A line protection device includes terminals to connect the line protection device in series with an electric line. A current sensor of the line protection device senses a value of electric current through the electric line. A digital filter circuit of the line protection device performs digital filtering of the value of electric current. Depending on the digitally filtered value of the electric current, a switch control circuit of the line protection device controls a switch to interrupt flow of the electric current through the line.

A system and a method of isolating a fault in an electric motor system having a motor drive electronics (MDE) component that is configured to drive an electric motor with a plurality of phases, the MDE executing a method of isolating the fault that includes applying an excitation to a first phase and a second phase of the electric motor in a first direction and sensing a phase current value for each phase phases of the electric motor. The method also includes providing an excitation, for the first and second phase in an opposite direction of the first direction and measuring a phase current value for each phase. The applying, sensing, providing and measuring is repeated for every possible combination of phases of the electric motor. Finally, the method includes isolating the fault within the electric motor system based on the sensed and measured current values.

A motor driving apparatus includes a first module on which an inverter circuit configured to supply a driving current to a motor is mounted, a second module on which a control circuit configured to control the inverter circuit is mounted, and a third module on which a power circuit configured to supply direct-current (DC) power to at least one of the inverter circuit and the control circuit. The first module and the second module are attachable to and detachable from the third module.

A motor control apparatus and method for a vehicle. A motor includes windings respectively including coils. Inverters supply electric power to one of the windings to drive the motor. Controllers control the inverters to control the operation of the motor. The windings, the inverters and the controllers are set as a plurality of power supply lines respectively including a winding, an inverter and a controller. One of the power supply lines, in which at least one of the winding, the inverter or the controller has malfunctioned, is determined as having malfunctioned. Electric power that has been supplied via the power supply line determined as having malfunctioned is controlled to supplement power of another power supply line. Redundancy is obtained in the operation of a variety of motors provided in the vehicle, and the vehicle travels reliably.

Methods and systems for detecting a half-wave condition in an electrical appliance are disclosed herein. The method can include providing, by an electronic controller, an input signal to a triac circuit for controlling an electric motor, the triac circuit configured to control the electric motor, and receiving, by the electronic controller, a feedback signal from a feedback circuit indicative of an output of the triac circuit. The method can further include determining that the feedback signal indicates a half-wave condition is present, generating a shutdown signal for the electric motor, and providing the shutdown signal, by the electronic controller, to the triac circuit.

Method and device for safe switching of a signal between a first and second point. Device includes a first branch having a first switch and second switch arranged between the first and second point, and a parallel second branch having a third switch and fourth switch. A testing device instructs a control unit, in a test sequence, to open the first switch for a first period of time, open the second switch for a second period of time, open the third switch for a third period of time, and open the fourth switch for a fourth period of time. Neither the first nor second periods of time overlap with the third or fourth period of time. A testing unit tests functioning of the switches during respective period of time, and generates an error signal in the event of a malfunction of at least one switch.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a motor drive control device includes a motor drive unit having a plurality of switch elements connected to a power supply source and supplying a driving current to a plurality of phase coils of a motor, a control circuit unit outputting, to the motor drive unit, a drive control signal for operating the plurality of switch elements to sequentially switch energization patterns for the plurality of phase coils, and a current detecting circuit for detecting a voltage value corresponding to a magnitude of the driving current, wherein the control circuit unit includes a first determination unit determining whether a state of overcurrent where a magnitude of the driving current exceeds a predetermined overcurrent threshold occurs based on the voltage value each time an energization pattern is switched, and a second determination unit determining whether driving of the motor is in an abnormal condition based on a determination result of the first determination unit for a plurality of energization patterns.

A method for fail-safe monitoring of the speed of a drive that includes at least a converter, a motor, and a rotational speed sensor, wherein a target rotational speed is specified to the drive and an actual rotational speed is sensed via the sensor, where a substitute rotational speed is calculated and three plausibility checks are performed in a safety program of a safety CPU, the substitute rotational speed being determinable, for example, from the initial frequency of a converter or from the quotient of EMF and magnetic flux, in each case two of the following three values being checked: target rotational speed, actual rotational speed and substitute rotational speed to achieve a high safety integrity level while avoiding disadvantages of conventional solutions, and because the calculated substitute rotational speed is independent of the sensor, even sensor errors that are difficult or impossible to detect via conventional solutions become detectable.

A motor bridge driver integrated circuit comprises a first set of input ports arranged to receive control signals from a first microprocessor, a second set of input ports arranged to receive control signals from a second microprocessor, and at least one set of output ports arranged to output motor phase switching signals to the switches of a motor bridge. A diagnostic circuit receives and monitors the control signals received from the two microprocessors and from those signals determines which microprocessor is to be treated as a master and which is to be treated as a slave at any given time by the motor bridge driver. An arbitration circuit selectively enables only the master microprocessor to the take control of the motor bridge at any given time while preventing the slave microprocessor from taking control of the motor bridge.

An abnormality diagnosing device diagnoses a driving abnormality of a single motor driven by a plurality of motor driving devices. The plurality of motor driving devices calculate a plurality of voltage command values based on a speed command, and voltages are applied to a plurality of windings possessed by the motor based on the plurality of calculated voltage command values, thereby driving the motor. The abnormality diagnosing device is equipped with a command value difference calculating unit for calculating a difference between the plurality of voltage command values calculated by the plurality of motor driving devices, and a determination unit for determining the presence of an abnormality, when an absolute value of the difference calculated exceeds a first threshold value continuously for a predetermined time period.