Online sensorless position estimation for switched reluctance motors using characteristics of overlap position based on inductance profile

Abstract

This study proposes an online sensorless position estimation method using switched reluctance motor (SRM) characteristics of overlapped position. The SRM drive system operation requires rotor position information of the motor to apply or commutate the current flowing in each phase winding. Conventional position sensorless control methods have some limitations due to complicated calculations, large memory space requirements dependency on lookup tables, and drive limitations for specific motors. To overcome these limitations, the proposed method uses the characteristics of the overlapping position of the SRM to estimate the rotor position information and hybrid sensorless control by varying the control method according to the operating section. The proposed sensorless position estimation method is verified experimentally using a 400W 4/2 SRM.