations which allow

robust and parameter – insensitive estimation of the electromagnetic torque while

operating at nominal speeds for which the stator IR voltage drop is negligible. It uses the

torque equation to estimate the rotor resistance. This estimation can be used even under

transient torque conditions. However, there is a need to know the values of stator

resistance (also variable with temperature), the magnetising inductance and the rotor

inductance.

(ii) Outer Product of Stator current and Back EMF Method

To solve the problem of performance degradation due to parameter variations in an

indirect vector control of an induction motor, a novel and simple estimation method for

35
rotor circuit time constant is presented [24]. The proposed method is based on regulating

the energy stored in the magnetizing inductance which can be calculated from the

terminal voltages and magnetising currents.

(iii) The D-axis and Q-axis Voltage Reference Models

In [25], the d-axis voltage equation and the q-axis voltage equation are used to

estimate the rotor resistance. Both approaches use stator resistance, stator and rotor

inductances and magnetising inductance. The error between the estimated voltage and the

real value is analysed. This error is used to drive adaptive mechanism which provides

estimation of the rotor resistance, it is demonstrated that the load torque and the supply

frequency affect the convergence of the algorithm in this case.

Of the various adaptive techniques available, flux based MRAS and other versions of

the same are proposed to estimate the rotor resistance. Such schemes efficiently estimate

rotor resistance but suffer from integrator related problems. A reactive power based

MRAS has no integrator related problems and hence can be advantageously used for

rotor resistance estimation of Space Vector PWM Inverter fed Induction Motor Drives.

2.5.4 Heuristic Methods

Recent developments in artificial intelligence, have led to the application of artificial

neural networks and fuzzy logic for the on-line rotor resistance adaptation. Chan and

Wang [26] have presented a new method for rotor resistance identification, with a new

coordinate axes selection. They set a new reference frame which was coincident with the

stator current vector. They measured the steady-state stator voltage, current and motor

speed, and obtained the stationary reference frame components by using a three phase to

two phase transformation. The rotor resistance was then calculated algebraically with the

36
equation they derived. Theoretically, this identification method is valid only for steady-

state operation of the motor.

Toliyat et al [27] proposed a rotor time constant updating scheme, which neither

required any special test signal nor any complex computation. This technique utilized

modified switching technique for the current regulated pulse width modulation voltage

source inverter to measure the induced voltage across the stator terminals. The induced

voltage was measured at every zero crossing of the phase currents. Thus, for the three

phase induction motor, the proposed technique provided six instants to update the rotor

time constant. The technique was capable of measuring the rotor time constant for the

minimum stator frequency of 5Hz.

Another possibility, initiated by the recent developments in artificial intelligence, is

the application of artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic for on-line rotor resistance

adaptation. In [28] – [30], there were attempts to use fuzzy logic; however none of them

were supported by experimental data substantiating their modeling work. In the fuzzy

rotor resistance updating scheme proposed by Zidani et al [28], a direct estimate of the

stator frequency ωmeas is derived which is independent of rotor resistance, and is taken as

the measured stator frequency as shown in Fig.2.11. On the other hand, the stator

frequency implemented in the control system is taken as ωest . The difference between

these two estimates was used to map the rotor resistance with a fuzzy logic function. In

this paper they have activated the fuzzy estimator only in the steady state.

Bim [29] proposed a fuzzy rotor time constant identification based on a fuzzy

optimisation problem in which the objective function is the total squared error between

the commanded stator currents and measured stator currents in the d-q reference frame as

37
indicated in Fig.2.12. Because the variation of the motor thermal time constant is very

slow compared with the motor electrical time constant, a sampling interval of 5 seconds

was chosen.
JJG
Vs
JG Calculation
is of ωmeas e2 (k)
-1
1-Z
i ds* Fuzzy
+ Estimator
i qs* (FE)
e1 (k) ΔR r-est
-

Calculatio
n of ωest
ωr

Fig.2.11 Rotor Resistance Fuzzy Estimator proposed in [28]

Ta-cao and H.Le-Huy [30] estimated the rotor resistance, with only the steady-state

measurements assuming the resistance variation is very slow. Their estimation was based

on a characteristic function F defined by,

1 ⎡ dλ sdr dλ sqr ⎤ … (2.34)

F= ⎢i qs − i ds ⎥
ωe ⎣ dt dt ⎦
This characteristic function was estimated using the reference values as Fest and was

calculated from the measured voltages and currents as Fact. The error between the

estimated and actual value of characteristic function is used to estimate the rotor

resistance variation is shown in Fig.2.13.

Mayaleh and N.S.Bayinder [31], proposed a rotor time constant estimation using a

recurrent neural network, their algorithm uses the three stator voltage and three stator

38
 current measurements in the stator reference frame. The rotor time constant was obtained

at the output of a recurrent neural network (RNN) as shown in Fig.2.14. The three inputs

to the RNN were stator currents, rotor fluxes and rotor speed. The rotor flux was

calculated using motor parameters and the influence of stator resistance on rotor flux

estimation was not accounted for. The results appear very elegant though no experimental

work is presented.

Tr
Δ ( Tr / T*
r )
÷ Tr*
s
i *ds i sds isqs vds v sqs
Knowledge
Base Z-1 id
d-q

Fuzzification
Defuzzification ds-qs
Interface
Interface iq

i*qs Lr ⎡
Decision θ λr =
Lm ⎣∫
( V−Ris s ) dt −σLis s⎤⎦
Making Logic

Z-1

Fig.2.12 Fuzzy logic Based Tr updating scheme for Indirect FOC in [29]

39
 ω e iqs

Vd ceF Rr ini
Calculation
Vq of Fact
1-z-1 1/
*
i d - kce Fuzzy
*
Logic kcr
z Rr_est
i q Estim z-1

ator
+ 1/ke

λ* r eF
Calculation
*
i ds of Fest

i*qs

Fig.2.13 Rotor Resistance Estimator using Fuzzy Logic proposed in [30]

ia -1/ Tr
i s d/dt
ib a, b, c ds
Recurrent
s λ sdr Neural
ic v ds
Rotor
Flux Network

Va s
Estimator
λ sqr -Lm/Tr
v qs

Vb d/dt

Vc ds - qs i sqs

ωr

Fig.2.14 Rotor Time Constant Estimator proposed in [31]

40
 M.Ebrahimi, E.Rezaei, B.Vaseghi and M.Danesh [32], proposed a scheme for the

estimation of rotor resistance using a neural networks (NN) block shown in Fig.2.15. In

this system the flux and torque have been estimated by using stator voltages and currents.

A back-propagation NN receives the flux and torque errors and a supposed value of rotor

resistance at the input and estimates the actual rotor resistance at the output, which is

used in the control of indirect vector controlled drive system. The neural network has

been trained offline with the mathematical model of the control scheme. Indirect Rotor

flux oriented control, used with this NN estimator, has been studied under the detuning

condition.

Rre

T e* Rrest
R rc -

Δ Ψr
+
Δ Te

Weight Adjustment
Algorithm

Fig.2.15 Procedure of Training Neural Network proposed in [32]

Ba-Razzouk et al [33] proposed another ANN method for rotor time constant

adaptation in IFO controlled drives. There are five inputs to the neural network based Tr

estimator, namely vsds , vsqs ,isds ,isqs ,ωr . The training signals are generated with step

41
 variations in rotor resistance for different torque reference Te* and flux command λ*r and

the final network is connected to the IFO controller as shown in Fig.2.16. The rotor time

constant was tracked by a PI regulator that corrects any errors in the slip calculator. The

output of this regulator is summed with that of the slip calculator and the result

constitutes the new slip command that is required to compensate for the rotor time

constant variation. The major drawback of this scheme is that the final neural network is

only an off-line trained network with a limited data file in the modeling

i *d s
* d-q i *a
T e Calculation of
ω ,i ,i * *
* i*b
sl0 ds qs i
λ *r qs a,b,c
ωsl0
i *c

+ + θ
+

+
ωr

vsds
vsqs
isds
i sq s

Fig.2.16 Principle of Rotor Time Constant adaptation proposed in [33]

42
2.6 Conclusion

The principles of both Direct Field Orientation and Indirect Field Orientation

schemes for achieving Vector Control of a Cage Induction Motor are explained in this

Chapter along with detailed block diagrams and equations. The influence of rotor

resistance variation is identified as a major research issue. The various methods for on-

line Rr estimation are illustrated and classified as Spectral Analysis Techniques, Observer

Based Techniques, Model Reference Adaptive System based Techniques and the

heuristic methods are reviewed. The problems encountered due to parameter detuning in

the rotor flux oriented induction motor drive and an adaptation technique based on rotor

flux using a PI controller rotor resistance estimator is discussed in the Chapter 3.

43