Electric Motor Control

Electric Motor Control - Overview

The electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, it
uses electricity and magnetic field to produce torque to turn the rotor and hence give
mechanical work.

Depending upon the application where the motor is used, the motors are controlled by
computerized control systems, like solid-state logic controls, or programmable logic
controllers (PLCs) to control and manage their torque, speeds, the work or energy
delivered. Motor controllers can have many features of controlling a motor that may
include but are not limited to starting, stopping, over-current protection, overload
protection, reversing, speed changing, jogging, plugging as well as sequence control.
Motor Controllers range from simple to complex and can provide control for one motor or
groups of motors.

Motors are broadly classified into two categories; AC Motors and DC Motors, based on
the source of electrical energy used.

DC- Motor Types: Series, Shunt/Parallel and Compound based on the way the field coils
and armature coil circuits are wired. Other types of DC Motors are the Permanent
Magnet (PMDC) Motors and Separately Excited Motors.

AC – Motor Types: AC Induction Motors (also known as Asynchronous motor) and

Synchronous Motors. They are further classified by their applications like single phase,
three phase, Squirrel Cage Induction, Dual Voltage etc.

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There are also other types of Motors like the DC Brushless Motor, Stepper Motor,
Reluctance Motor, Hysteresis Motor and Universal Motor.

Here are the popular motor types of motors used commercially used and their
applications:

 Brushed DC Motors - Used widely in household appliances and in automobiles,

and are easy to control because speed and torque are proportional to the applied
voltage / current.
 Brushless DC (BLDC) Motors - Ideal for applications that require high
reliability, high efficiency, and high power-to-volume ratio as well as providing
large amounts of torque over a vast speed range.
 PM Synchronous Motor - Suitable for most sophisticated applications in the
industrial segment. PMSMs are ideal for high-accuracy fixed-speed drives. It also
has a high overload capability, highpower density, very high efficiency and high
response.
 AC Induction Motor (Asynchronous) - ACIM is the most popular motor used
for industrial and consumer applications. As it lacks commutator/brushes it
exhibits high reliability, high efficiency at high loads and the ability to connect
directly to the AC line.
 Stepper Motor - Stepper motors are versatile, brushless, synchronous motors
that are widely used in a variety of applications. They can move in accurate,
discrete angular increments (steps) in reaction to electrical input pulses, they are
ideal for applications that require controlled, precise movements.

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 Servo Motor - Servo motors are small and efficient but critical for use in
applications involving precise position control, velocity control and torque control.

Types of Motors Overview

Brushed DC Motor Control:

Brushed DC (BDC) motors get their name from the "brushes" used for commutation.
Brushed DC motors are used frequently in household appliances and in automobiles.
They also maintain a strong industrial niche because of the ability to alter the torque to
speed ratio exclusive to brushed motors. BDC are easy to control because speed and
torque are proportional to the applied voltage / current.

A brushed DC motor is made up of 4 basic components; the stator, the rotor (or
armature), brushes, and commutator. The rotor, also known as the armature made up of
one or more windings. When these windings are energized they produce a magnetic
field. The magnetic poles of this rotor field will be attracted to the opposite poles
generated by the stator, causing the rotor to turn. As the motor turns, the windings are
constantly being energized in a different sequence so that the magnetic poles generated
by the rotor do not overrun the poles generated in the stator. This switching of the field
in the rotor windings is called Commutation. The rotation’s direction, clockwise and/or
counter clockwise, can be reversed easily by reversing the polarity of the brushes, i.e.,
reversing the leads on the battery.

There are four types of BDC motors. Permanent Magnet Brush DC Motor, the shunt-
wound brushed DC motor, series-wound DC motor and fourth is the compound-wound
brushed DC motor which is a combination of both the shunt and series wound brushed
DC motors.

Brushless DC Motor Control:

The Brushless DC (BLDC) motor is also referred to as an electronically commutated

motor. There are no brushes on the rotor and commutation is performed electronically at
certain rotor positions. A BLDC motor is a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor with
unique back EMF waveform that allows them to behave similarly to a brushed DC motor.
BLDC motor does not directly operate off a DC voltage source. However, the basic
principle of operation is similar to a DC motor.

A Brushless DC Motor has a rotor with permanent magnets and a stator with windings, A
BLDC motor is essentially a DC motor turned inside out. Brushes and commutator have
been eliminated and the windings are connected to the control electronics. Control
electronics replace the function of the commutator and energize the proper winding,
Windings are energized in a pattern which rotates around the stator, the energized
stator winding leads the rotor magnet and switches just as the rotor aligns with the
stator.

The Brushless DC motor is the ideal choice for applications that require high reliability,
high efficiency, and high power-to-volume ratio. Generally speaking, a BLDC motor is

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considered to be a high performance motor that is capable of providing large amounts of

torque over a vast speed range.

DC Motor Controller/Driver:

The rotational speed of a DC motor depends upon the interaction between two
magnetic fields, one set up by the stator’s stationary permanent magnets and the other
by the armatures (rotor) rotating electromagnets and by controlling this interaction we
can control the speed of rotation. One simple and easy way to control the speed of a
motor is to regulate the amount of voltage across its terminals and this can be achieved
using “Pulse Width Modulation” or PWM. PWM speed control works by driving the motor
with a series of “ON-OFF” pulses and varying the duty cycle, the fraction of the time that
the output voltage is “ON” compared to when it is “OFF”, of the pulses while keeping the
frequency constant.

BLDC motors, also called Permanent Magnet DC Synchronous motors, are one of the
motor types that have more rapidly gained popularity, mainly because of their better
characteristics and performance. Therefore, it is necessary to have a low-cost but
effective BLDC motor controller. The BLDC motor is a synchronous electric motor having
a linear relationship between current and torque, voltage and rpm. There are two
methods of controlling the motor and reading information back from the rotor. These are
sensor based and the sensorless methods. The sensor method uses Hall sensors whereas
the sensorless method reads the Back Electromotive Force (BEMF) signal back to
determine the position of the rotor. To reduce the overall cost of actuating devices,
sensorless control techniques are normally used.

PM motor drives require a rotor position sensor to properly perform phase commutation
and/or current control. Most frequently used devices in position and speed applications
are Hall-effect sensors, variable reluctance sensors, and accelerometers. And also it is
not desirable to use the position sensors for applications where reliability is of utmost
importance because a sensor failure may cause instability in the control system. These
limitations of using position sensors combined with the availability of powerful and
economical microprocessors have spurred the development of sensorless control
technology.

Motor controllers can have many features of controlling a motor that may include but are
not limited to starting, stopping, over-current protection, overload protection, reversing,
speed changing, jogging, plugging as well as sequence control. Motor Controllers range
from simple to complex and can provide control for one motor or groups of motors.

AC-Induction Motor (Asynchronous):

One of the most common electrical motor used in most applications which is known as
Induction Motor. This motor is also called as asynchronous motor because the rotor
always turns at a lower speed than the field, making it an asynchronous AC motor. It
runs at a speed less than its synchronous speed. AC induction motors are either single-
phase or poly-phase. The Single phase power system is widely used as compared to

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three phase system for domestic purpose, commercial purpose and to some extent in
industrial purpose.

The stator of the motor consists of overlapping winding offset. When the primary winding
or the stator is connected to AC source, it establishes a rotating magnetic field which
rotates at the synchronous speed. The theoretical speed of the rotor in an induction
motor depends on the frequency of the AC supply and the number of coils that make up
the stator and, with no load on the motor, comes close to the speed of the rotating
magnetic field. It turns at a constant speed unless you use a variable-frequency drive.

The biggest advantage of AC induction motors is their sheer simplicity. They have only
one moving part, the rotor, which makes them low-cost, quiet, long-lasting, and
relatively trouble free. Induction motors can be fairly heavy and bulky because of their
coil windings. Three phase IM are widely used in industrial drives, Lifts, Cranes, Driving
lathe machine..etc because they are rugged, reliable and economical. Single-phase IM
are used extensively for smaller loads, such as household appliances like fans, pumps,
mixer, toys, vacuum cleaner, Drilling machines Etc.

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

The Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) is an AC synchronous motor whose

field excitation is provided by permanent magnets, and has a sinusoidal back EMF
waveform. The PMSM is a cross between an induction motor and brushless DC motor.
Like a brushless DC motor, it has a permanent magnet rotor and windings on the stator.
However, the stator structure with windings constructed to produce a sinusoidal flux
density in the air gap of the machine resembles that of an induction motor. Its power
density is higher than induction motors with the same ratings since there is no stator
power dedicated to magnetic field production.

With permanent magnets the PMSM can generate torque at zero speed, it requires
digitally controlled inverter for operations. PMSM are typically used for high-performance
and high-efficiency motor drives. High-performance motor control is characterized by
smooth rotation over the entire speed range of the motor, full torque control at zero
speed, and fast acceleration and deceleration.

To achieve such control, vector control techniques are used for PMSM. The vector control
techniques are usually also referred to as field-oriented control (FOC). The basic idea of
the vector control algorithm is to decompose a stator current into a magnetic field-
generating part and a torque-generating part. Both components can be controlled
separately after decomposition.

Servo Motors

A servomotor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for high-response, high-
precision control of angular or linear position, velocity and acceleration. As a motor
capable of the accurate rotation angle and speed control, it can be used for a variety of
equipment. They are used in applications such as robotics, CNC machinery or automated

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manufacturing and are generally used as a high-performance alternative to the stepper

motor.

Servo systems combine a high-performance servo motor with a servo amplifier (drive) to
achieve the extremely accurate position, velocity, or torque control. Servos have
integrated gears and a shaft that can be precisely controlled. The servo circuitry is built
right inside the motor unit and has a positionable shaft, which usually is fitted with a
gear. The motor is controlled with an electric signal which determines the amount of
movement of the shaft.

In a closed loop control, a rotation detector (encoder) is mounted on the motor and
feeds the rotation position/speed of the motor shaft back to the driver. The driver
calculates the error of the pulse signal or analog voltage (position command / speed
command) from the controller and the feedback signal (current position/speed) and
controls the motor rotation so the error becomes zero. The closed loop control method is
achieved with a driver, motor and encoder, so the motor can carry out highly accurate
positioning operations. In a position control system, a controller inputs the pulse signal,
the speed and stop position is then controlled according to the pulse number.

Stepper Motor and Drivers:

A stepper motor is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a
number of equal steps. It rotates a specific incremental distance per each step. The
number of steps that are executed controls the degree of rotation of the motor’s shaft.

Stepper motors have some inherent ability to control position, as they have built-in
output steps. It can very accurately control how far and how fast the stepper motor will
rotate. The number of steps the motor executes is equal to the number of pulse
commands given by the controller. A stepper will rotate a distance and at a rate that is
proportional to the number and frequency of its pulse commands.

A stepper motor controller can be either open loop or closed loop. The difference
between the two is that an open loop system sends a consistent rate of power to the
motor, assuming that the rotating field that the rotor follows is consistent. A closed loop
system uses feedback to adjust power based on the kind of load the motor is bearing.
Most motor applications work with an open loop system, because it is simpler and less
expensive.

Stepper motors have several advantages over other types of motors. One of the most
impressive is their ability to position very accurately. It can achieve the same target
position, revolution after revolution. Standard stepper motors have a step angle
accuracy of +/-5%. The error does not accumulate from step to step.

AC Motor and Drivers

An AC motor controller/driver is a device that controls the speed of the AC Motor. It is

also referred to as a variable frequency drive, adjustable speed drive or frequency

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converter. The AC Motor receives power, which is ultimately converted by the driver into
an adjustable frequency which allows the motor speed to be precisely controlled.

Typically, an AC motor controller consists of three basic parts: the rectifier, inverter, and
the DC link to connect the two. The rectifier converts AC input into DC, while the inverter
switches the DC voltage to an adjustable frequency AC output voltage. The inverter can
also be used to control output current flow if needed. Both the rectifier and inverter are
directed by a set of controls to generate a specific amount of AC voltage and frequency
to match the AC motor system at a given point of time.

An AC controller can be used in many different industrial and commercial applications.

Most often used to control fans in air conditioning and heating systems, it allows for
more control of the airflow. It also aids in adjusting the speed of pumps and blowers.
More recent applications include conveyors, cranes and hoists, machine tools, extruders,
film lines, and textile-fibre spinning machines.