OPTIMIZED BRUSHLESS DC (BLDC) MOTOR DRIVE SYSTEM

Abstract

A drive system for a BLDC motor having poles implemented by separate coils that are activated in corresponding phases, which comprises a controller for controlling the level and phase of input voltages supplied to the separate coils; a controlled inverter with outputs, for applying phase-separated input voltages to each of the separate coils at desired timing for each input voltage, determined by the controller; a power source for feeding power to the controlled inverter; an up/down DC-DC converter for converting the feeding power to the input voltages according to a command signal provided by the controller. The controller is adapted to sample the instantaneous angle of the rotor of the BLDC motor; sample the input voltage input voltage and the current of each phase to obtain the input power P; and for each input voltage, calculate the phase difference value that corresponds to the input power and feeds the phase difference value to the up/down DC-DC converter, thereby causing the up/down DC-DC converter to apply each input voltage to its corresponding coil at a specific timing for obtaining an optimal match between each input voltage and the current that is being built up in the corresponding coil.

Claims

1. A method for efficiently providing drive power to a BLDC motor, comprising: a) providing a BLDC motor having separate coils; b) providing a controller for controlling the level and phase of input voltages supplied to said separate coils; c) providing a controlled inverter with outputs, for applying phase separated input voltages to each of said separate coils at desired timing for each input voltage, determined by said controller; d) providing a power source for feeding power to said controlled inverter; said controller is adapted to: e) sample the instantaneous angle φ of the rotor of said BLDC motor; f) measure the input power P to all phases; and g) for each input voltage, calculate the phase difference Δφ value and the inverter's modulation level that correspond to said input power P and feed said phase difference value to said controlled inverter.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the phase difference Δφ value is calculated for obtaining one or more of the following: desired angular velocity ω desired torque; desired phase current.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing an up/down DC-DC converter for converting the feeding power to said input voltages according to a command signal provided by the controller.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the power source is one of the following: a battery; an AC power grid followed by a bridge rectifier.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inverter's modulation type is Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) or Space Vector Modulation (SVM).

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the DC-DC converter is selected from the group of: bidirectional converter; bidirectional Buck/boost converter; bidirectional multiphase converter.

7. The method according to claim 1, comprising: a) providing a BLDC motor having separate coils; b) providing a controller for controlling the level and phase of input voltages supplied to said separate coils; c) providing a controlled inverter with outputs, for applying phase separated input voltages to each of said separate coils at desired timing for each input voltage, determined by said controller; d) providing a power source for feeding power to said controlled inverter; e) providing an up/down DC-DC converter for converting said feeding power to said input voltages according to a command signal provided by said controller, said controller is adapted to: f) sample the instantaneous angle φ of the rotor of said BLDC motor; g) sample the input voltage Vin and the current I of each phase to obtain the input power P; and h) for each Vin, calculate the phase difference Δφ is value that corresponds said input power P and feed said phase difference value to said up/down DC-DC converter, thereby causing said up/down DC-DC converter to apply each Vin to its corresponding coil at a specific timing for obtaining an optimal match between said each Vin and the current that is being built up in said corresponding coil.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the up/down DC-DC converter is bidirectional, for allowing excess power generated in the motor to flow back to the power source, for during regeneration operating mode, where the voltage E across the motor's coils is greater than the input voltage Vin.

9. A drive system for a BLDC motor having poles implemented by separate coils that are activated in corresponding phases, comprising: a) a controller for controlling the level and phase of input voltages supplied to said separate coils; b) a controlled inverter with outputs, for applying phase separated input voltages to each of said separate coils at desired timing for each input voltage, determined by said controller; c) a power source for feeding power to said controlled inverter; d) an up/down DC-DC converter for converting said feeding power to said input voltages according to a command signal provided by said controller, said controller is adapted to: e) sample the instantaneous angle φ of the rotor of said BLDC motor; f) sample the input voltage Vin and the current I of each phase to obtain the input power P; and g) for each Vin, calculate the phase difference Δφ value that corresponds said input power P and feed said phase difference value to said up/down DC-DC converter, thereby causing said up/down DC-DC converter to apply each Vin to its corresponding coil at a specific timing for obtaining an optimal match between said each Vin and the current that is being built up in said corresponding coil.

10. The drive system according to claim 9, comprising: a) a bidirectional bridge connected to a power source having a constant voltage V.sub.B and being adapted to operate as a rectifier to one direction or as an inverter to the opposite direction; b) a bidirectional Buck-boost converter connected to said bidirectional bridge; c) a plurality of bridges, each of which distributing an input voltage Vin to a corresponding coil of said motor; wherein, the controller is adapted to: d) calculate phase difference Δφ that corresponds to each value of power P and generate appropriate signals to the gates of said plurality of bridges; e) push more power into said bidirectional bridge upon detecting that voltage V.sub.B decreases, and to return power into said power source upon detecting that voltage V.sub.B increases.

11. The drive system according to claim 10, in which up/down conversion is performed in a relatively high frequency, while operating plurality of bridges with relatively low frequency.

12. The drive system according to claim 9, adapted to operate with a constant current or a constant power which are delivered to the motor.

13. The drive system according to claim 9, in which during a regeneration operating mode when the voltage E across the motor's coils is greater than the input voltage Vin, the regeneration current is directed to flow via diodes.

14. The drive system according to claim 9, in which during a regeneration operating mode when the voltage E across the motor's coils is greater than the input voltage Vin, the regeneration current is directed to flow via transistors, parallelly connected to said diodes to reduce power losses.

15. The drive system according to claim 9, comprising: a) a first comparator for measuring the current and compared said current to a desired reference current I.sub.ref and for outputting the difference between I b) a second comparator which receives the output of said first comparator and samples the voltage Vin; and c) a second phase compensator for changing the voltage Vin in a direction that causes the current I to be equal to the reference current I.sub.ref.

16. The drive system according to claim 9, in which whenever the control is a power-based control, said system comprises: a) a comparator for comparing the product of the current I and the voltage Vin to a desired reference power P.sub.ref. b) a first phase compensator that receives the difference between P and P.sub.ref; c) a second comparator which receives said difference and samples the voltage Vin; d) a second phase compensator for changing the voltage Vin in a direction that causes the power P to be equal to the reference power P.sub.ref.

17. The drive system according to claim 9, in which several Buck-boost converters generate voltages V.sub.A, V.sub.B and V.sub.C, for time periods with desired duty cycles, for distributing the power between three stages that operate in parallel, to obtain ripple cancelation effect.

18. The drive system according to claim 9, in which the magnitude of the required phase-advance is obtained by measuring the DC input power to the inverter, based on a pre-stored lookup table.

19. The drive system according to claim 9, in which the motor is fed by a current source, which provides the desired current to the phases.

20. The drive system according to claim 9, in which whenever the power source is a battery, the control circuit comprises a bidirectional converter that is operated as a Buck converter in the forward direction and as a Boost converter in the reverse direction, for operation with a constant current or a constant voltage which are delivered to the motor.

21. The drive system according to claim 9, in which in the forward direction, the controller adjusts the voltage or current fed to the motor per the required speed and in regeneration mode, said controller adjusts the braking torque by adjusting the reverse current.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0075] The above and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limitative detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

[0076] FIG. 1 (prior art) shows a motor with three poles, in which the permanent magnets are in the center, surrounded by several coils that function as controlled electromagnets;

[0077] FIG. 2 (prior art) shows a motor in which several coils that function as controlled electromagnets the permanent magnets are in the center, surrounded by permanent magnets;

[0078] FIGS. 3a and 3b (prior art) show star and triangular motor topology, respectively;

[0079] FIG. 4 (prior art) shows a model of a motor can be illustrated by a star connection;

[0080] FIG. 5 (prior art) shows a typical control circuit using an inverter that generates the required voltages and phase differences;

[0081] FIG. 6 (prior art) shows an optimal phase match between the current and the voltage in each branch;

[0082] FIG. 7 (prior art) shows a motor drive circuit where the speed is controlled by the magnitude of the input voltage;

[0083] FIG. 8 (prior art) shows a motor drive circuit where the coils are separated and the input voltage is applied individually to each coil;

[0084] FIG. 9 shows a mismatch between the phases of the current and the voltage in each branch;

[0085] FIG. 10 shows the concept of Field Oriented Control (FOC);

[0086] FIG. 11 shows a basic feeding path for each phase, which consists of a series connection of an inductor, followed by a resistor, which represents losses;

[0087] FIG. 12 shows simulation results of the obtained phase correction value Δφ as a function of power;

[0088] FIG. 13 shows a control apparatus that implements the method proposed by the present invention;

[0089] FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment in which the motor is fed by a current source;

[0090] FIG. 15a illustrates a possible circuit 117, which is an exemplary implementation of the apparatus of FIG. 12 or FIG. 14 above in which the power source is a battery;

[0091] FIG. 15b illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which the power source is the power line;

[0092] FIGS. 16a-16d illustrate possible regeneration operating modes, according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0093] FIG. 17 illustrates a current-based voltage control, according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0094] FIG. 18 illustrates a power-based control, according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0095] FIG. 19 shows another embodiment, in which the up/down converter comprises a number of parallel and interleaved Buck-boost converters;

[0096] FIG. 20 shows a mode of operation that allows distributing the power between three stages that operate in parallel and as a result, obtaining better power dissipation and less heating of the transistors;

[0097] FIG. 21 shows a cancelation effect that allows the average current Iav and the voltage across capacitor C1 to have lower ripple; and

[0098] FIG. 22 shows an embodiment in which the up-down converter is formed by a multilevel converter consisting of two half bridges in a totem pole configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0099] The present invention proposes a method and circuitry for a bidirectional drive and phase correction of motor drives, for motors with separated coils.

[0100] The basic concept of the phase correction is based on signal processing in the time domain. FIG. 11 shows a basic feeding path for each phase, which consists of a series connection of an inductor L, followed by a resistor R, which represents losses. Normally, the resistor is very small so it can be assumed that If E represents the EMF generated in the motor coil, then:

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}L\frac{\mathrm{dI}}{\mathrm{dt}}=V_{\mathrm{in}}-E& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.1\right)\end{array}$

[0101] The current flowing in the branch is

[00002]$\begin{array}{cc}I=\frac{1}{L}\int \left(\mathrm{Vin}-E\right)\mathrm{dt}& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.2\right)\end{array}$

[0102] where E is the EMF of the motor.

[00003]$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{Imax}=\frac{\mathrm{Veff}}{L}.Math.\Delta t\mathrm{and}& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.3\right)\end{array}$$\begin{array}{cc}\Delta t=\frac{\mathrm{Imax}.Math.L}{\mathrm{Veff}}& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.4\right)\end{array}$

[0103] where Veff is the effective voltage over the inductor L and Δt is the time needed to start applying Vin, in order to correct the unwanted phase difference between the developed voltage and the phase current.

[0104] The phase correction is related to Δt by:

[00004]$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{\Delta \phi }=\frac{\mathrm{RPM}}{60}.Math.360.Math.p.Math.\Delta t& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.5\right)\end{array}$

[0105] where ρ is the number of poles in the motor.

[0106] If the torque is given by M, then the mechanical power Pm is

Pm=ωM=2πf.Math.M  (Eq. 6)

and finally, the torque M is proportional to the current I and thus from (5) and (6):

Δφ≈K.sub.1.Math.pm  (Eq. 7)

[0107] Where K.sub.1 is a constant.

[0108] The electrical power Pe is given by the ratio between the mechanical power Pm and the efficiency η such that:

[00005]$\mathrm{Pe}=\frac{\mathrm{Pm}}{\eta }$

[0109] and assuming high efficiency,

Δφ≈K.sub.2.Math..Math.Pe

where K.sub.1 is a constant that takes into account the efficiency and can be measured for a given motor drive family and stored in a look-up table for each value of input DC power to the system. This in lieu of the conventional FOC.

[0110] The above derivation implies that the magnitude of the required phase-advance can be obtained by measuring the DC input power to the inverter, while K2 can be based on a pre-stored lookup table.

[0111] This considerably reduces the computing power required for deriving the phase advance in real-time. Furthermore, since it is based on a lookup table that is specific to each type of motor, it is highly accurate. The validity of the phase advance algorithm of the present invention, detailed above, has been validated experimentally. Typical results are shown in FIG. 12 which documents the required phase advance as a function of input DC power for various motor speeds. These results demonstrate the fact that the relationship between the required phase shift and input DC power is for all practical purposes is unique for a given motor family and can be used to adjust the phase shift to the optimal point.

[0112] FIG. 13 shows a control apparatus that implements of the above method. The apparatus 110 comprises a power source 111 for feeding the input power to the motor, a bidirectional DC-DC converter 112, a controlled inverter 113 for providing the input voltage Vin to the three phases A, B and C of the controlled BLDC motor 114 and a controller 116, which provides the phase correction to the controlled inverter 113. The instantaneous angle φ of the rotor 115 is measured (sampled) and fed into controller 116, which also samples the input voltage Vin and the current I of each phase and obtains the input power P. The phase difference value Δφ that corresponds to each value of power P is retrieved from a look-up table that is stored in advance in a memory (not shown) and fed into the controlled inverter 113, which provides Vin to each phase with the appropriate angle (i.e., phase separated input voltages), such that there will be an optimal match between the voltage and the current of each coil.

[0113] By calculating the phase difference Δφ value, the desired angular velocity co, the desired torque and the desired phase current may be obtained.

[0114] In another embodiment of the invention, illustrated by FIG. 14, the motor is fed by a current source and hence, the current shape is determined by the drive and not by the impedance of the phases. In this configuration, the up-down converter acts like a current source to feed the desired current to the phases.

[0115] FIG. 15 illustrates a possible circuit 117, which is an exemplary implementation of the apparatus of FIG. 12 or FIG. 14 above in which the power source is a battery. The circuit comprises a bidirectional converter 120 that is operated as a Buck converter in the forward direction and as a Boost converter in the reverse direction (three bridges 121a, 121b and 121c for the separated coils of phases A, B and C, respectively). This configuration enables the operation with a constant current or a constant voltage which are delivered to the motor. The difference being (a) the control algorithm and (b) the size of capacitor Cb. In voltage mode, the control controls the voltage across Cb while in current mode, the control is of the current while Cb is used to reduce the high frequency ripple and spikes. In the forward direction, controller 116 adjusts the voltage or current fed to the motor per the required speed. In the regeneration mode, the controller adjusts the braking torque by adjusting the reverse current.

[0116] FIG. 15b illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which the power source is the power line. Controller 116 adjust the motor forward and reverse motor current while the controller 121 of the rectifier/inverter 119 keeps voltage V.sub.B constant at all time. Upon detecting that voltage V.sub.B decreases, controller 122 pushes more power from power line 118 into bridge 119 and upon detecting that voltage V.sub.B increases, controller 122 returns power into grid 118 (i.e., power regeneration). Buck-boost converter 120 uses is controlled by 116 to feed energy to the motor 114 using up/down conversion in a relatively high PWM switching frequency, while the switching frequency of the motor inverter bridges 121a, 121b and 121c operate at the low frequency of the motor's electrical frequency.

[0117] Controller 116 controls the input/output power P, by the up/down converter, calculates phase difference Δφ value and the inverter's modulation level that correspond to each value of power P and generates appropriate signals to the gates of bridges 121a, 121b and 121c.

[0118] FIG. 16 illustrates a regeneration operating mode, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this case, the voltage E across the motor's separate coils is greater than the input voltage Vin and regeneration current I may flow via diodes D.sub.3 and D.sub.2 as shown in FIG. 16a or via diodes D.sub.4 and D.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 16b. Alternatively, in order to reduce power loss, current I may flow via transistors Q.sub.3 and Q.sub.2 as shown in FIG. 16c or via transistors Q.sub.4 and Q.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 16d, since the voltage drop across a conducting transistor is lower than across a conducting diode.

[0119] FIG. 17 illustrates a current-based voltage control, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this case, the voltage V is measured and compared by comparator 140 to a desired reference voltage V.sub.ref. The difference between V and V.sub.ref is fed into a first phase compensator 141, the output of which is input into a second comparator 142 which samples the voltage I. A second phase compensator 143 feeds a PWM modulator that controls the up/down converter to force I to be equal to I.sub.ref

[0120] FIG. 18 illustrates a power-based control, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this case, both the current I and the voltage Vin are measured and their product P is compared by comparator 140 to a desired reference power P.sub.ref. The difference between P and P.sub.ref is fed into a first phase compensator 141, the output of which is input into a second comparator 141 which samples the voltage Vin. A second phase compensator 143 changes the voltage Vin in a direction that causes the power P to be equal to the reference power P.sub.ref.

[0121] FIG. 19 shows another embodiment, in which the up/down converter comprises a number of parallel and interleaved Buck-boost converters (instead of one Buck-boost converter 120, as shown in FIG. 12). In this example, there are three Buck-boost converter 120a (consisting of a serial connection of Q.sub.1 and Q.sub.2), 120b (consisting of a serial connection of Q.sub.3 and Q.sub.4) and 120c (consisting of a serial connection of Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.6), which generate voltages V.sub.A, V.sub.B and V.sub.C, respectively, where the output inductors are L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 and the output capacitor is C.sub.1.

[0122] When Q.sub.1 conducts, the voltage V.sub.A is generated for part of the time period T.sub.1 and then falls down to zero when Q.sub.2 conducts. When Q.sub.3 conducts, the voltage V.sub.B is generated for part of the time period T.sub.2 and then falls down to zero when Q.sub.4 conducts. When Q.sub.5 conducts, the voltage V.sub.C is generated for part of the time period T.sub.3 and then falls down to zero when Q.sub.6 conducts. The total period time for this system is T=T.sub.1+T.sub.2+T.sub.3. This mode of operation (shown in FIG. 20) allows distributing the power between three stages that operate in parallel and as a result, obtaining better power dissipation and less heating of the transistors. Since the generated voltage pulses V.sub.A, V.sub.B and V.sub.C are shifted in time, the resulting currents I.sub.L1, I.sub.12 and I.sub.L3 in coils L.sub.1, L.sub.2 and L.sub.3 are also shifted in time. This provides an additional advantage since currents I.sub.L1, I.sub.12 and I.sub.L3 are added to each other on capacitor C.sub.1 and the resulting average current I.sub.av and the voltage across capacitor C.sub.1 has a lower ripple (depending on the duty cycle), resulting from cancelation, as shown in FIG. 21. This cancelation effect also allows using smaller inductors I.sub.L1, I.sub.12 and I.sub.L3.

[0123] It should be noted that the embodiment of FIG. 21 (that is directed to a motor with three poles) may be extended to any number of N poles by including N Buck-boost converters and N corresponding output inductors L.sub.1, L.sub.2, . . . , L.sub.N (all connected to the output capacitor is C.sub.1), while obtaining the above advantages.

[0124] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, illustrated in a generic form in FIG. 22, the up-down converter 120 is formed by a multilevel converter consisting of two half bridges in a totem pole configuration. Q11, Q12 and L1 form one Buck/Boost converter, while Q21, Q22 and L.sub.2 form a second Buck/Boost converter. The outputs of the two Buck/Boost converters are serially connected to form one output that feeds the inverter. The two converters can be operated in a step-down mode for feeding the motor and in a step-up (Boost) mode in the reverse direction (regeneration). The advantage of the embodiment of FIG. 22 is that the maximum voltage drop of each transistor is V.sub.B/2 which enables the use of lower voltage, but faster transistors, thereby lowering switching losses. Furthermore, by operating the two converters interleaved, ripple current cancelation can be achieved.

[0125] Although illustrated by one half bridge per converter, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art, the circuit of FIG. 22 can be realized by several half bridges in parallel for higher current capability and current ripple reduction.

[0126] The above examples and description have of course been provided only for the purpose of illustrations, and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, the invention can be carried out in a great variety of ways, employing more than one technique from those described above, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.