IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics

Volume 53, Number 1, Feb 2006 Access to the journal on IEEE XPLORE IE Transactions Home Page

Special Section Papers on Sensorless Control of Induction Motors

1. 1.     J. Holtz, "Sensorless Control of Induction Machines—With or Without Signal Injection?," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 7- 30, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Controlled induction motor drives without mechanical speed sensors at the motor shaft have the attractions of low cost and high reliability. To replace the sensor, information on the rotor speed is extracted from measured stator currents and from voltages at motor terminals. Vector-controlled drives require estimating the magnitude and spatial orientation of the fundamental magnetic flux waves in the stator or in the rotor. Open-loop estimators or closed-loop observers are used for this purpose. They differ with respect to accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity against model parameter variations. Dynamic performance and steady-state speed accuracy around zero speed range are achieved by signal injection, exploiting the anisotropic properties of the machine. The overview in this paper uses signal flow graphs of complex space vector quantities to provide an insightful description of the systems used in sensorless control of induction motors.

1. 2.     M. Depenbrock, C. Evers, "Model-based speed identification for induction Machines in the whole operating range," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 31- 40, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A speed observer for induction machines without rotational transducers is presented. In contrast to known adaptive observer strategies, the proposed scheme uses-beside the conventional current difference-its integral and a new pair of stretch-turn operators not only to avoid the known instability region at braking but to obtain furthermore a constant gain. To ensure operation with very low stator frequencies, an elimination of parasitic dc components is presented additionally. Characteristics are explained and verified by measurements.

1. 3.     M. Boussak, K. Jarray, "A high-performance sensorless indirect stator flux orientation control of induction motor drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 41- 49, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new method for the implementation of a sensorless indirect stator-flux-oriented control (ISFOC) of induction motor drives with stator resistance tuning is proposed in this paper. The proposed method for the estimation of speed and stator resistance is based only on measurement of stator currents. The error of the measured q-axis current from its reference value feeds the proportional plus integral (PI) controller, the output of which is the estimated slip frequency. It is subtracted from the synchronous angular frequency, which is obtained from the output integral plus proportional (IP) rotor speed controller, to have the estimated rotor speed. For current regulation, this paper proposes a conventional PI controller with feedforward compensation terms in the synchronous frame. Owing to its advantages, an IP controller is used for rotor speed regulation. Stator resistance updating is based on the measured and reference d-axis stator current of an induction motor on d-q frame synchronously rotating with the stator flux vector. Experimental results for a 3-kW induction motor are presented and analyzed by using a dSpace system with DS1102 controller board based on the digital signal processor (DSP) TMS320C31. Digital simulation and experimental results are presented to show the improvement in performance of the proposed method.

1. 4.     M. Comanescu, L. Xu, "An improved flux observer based on PLL frequency estimator for sensorless vector control of induction motors," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 50- 56, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents an improved method of flux estimation for sensorless vector control of induction motors based on a phase locked loop (PLL) programmable low-pass filter (LPF) and a vector rotator. A PLL synchronized with the voltage vector is used for stator frequency estimation. The pure integration of the stator voltage equations is difficult to implement and LPFs with a fixed cutoff provide good estimates only in the relatively high frequency range-at low frequencies, the estimates fail in both magnitude and phase. The method proposed corrects the above problem for a wide range of speeds. Simulations and experimental results on a 0.25-hp three-phase induction machine verify the validity of the approach.

1. 5.     C. Lascu, I. Boldea, F. Blaabjerg, "Comparative study of adaptive and inherently sensorless observers for variable-speed induction-motor drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 57- 65, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : State observers are key components of modern ac drives. The paper presents a comparative analysis of two state observers for induction-motor (IM) drives: the speed-adaptive observer and the inherently sensorless observer. The adaptive observer employs the time-variable full-order motor model with the rotor speed as the adaptive quantity. Thus, the speed estimation accuracy significantly impacts on the flux observer. It is shown that the popular model reference adaptive system (MRAS) speed estimator displays reduced bandwidth, and does not deliver adequate performance for the flux estimation. The inherently sensorless observer employs a full-order dual reference-frame model in order to eliminate the speed adaptation. In this way, it becomes decoupled from the speed estimator and its performance is superior to that of its adaptive counterpart. Theoretical aspects and comparative simulation results are discussed for both observers. Comparative experimental results for both observers are presented. Very low-speed-operation (3 r/min) capability of the drive with the sensorless observer is demonstrated.

1. 6.     Kyo-Beum Lee, F. Blaabjerg, "Reduced-order extended luenberger observer based sensorless vector control driven by matrix converter with nonlinearity compensation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 66- 75, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a new sensorless vector control system for high-performance induction motor drives fed by a matrix converter with nonlinearity compensation. The nonlinear voltage distortion that is caused by commutation delay and ON-state voltage drop in the switching devices is corrected by a new matrix converter model. A reduced-order extended Luenberger observer is employed to bring better response in the whole speed operation range, and a method to select the observer gain is presented. Experimental results are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed system.

1. 7.     M. Hasegawa, "Robust-adaptive-observer design based on /spl gamma/-positive real problem for sensorless induction-motor drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 76- 85, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a design of a robust-adaptive full-order observer based on the /spl gamma/-positive real problem for sensorless induction-motor drives. The adaptive full-order observer is known to become unstable in a major part of the regenerating-mode low-speed operation, and this prevents the sensorless vector controller from operating an induction motor successfully. In this paper, a design of the observer gain for both stable speed identification and robust flux phase estimation and an adaptive scheme for stator resistance identification are proposed. First, the error system of the adaptive full-order observer is reconsidered-requirements of this observer with a speed identifier are described, in which a simple robust observer gain design in the sense of H/sub /spl infin// optimization is not useful in reality. Next, in order to satisfy all the requirements of the robust adaptive observer, the design of the observer gain based on the /spl gamma/-positive real problem and the adaptive scheme for stator resistance are described. Finally, several experimental results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed design.

1. 8.     G. Poddar, V.T. Ranganathan, "Sensorless double-inverter-fed wound-rotor induction-Machine drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 86- 95, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The basic operation of a wound-rotor induction-motor drive fed by inverters on the stator as well as the rotor side is discussed. Different modes of operations are defined and explained based on power flow on both the sides of the machine. The sensorless motor control scheme consists of V/f-type direct frequency control on one side, with either vector control or direct torque and flux control on the other side. The machine operates up to twice the rated speed in either direction, with full flux and torque, thereby producing up to twice the rated power. Novel frequency profiles are proposed, which ensure that the frequency on either side never drops below a minimum value (set at 12 Hz in this work). Therefore, the estimation of flux can be simply and reliably carried out by integration of voltage, resulting in simple sensorless control. The drive works reliably at all speeds including zero speed and at all loads. Results from a 50-hp prototype drive are presented.

1. 9.     S. Suwankawin, S. Sangwongwanich, "Design strategy of an adaptive full-order observer for speed-sensorless induction-motor Drives-tracking performance and stabilization," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 96- 119, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Design strategy of both feedback gains and adaptation gains for an adaptive full-order observer is a necessary issue to assure the stability and the tracking performance of the speed estimation in the sensorless drives. In this paper, novel design of feedback gains of the observer is proposed to achieve the stability over the whole operation especially in the low-speed region, including the regenerating mode. Stability improvement using the proposed feedback gains is rigorously proven by the method of Lyapunov. For the adaptation proportional-integral (PI) gains, the ramp response characteristic of the speed estimator is proposed as design guidelines. It is revealed that the integral adaptation gain determines the tracking error of the speed estimator during acceleration/deceleration while the sensitivity to current measurement noises depends on the proportional adaptation gain. It is also pointed out that a suitable corner frequency of the adaptation PI gains is required as a design tradeoff to avoid an oscillation. The validity of all theoretical results is verified by simulation and experiment.

1. 10.     G. Edelbaher, K. Jezernik, E. Urlep, "Low-speed sensorless control of induction Machine," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 120- 129, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Induction motor (IM) speed sensorless control, allowing operation at low and zero speed, optimizing torque response and efficiency, will be presented in this paper. The magnitude and the orientation angle of the rotor flux of the IM are determined by the output of the closed-loop rotor-flux observer based on the calculation of the extended electromotive force of the machine. The proposed rotor-flux-oriented control scheme is robust to parameter variations and external disturbances. Both observer and controller utilize the continuous sliding mode and Lyapunov theory. A smooth transition into the field-weakening region and the full utilization of the inverter current and voltage capability are thus possible. The produced torque is a continuous output variable of control. The performance of the proposed method is investigated and verified experimentally on a digital signal processor.

1. 11.     K. Ide, Jung-Ik Ha, M. Sawamura, "A hybrid speed estimator of flux observer for induction motor drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 130- 137, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a hybrid speed estimator that gives the synergetic effect between the model- and the saliency-based field orientations for induction motor drives. The model-based field orientation consists of a flux observer with an adaptive speed estimator that has unstable regions at zero frequency and zero speed. Saliency-based flux orientation utilizes magnetic saliencies caused by saturation and high-frequency injection that causes the torque ripples due to the chattering. The chattering is caused by the higher cutoff frequency of the flux-angle estimation to keep its high dynamics. The proposed method compensates both faults and realizes complete speed estimation from zero to high-speed condition including zero stator frequency.

1. 12.     P. Vaclavek, P. Blaha, "Lyapunov-function-based flux and speed observer for AC induction motor sensorless control and parameters estimation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 138- 145, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : AC induction motors have become very popular for motion-control applications due to their simple and reliable construction. Control of drives based on ac induction motors is a quite complex task. Provided the vector-control algorithm is used, not only the rotor speed but also the position of the magnetic flux inside the motor during the control process should be known. In most applications, the flux sensors are omitted and the magnetic-flux phasor position has to be calculated. However, there are also applications in which even speed sensors should be omitted. In such a situation, the task of state reconstruction can be solved only from voltage and current measurements. In the current paper, a method based on deterministic evaluation of measurement using the state observer based on the Lyapunov function is presented. The method has been proven in testing on a real ac induction machine.

1. 13.     M. Comanescu, L. Xu, "Sliding-mode MRAS speed estimators for sensorless vector control of induction Machine," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 146- 153, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents two novel sliding mode (SM) model reference adaptive system (MRAS) observers for speed estimation in a sensorless-vector-controlled induction-machine drive. Both methods use the flux estimated by the voltage model observer as the reference and construct SM flux observers that allow speed estimation. Stability and dynamics of the two proposed SM flux observers are discussed. The observers are compared with the classical MRAS observer. The proposed estimators seem very robust and easy to tune. Unlike the classical MRAS, the speed-estimation process is based on algebraic calculations that do not exhibit underdamped poles or zeros on the right-hand plane. Simulations and experimental results on a 1/4-hp three-phase induction machine confirm the validity of the approaches.

1. 14.     M.J. Duran, J.L. Duran, F. Perez, J. Fernandez, "Induction-motor sensorless vector control with online parameter estimation and overcurrent protection," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 154- 161, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Sensorless drive control has been widely studied in recent years due to the numerous advantages regarding potential failures of position sensors, especially in applications such as automotive or aerospace. Among vector-control drives, indirect rotor-flux-oriented control (IRFOC) type is one of the most popular and tested options. However, it is still a challenging field since several aspects can be improved, such as the low-speed behavior, parameter detuning, and current control. The present scheme includes temperature estimation to correct the deviation in steady state, a new control scheme with skin-effect estimation to improve the transient accuracy, and overcurrent protection to be able to control the stator currents while allowing a good performance. The parameter estimation is carried out using lumped-parameter models, the control scheme is modified and is able to account for static friction, and the overcurrent protection improves the performance allowing transient currents over the rated value. The validity and usefulness of the proposed scheme is experimentally tested on a TMS320C31 digital signal processor (DSP) from the Simulink/Matlab environment.

1. 15.     Mongkol Saejia, S. Sangwongwanich, "Averaging analysis approach for stability analysis of speed-sensorless induction motor drives with stator resistance estimation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 162- 177, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, the stability property of speed-sensorless induction motor drives with stator resistance estimation is analyzed using the averaging analysis technique. Explicit stability conditions are then derived to clarify analytically when the instability may occur and how the regressor vectors used in the estimation and the integral adaptation gains should be designed to assure stability. The derived stability conditions also reveal that the coupling between the speed and the stator resistance estimation loops is the main cause of instability and that stabilization of each individual estimation loop is necessary but insufficient to guarantee stability. Instead of the conventional regressor vectors that are shown to make the estimation unstable in some regenerative regions, two new regressor vectors are introduced to achieve stability for the whole operating conditions. Moreover, investigation of the persistently exciting (PE) conditions points out theoretically the loss of identifiability of the rotor speed and the stator resistance at no loads and at zero frequency operations. Validity of all the analytical results is verified by simulation and experiment.

1. 16.     K. Ohyama, G.M. Asher, M. Sumner, "Comparative analysis of experimental performance and stability of sensorless induction motor drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 178- 186, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper compares the experimental performance of three flux and speed observers for speed-sensorless induction motor drives and discusses the cause of their differences. The small signal analysis using the linearized model is carried out to analyze stability. Three methods are generally accepted to be representative candidates for high sensorless performance, namely: 1) rotor-flux model reference adaptive system (MRAS); 2) torque-current MRAS; and 3) adaptive nonlinear flux observer. Many other sensorless methods improved these methods. The paper discusses baseline conditions for the experiments and the stability analysis, which include matched load inertia, specified speed estimator dynamics, and sensorless operation within a speed control loop. For the comparison tests in the paper, the speed estimation dynamics of the methods are the same; this is important for parameter sensitivity. The paper concentrates on the low-speed performance, and all results shown are under sensorless speed control.

1. 17.     T. Tera, Y. Yamauchi, A. Chiba, T. Fukao, M.A. Rahman, "Performances of bearingless and sensorless induction motor drive based on mutual inductances and rotor displacements estimation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 187- 194, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A self-sensing bearingless motor is considered as an effective solution to reduce cost and shorten a shaft length. In this paper, a novel estimation method of a rotor displacement is proposed. The method is based on the detection of currents induced by mutual inductances, which vary as a function of the rotor displacements. A high-frequency carrier voltage is superimposed on a motor main terminal voltage. The induced carrier-frequency current component is distinguished from the suspension-winding current. The carrier signal is selected high enough to suspension-current components. However, the carrier current is disturbed in transient conditions. The disturbed current results in a vibration of the estimated rotor displacements. A suspension-current estimator is proposed to reduce this vibration and to obtain the difference between the detected current and the estimated current. As a result, the disturbance vibration is significantly reduced. It is shown that a successful magnetic suspension is realized with the proposed method.

1. 18.     C.S. Staines, C. Caruana, G.M. Asher, M. Sumner, "Sensorless control of induction Machines at zero and low frequency using zero sequence currents," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 195- 206, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper considers both flux and rotor position estimations for sensorless control of delta-connected cage induction machines (IMs) at low and zero frequency operation. The variation of leakage inductance due to either saturation or rotor slotting is tracked by measuring the derivative of the zero sequence current in response to the application of appropriate voltage test vectors. The method requires only a single extra sensor. It requires access to machine phase windings and is appropriate for integrated-type induction motor drives. Both a closed-slot and an open-slot machine is used to demonstrate rotor flux and rotor position tracking, respectively. Experimental results are presented showing sensorless torque control and sensorless speed and position control at low and zero frequencies.

1. 19.     A. Consoli, G. Scarcella, G. Bottiglieri, G. Scelba, A. Testa, D.A. Triolo, "Low-frequency signal-demodulation-based sensorless technique for induction motor drives at low speed," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 207- 215, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The paper presents a method to compute the air-gap flux position in induction motors at very low including zero-stator frequency. A low-frequency (50 /spl divide/ 100 Hz) sinusoidal stationary signal is added to the normal stator variables to provide the machine with a suitable permanent excitation. Such an additional excitation modulates the saturation level of the magnetic core of the machine according to the angular position of the air-gap flux. As a result, a new zero-sequence stator-voltage component is generated that contains useful information about the position of the air-gap flux unaffected by load variation. Such a zero-sequence voltage can be easily employed to provide a wide bandwidth measurement of the air-gap flux position. A key feature of the proposed approach is that a low-frequency (0 /spl divide/ 5 Hz) signal is demodulated, thus avoiding any drawback featured by previous sensorless techniques operating with high-frequency signal injection.

1. 20.     V.-M. Leppanen, J. Luomi, "Observer using low-frequency injection for sensorless induction motor Control-parameter sensitivity analysis," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 216- 224, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The zero-frequency vector control of an induction motor without a speed sensor has proven to be a very difficult task. Uncertainty and variation in the electrical parameters of the motor deteriorate the performance of fundamental-wave flux observers as the frequency approaches zero, and observers based on high-frequency signal injection rely on motor-specific phenomena. A new method has recently been proposed, where a low-frequency current signal is injected in the estimated rotor flux direction. If there is an error in the orientation, the signal gives rise to a torque oscillation and affects the back electromotive force (EMF) through the mechanical system. The phenomenon makes it possible to reach sensorless zero-frequency operation. This paper shows that the method is insensitive to the variation of the motor parameters. Experiments confirm the result.

1. 21.     C. Caruana, G.M. Asher, M. Sumner, "Performance of HF signal injection techniques for zero-low-frequency vector control of induction Machines under sensorless conditions," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 225- 238, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A number of HF signal injection techniques have been proposed for the sensorless zero-low-frequency control of induction machines (IMs). This paper reviews these methods and experimentally investigates their performance under true sensorless conditions for a standard cage IM with closed rotor slots. Implementation techniques covering hybrid methods, saliency decoupling, and saliency orientation are discussed. The paper concludes that, while HF techniques can outperform observer-based methods at low frequencies, the robust performance required for industrial application still presents a research challenge.

Power Electronics

1. 22.     E. Figueres, G. Garcera, J.M. Benavent, M. Pascual, J.A. Martinez, "Adaptive two-loop Voltage-mode control of DC-DC switching converters," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 239- 253, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new two-loop control scheme for voltage-mode control (VMC) of dc-dc switching converters is presented. The proposed method adds a high-gain robust loop with two controllers to the conventional VMC loop, achieving an analog "adaptive" loop in which the "equivalent voltage regulator" varies with the changing power stage parameters given as follows: 1) input voltage; 2) load; and 3) component tolerances. The loop significantly improves the disturbance rejection of the control system, i.e., closed-loop output impedance and audiosusceptibility while preserving the stability and the loop gain crossover frequency to a significant extent. Both the small-signal analysis and the experimental results carried out on a buck converter demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme with respect to the conventional single loop.

1. 23.     Chien-Ming Wang, "Novel zero-Voltage-transition PWM DC-DC converters," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 254- 262, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new family of zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) converters that uses a new ZVS-PWM switch cell is presented in this paper. Except for the auxiliary switch, all active and passive semiconductor devices in the ZVS-PWM converters operate at ZVS turn ON and turn OFF. The auxiliary switch operates at zero-current-switching (ZCS) turns ON and OFF. Besides operating at constant frequency, these new converters have no overvoltage across the switches and no additional current stress on the main switch in comparison to the hard-switching converter counterpart. Auxiliary components rated at very small current are used. The principle of operation, theoretical analysis, and experimental results of the new ZVS-PWM boost converter, rated 1 kW, and operating at 80 kHz, are provided in this paper to verify the performance of this new family of converters.

1. 24.     G.K. Andersen, F. Blaabjerg, "Current programmed control of a single-phase two-switch buck-boost power factor correction circuit," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 263- 271, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a new current programmed control (CPC) technique for a cascaded two-switch buck-boost converter suitable as a low-cost power factor correction (PFC) rectifier in a variable speed motor drive. This new CPC technique, which is an extension of the conventional CPC method, enables the variable output dc voltage, and is therefore suitable in a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) motor drive or as a universal input-power supply. The CPC method is very simple and requires only a constant-current reference without any changes in the transition between boost and buck operating mode, and the line current is practically unaffected by the topology-mode shift. Simulations and experimental results verify the presented control technique. Compliance with IEC-61000-3-2 class A is achieved. The experimental setup is based on a commercial CPC integrated circuit (IC) for dc-dc converters. This new control technique enables a simple low-cost control circuit for the two-switch buck-boost converter, which complies with IEC-61000-3-2, and the PFC circuit has inherent in-rush and overcurrent protection.

1. 25.     Rong-Jong Wai, Li-Wei Liu, Rou-Yong Duan, "High-efficiency Voltage-clamped DC-DC converter with reduced reverse-recovery current and switch-Voltage stress," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 272- 280, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper investigates a high-efficiency clamped-voltage dc-dc converter with reduced reverse-recovery current and switch-voltage stress. In the circuit topology, it is designed by way of the combination of inductor and transformer to increase the corresponding voltage gain. Moreover, one additional inductor provides the reverse-current path of the transformer to enhance the utility rate of magnetic core. In addition, the voltage-clamped technology is used to reduce the switch-voltage stress so that it can select the Schottky diode in the output terminal for alleviating the reverse-recovery current and decreasing the switching and conduction losses. Furthermore, the closed-loop control methodology is utilized in the proposed scheme to overcome the voltage-drift problem of power source under the variation of loads. Thus, the proposed converter topology has a favorable voltage-clamped effect and superior conversion efficiency. Some experimental results via an example of a proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) power source with a 250-W nominal rating are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed power-conversion strategy.

1. 26.     K. Kobayashi, H. Matsuo, Y. Sekine, "Novel Solar-Cell Power Supply System Using a Multiple-Input DC–DC Converter," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 281- 286, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Recently, the clean electric power generation systems have attracted a great deal of social attention to exploit the clean-energy resources such as solar arrays, wind generators, fuel cells, and so forth. In this case, a multiple-input dc–dc converter is useful to combine the several input power sources and to supply the regulated output voltage for the load from the power sources. The novel solar-cell power supply system using the buck–boost-type two-input dc–dc converter is proposed, in which a solar array and a commercial ac line are employed as power sources and are combined by two input windings of the energy-storage reactor. Also, its operation principle and performance characteristics are discussed. Furthermore, the solar-cell optimum-operating-point tracker is proposed and examined. It is confirmed by the experiment that the proposed solar-cell power supply system has excellent performance characteristics.

1. 27.     T. Suntio, "Unified average and small-signal modeling of direct-on-time control," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 287- 295, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A unified and consistent method for the average and small-signal modeling of switched-mode converters under direct-on-time (DOT) or voltage mode (VM) control applicable to fixed- and variable-frequency operation in discontinuous (DCM) and continuous (CCM) modes of operation is proposed. The method is based on the direct estimation of the state-variable derivatives using their physical and circuit theoretical dependence on the corresponding circuit elements. This has been the first time that it has been explicitly recognized that the time-varying local average value of the inductor current is the state variable instead of the instantaneous current being also continuous within a cycle regardless of the operation mode. The method provides a common basis for the average modeling of VM control and leads eventually to the well-recognized results obtained using state-space averaging (SSA) in CCM or its modified version in DCM under fixed-frequency operation as well as accurate full-order models also in the variable-frequency operation. In addition, the method known as unterminated modeling is introduced, providing a useful tool for the dynamic analysis of switched-mode converters.

1. 28.     A. Fernandez, J. Sebastian, M.M. Hernando, J.A. Martin-Ramos, J. Corral, "Multiple output AC/DC converter with an internal DC UPS," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 296- 304, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The usual way to avoid a computer shutdown during a mains failure is to connect an ac uninterruptible power system (UPS). However, there are other possibilities, such as using a dc UPS to obtain the dc output voltages directly from the battery instead of generating an ac voltage to feed the whole power supply. Thus, the topology must operate either from the ac mains or from a battery. A complete design of an ac/dc power supply with an internal dc UPS is presented in this paper. The solution is based on the coupling of the UPS to the main transformer. Moreover, the power supply meets all the requirements needed to be used as an Advanced Technology eXtended (ATX) PC power supply-multiple outputs, power and voltage ratings, size, protections, etc. A prototype has been fully developed and tested as a PC power supply. The autonomy achieved at full power is around 7 minutes.

1. 29.     H. Komurcugil, O. Kukrer, "A new control strategy for single-phase shunt active power filters using a Lyapunov function," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 305- 312, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a new control strategy for single-phase shunt active power filters (APFs) based on Lyapunov's stability theory. The idea in this strategy is to form an energy-like Lyapunov function in terms of the active filter states and then determine the control law that makes the time derivative of the Lyapunov function always negative for all values of the states. It is shown that a globally stable control is possible at the expense of a time-varying reference function for the direct current (dc) capacitor voltage. This method, however, requires the estimation or measurement of the harmonic ripple component on the dc capacitor voltage. Therefore, a modified control is proposed by ignoring this ripple component. The active filter's current reference is obtained by subtracting the measured load current from the generated supply current reference. The amplitude of the supply current reference can be adjusted by using a proportional-integral (PI) controller that regulates the dc capacitor voltage. Experimental results that are obtained for steady-state operation and step changes in the load are presented to verify the correct operation of the proposed control strategy.

Emerging Technology

1. 30.     M.R. Widyanto, B. Kusumoputro, H. Nobuhara, K. Kawamoto, K. Hirota, "A fuzzy-similarity-based self-organized network inspired by immune algorithm for three-mixture-fragrance recognition," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 313- 321, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A fuzzy-similarity-based self-organized network inspired by immune algorithm (F-SONIA) is proposed in order to develop an artificial odor discrimination system for three-mixture-fragrance recognition. It can deal with an uncertainty in frequency measurements, which is inherent in odor acquisition devices, by employing a fuzzy similarity. Mathematical analysis shows that the use of the fuzzy similarity results on a higher dissimilarity between fragrance classes, therefore, the recognition accuracy is improved and the learning time is reduced. Experiments show that F-SONIA improves recognition accuracy of SONIA by 3%-9% and the previously developed artificial odor discrimination system by 14%-25%. In addition, the learning time of F-SONIA is three times faster than that of SONIA.

1. 31.     A.W. Colombo, R. Schoop, R. Neubert, "An agent-based intelligent control platform for industrial holonic manufacturing systems," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 322- 337, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : New revolutionary manufacturing paradigms, which take advantage of the newest emerging mechatronics, information, and communication technologies, and integrate them in a highly dynamic and agile economic, technical, and organizational manufacturing environment, are being researched and developed since the last decade of the 20th century. This new generation of manufacturing systems is referenced as intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), and both the "holonic manufacturing system" (HMS) and the "agent-oriented manufacturing system" paradigms have been presented in recent years as the basis for making such systems a reality. This paper reports on the design and realization of an agent-based intelligent control system for industrial manufacturing systems, which covers both conventional mechatronics equipment and embedded control agents. The agent-based control software components are implemented as Windows NT services and logic control programs and interfaced via distributed component object model (DCOM) and Ethernet. Results of the application in an industrial manufacturing environment are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed "Holonic" approach.

1. 32.     Hyeon Bae, Sungshin Kim, Bo-Hyeun Wang, Man Hyung Lee, F. Harashima, "Flame detection for the steam boiler using neural networks and image information in the Ulsan steam power generation plant," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 338- 348, Feb 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Several types of detectors such as ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR), visible light (VL), different pressure, flame rod, and others are employed to detect a fire flame in power generation plants. However, these flame detectors have some performance problems. Therefore, this paper describes the image-processing method of fire detection as well as the neural-network modeling. Nowadays, the image-processing technique is broadly applied in the industrial fields. An extracted image information is taken into the inputs of the neural-network model. The neural-network model has strong adaptability and learning capability; therefore, this model can be suitable for pattern classification. The Ulsan Steam Power Generation Plant in Korea is employed as the test field. If this technique can be implemented in physical plants, the boilers can be operated economically and effectively.

Volume 53, Number 2, April 2006 Access to the journal on IEEE XPLORE IE Transactions Home Page

Special Section Papers on Sensorless Control of Synchronous Machine Drives

2. 1.     P.P. Acarnley, J.F. Watson, "Review of position-sensorless operation of brushless permanent-magnet machines," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 352- 362, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The operation of a brushless permanent-magnet machine requires rotor-position information, which is used to control the frequency and phase angle of the machine's winding currents. Sensorless techniques for estimating rotor position from measurements of voltage and current have been the subject of intensive research. This paper reviews the state of the art in these sensorless techniques, which are broadly classified into three types: motional electromotive force, inductance, and flux linkage.

2. 2.     S. Ichikawa, M. Tomita, S. Doki, S. Okuma, "Sensorless control of permanent-magnet synchronous motors using online parameter identification based on system identification theory," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 363- 372, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : An online parameter identification method and sensorless control using identified parameters were realized in surface and interior permanent-magnet synchronous motors (SPMSMs and IPMSMs, respectively). As this method does not use rotor position or velocity to identify motor parameters, the identified parameters are not affected by position estimation error under sensorless control. The proposed method can be applied to all kinds of synchronous motors. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified by experiments in both SPMSMs and IPMSMs.

2. 3.     C. Silva, G.M. Asher, M. Sumner, "Hybrid rotor position observer for wide speed-range sensorless PM motor drives including zero speed," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 373- 378, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper addresses the problem of wide speed-range sensorless control of a surface-mount permanent-magnet (SMPM) machine including zero-speed operation. A hybrid structure integrating a flux observer and signal-injection techniques is proposed, which results in a rotor position signal independent of motor parameters at low and zero speed. Although the SMPM machine typically has a very low geometric saliency, the injection technique is effective in tracking the saturation-induced saliency produced by the stator flux. Experimental results are presented showing an excellent performance for both the sensorless speed and position control using an off-the-shelf SMPM machine.

2. 4.     M. Jansson, L. Harnefors, O. Wallmark, M. Leksell, "Synchronization at startup and stable rotation reversal of sensorless nonsalient PMSM drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 379- 387, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, a variant of the well-known "voltage model" is applied to rotor position estimation for sensorless control of nonsalient permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). Particular focus is on a low-speed operation. It is shown that a guaranteed synchronization from any initial rotor position and stable reversal of rotation can be accomplished, in both cases under load. Stable rotation reversal is accomplished by making the estimator insensitive to the stator resistance. It is also shown that the closed-loop speed dynamics are similar to those of a sensored drive for speeds above approximately 0.1 per unit, provided that the model stator inductance is underestimated. Experimental results support the theory.

2. 5.     S. Shinnaka, "New sensorless vector control using minimum-order flux state observer in a stationary reference frame for permanent-magnet synchronous motors," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 388- 398, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a new sensorless vector control method that can be applied to both of salient-pole and nonsalient-pole permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). The proposed method estimates the phase of a rotor flux by a newly developed state observer in a stationary reference frame for sensorless vector controls of PMSMs. The flux state observer has the following attractive features: 1) it requires no steady-state conditions for the dynamic mathematical model of the motor; 2) its order is the minimum second; 3) a single observer gain is simply constant over a wide operating range and can be easily designed; 4) it utilizes motor parameters in a very simple manner; and 5) its structure is very simple and can be realized at a very low computational load. The proposed speed-estimation method, which exploits the inherent physical relation of integration/derivation between phase and speed, is very simple and can properly estimate rotor speed. The usefulness of the proposed method is examined and confirmed through extensive experiments.

2. 6.     Jul-Ki Seok, Jong-Kun Lee, Dong-Choon Lee, "Sensorless speed control of nonsalient permanent-magnet synchronous motor using rotor-position-tracking PI controller," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 399- 405, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a new velocity estimation strategy of a nonsalient permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive without a high-frequency signal injection or special pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) pattern. This approach is based on the d-axis current regulator output voltage of the drive system that has the information of rotor position error. Rotor velocity can be estimated through a rotor-position-tracking proportional-integral (PI) controller that controls the position error to zero. For zero and low-speed operation, the PI controller gains of rotor position tracking controller have a variable structure according to the estimated rotor velocity. In order to boost the bandwidth of the PI controller around zero speed, a loop recovery technique is applied to the control system. The proposed method only requires the flux linkage of the permanent magnet and is insensitive to parameter estimation error and variation. The designers can easily determine the possible operating range with a desired bandwidth and perform vector control even at low speeds. The experimental results show the satisfactory operation of the proposed sensorless algorithm under rated load conditions.

2. 7.     C. De Angelo, G. Bossio, J. Solsona, G.O. Garcia, M.I. Valla, "Mechanical sensorless speed control of permanent-magnet AC motors driving an unknown load," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 406- 414, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new sensorless scheme for high-performance speed control of permanent-magnet ac motors (PMACMs) driving an unknown load is proposed. This scheme uses an extended nonlinear reduced-order observer to estimate the induced electromotive force (EMF) and load torque. From the estimated variables, the rotor position, the rotor speed, and the position derivative of flux are calculated and are used to close the control loop. In order to improve the drive performance, the estimated load torque is incorporated as a feedforward signal in the closed control loop. In addition, the proposed sensorless PMACM drive allows the torque-ripple and copper-loss minimization for motors with an arbitrary EMF waveform. Simulation and experimental results to validate the proposal are presented in this paper.

2. 8.     M. Morimoto, K. Aiba, T. Sakurai, A. Hoshino, M. Fujiwara, "Position sensorless starting of super high-speed PM Generator for micro gas turbine," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 415- 420, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Position sensorless speed control of super high-speed permanent magnet (PM) motor for micro gas turbine generation system is described. Mechanically robust surface PM (SPM) generator is installed in a turbine system. This generator is used as the starting motor. The sensorless control of the synchronous generator/motor is done by using voltage/frequency (V/F) control strategy without current loop. After the simulation of the proposed strategy, no-load starting test of the generator and actual starting test of the gas-turbine system are done. The proposed sensorless-control system can start and control the PM motor from zero to 30 000 r/min. The results show that the proposed system is robust for accelerating the generator even in the existence of the disturbance caused by the ignition of the turbine.

2. 9.     J.X. Shen, S. Iwasaki, "Sensorless control of ultrahigh-speed PM brushless motor using PLL and third harmonic back EMF," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 421- 428, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) ML4425 is often used for sensorless control of permanent-magnet (PM) brushless direct current (BLDC) motor drives. It integrates the terminal voltage of the unenergized winding that contains the back electromotive force (EMF) information and uses a phase-locked loop (PLL) to determine the proper commutation sequence for the BLDC motor. However, even without pulsewidth modulation, the terminal voltage is distorted by voltage pulses due to the freewheel diode conduction. The pulses, which appear very wide in an ultrahigh-speed (120 kr/min) drive, are also integrated by the ASIC. Consequently, the motor commutation is significantly retarded, and the drive performance is deteriorated. In this paper, it is proposed that the ASIC should integrate the third harmonic back EMF instead of the terminal voltage, such that the commutation retarding is largely reduced and the motor performance is improved. Basic principle and implementation of the new ASIC-based sensorless controller will be presented, and experimental results will be given to verify the control strategy. On the other hand, phase delay in the motor currents arises due to the influence of winding inductance, reducing the drive performance. Therefore, a novel circuit with discrete components is proposed. It also uses the integration of third harmonic back EMF and the PLL technique and provides controllable advanced commutation to the BLDC motor.

2. 10.     P. Guglielmi, M. Pastorelli, A. Vagati, "Impact of cross-saturation in sensorless control of transverse-laminated synchronous reluctance motors," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 429- 439, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Synchronous reluctance (SyR) motors are well suited to a zero-speed sensorless control, because of their inherently salient behavior. However, the cross-saturation effect can lead to large errors on the position estimate, which is based on the differential anisotropy. These errors are quantified in the paper, as a function of the working point. The so-calculated errors are then found in good accordance with the purposely obtained experimental measurements. The impact of the amplitude of the carrier voltage is then pointed out, leading to a mixed (carrier injection plus electromotive force estimation) control scheme. Last, a scheme of this type is used, with a commercial transverse-laminated SyR motor. The robustness against cross-saturation is shown, in practice, and the obtained drive performance is pointed out proving to be effective for a general-purpose application.

2. 11.     A. Arias, C.A. Silva, G.M. Asher, J.C. Clare, P.W. Wheeler, "Use of a matrix converter to enhance the sensorless control of a surface-mount permanent-magnet AC motor at zero and low frequency," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 440- 449, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper addresses the use of a matrix converter (MC) with high-frequency voltage injection for zero- and low-speed sensorless control of surface mount permanent magnet alternating current motors. This paper also proposes a dual compensation technique that can practically eliminate zero-current-crossing distortions in MCs, discusses the effect of such distortions on sensorless control using injection techniques, and presents experimental results that illustrate the enhanced low-speed sensorless performance that can be obtained from exploiting the effective linearity of the MC operation.

Power Electronics

2. 12.     K. Borisov, T.E. Calvert, J.A. Kleppe, E. Martin, A.M. Trzynadlowski, "Experimental investigation of a naval propulsion drive model with the PWM-based attenuation of the acoustic and electromagnetic noise," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 450- 457, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : An extensive experimental investigation of a 40-hp ac drive was conducted with the focus on mitigation of the acoustic and electromagnetic noise, and vibration, by means of random pulsewidth modulation (RPWM) employed in the drive's inverter. The drive was a laboratory model of an electric propulsion system for naval vessels, particularly electric submarines, in which the noise mitigation is crucial for survivability. Three PWM methods were compared: 1) the classic deterministic PWM, characterized by a constant switching period equal to the sampling period of the digital modulator; 2) the known RPWM technique, referred to as RPWM I, in which the switching and sampling periods are varied simultaneously in a random manner; and 3) a novel RPWM method, referred to as RPWM II, with a constant sampling period and the switching periods randomly varied around an average value equal to the sampling period. The experimental results have confirmed the mitigating properties of RPWM with respect to the acoustic and electromagnetic noise, and vibration. Because of the fixed sampling frequency, the RPWM II technique is technically more convenient than the classic RPWM I method and only marginally less effective in flattening the peaks of noise spectra. Importantly, conclusions drawn from the described study are valid for ac drives in general.

2. 13.     L.G. Franquelo, Ma.A.M. Prats, R.C. Portillo, J.I.L. Galvan, M.A. Perales, J.M. Carrasco, E.G. Diez, J.L.M. Jimenez, "Three-dimensional space-vector modulation algorithm for four-leg multilevel converters using abc coordinates," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 458- 466, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, a novel three-dimensional (3-D) space-vector algorithm for four-leg multilevel converters is presented. It can be applied to active power filters or neutral-current compensator applications for mitigating harmonics and zero-sequence components using abc coordinates (referred from now on this paper as natural coordinates). This technique greatly simplifies the selection of the 3-D region where a given voltage vector is supposed to be found. Compared to a three-level modulation algorithm for three-leg multilevel converters, this algorithm does not increase its complexity and the calculations of the active vectors with the corresponding switching time that generate the reference voltage vector. In addition, the low-computational cost of the proposed algorithm is always the same and it is independent of the number of levels of the converter.

2. 14.     C.B. Jacobina, T.M. Oliveira, E.R.C. da Silva, "Control of the single-phase three-leg AC/AC converter," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 467- 476, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper investigates the control of a single-phase three-leg ac/ac reversible converter in which a leg is shared by both the grid and the load side. Pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) techniques based on scalar and vector approaches are developed, introducing the concept of local and general apportioning factor and, also, a complete equivalence between scalar and space vector PWM. A hysteresis current controller capable of taking into account the shared leg is developed and a zero current error linear controller is presented. Furthermore, a control strategy to obtain maximum utilization of the dc-bus voltage is proposed. In addition, several relevant characteristics of the converter are addressed, such as voltage rating, harmonic distortion, shared leg and capacitor currents, and power rating. The converter is compared to four-leg and two-leg converters. Experimental results are presented.

2. 15.     M.E. Ortuzar, R.E. Carmi, J.W. Dixon, L. Moran, "Voltage-source active power filter based on multilevel converter and ultracapacitor DC link," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 477- 485, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new topology for active power filters (APF) using an 81-level converter is analyzed. Each phase of the converter is composed of four three-state converters, all of them connected to the same capacitor dc link voltage and their output connected in series through output transformers. The main advantages of this kind of converter are the negligible harmonic distortion obtained and the very low switching frequency operation. The single-phase equivalent circuit is analyzed and their governing equations derived. The dc link voltage control, based on manipulating the converter's voltage phase, is analyzed together with the circuit's characteristics that determine the capability to draw or deliver active and reactive current. Simulation results for this application are compared with conventional pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) converters, showing that this filter can compensate load current harmonics, keeping better-quality sinusoidal currents from the source. The simulated configuration uses a 1-F ultracapacitor in the dc link, making it possible to store energy and deliver it during short voltage dips. This is achieved by applying a modulation control to maintain a stable ac voltage during dc voltage drops. A prototype of the filter was implemented and tested, and the obtained current waveforms showed to be as good as expected.

2. 16.     E. Koutroulis, K. Kalaitzakis, "Design of a maximum power tracking system for wind-energy-conversion applications," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 486- 494, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A wind-generator (WG) maximum-power-point-tracking (MPPT) system is presented, consisting of a high-efficiency buck-type dc/dc converter and a microcontroller-based control unit running the MPPT function. The advantages of the proposed MPPT method are that no knowledge of the WG optimal power characteristic or measurement of the wind speed is required and the WG operates at a variable speed. Thus, the system features higher reliability, lower complexity and cost, and less mechanical stress of the WG. Experimental results of the proposed system indicate near-optimal WG output power, increased by 11%-50% compared to a WG directly connected via a rectifier to the battery bank. Thus, better exploitation of the available wind energy is achieved, especially under low wind speeds.

2. 17.     K. Kobayashi, H. Matsuo, Y. Sekine, "An excellent operating point tracker of the solar-cell power supply system," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 495- 499, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : When the solar array is used as an input power source, the excellent operating point tracker is often employed to exploit more effectively the solar array as an electric power source and to obtain the maximum electric power at all times even when the light intensity and environmental temperature of the solar array are varied. Usually, the excellent operating point is determined by computing the electric power from the solar-array power supply with a microcomputer, digital signal processor, etc. However, such a method has the following problems: 1) complex control-circuit configuration; 2) high cost; and 3) low control speed. From this viewpoint, this paper proposes a new excellent operating point tracker of the solar-cell power supply system, in which inexpensive p-n junction diodes are used to generate the reference voltage of the operating point of the solar array. Using the proposed method, the high degree of the solar-array excellent point tracking performance can be obtained even when the light intensity and environmental temperature of the solar array are varied. Furthermore, this paper provides the operation principle, design-oriented analysis, etc., of the proposed solar-cell power supply system.

2. 18.     Chien-Ming Wang, "A new single-phase ZCS-PWM boost rectifier with high power factor and low conduction losses," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 500- 510, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a new single-phase high-power-factor rectifier, which features regulation by conventional pulsewidth modulation (PWM), soft commutation, and instantaneous average line current control. A new zero-current switching PWM (ZCS-PWM) auxiliary circuit is configured in the presented ZCS-PWM rectifier to perform ZCS in the active switches and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) in the passive switches. Furthermore, soft commutation of the main switch is achieved without additional current stress by the presented ZCS-PWM auxiliary circuit. A significant reduction in the conduction losses is achieved because of the following reasons: 1) the circulating current for the soft switching flows only through the auxiliary circuit; 2) a minimum number of switching devices are involved in the circulating current path; and 3) the proposed rectifier uses a single converter instead of the conventional configuration composed of a four-diode front-end rectifier followed by a boost converter. Seven transition states for describing the behavior of the ZCS-PWM rectifier in one switching period are described. The PWM-switch model is used to predict the system performance. A prototype rated at 1 kW, operating at 60 kHz, with an input alternating current voltage of 220 V/sub rms/ and an output voltage of 400 V/sub dc/, has been implemented in laboratory. An efficiency of 98.3% and a power factor over 0.99 have been measured. Analysis, design, and the control circuitry are also presented in this paper.

2. 19.     B. Choi, W. Lim, Sanghyun Bang, Seungwon Choi, "Small-signal analysis and control design of asymmetrical half-bridge DC-DC converters," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 511- 520, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents the small-signal modeling, dynamic analysis, and control design of the asymmetrical half-bridge dc-dc converter that employs a clamp capacitor and a magnetizing inductor to accommodate pulsewidth-modulated operation with asymmetrical duty ratios. The circuit averaging technique is applied to extract the small-signal dynamics of the power stage, and a graphical loop-gain method is used to design the feedback compensation and analyze the closed-loop performance of the converter. The distinctive power-stage dynamics of the converter are addressed and design guidelines for voltage feedback compensation are established. The results of the control design and closed-loop analysis are substantiated by experiments using an experimental converter.

2. 20.     J.J. Nelson, G. Venkataramanan, A.M. El-Refaie, "Fast thermal profiling of power semiconductor devices using Fourier techniques," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 521- 529, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Accurate prediction of temperature variation of power semiconductor devices in power electronic circuits is important to obtain optimum designs and estimate reliability levels. Temperature estimation of power electronic devices has generally been performed using transient thermal equivalent circuits. In the presence of varying load cycles, it has been typical to resort to a time-domain electrical simulation tool such as P-Spice or SABER to obtain a time series of the temperature profiles. However, for complex and periodic load cycles, time-series simulation is time consuming. In this paper, a fast Fourier analysis-based approach is presented for obtaining temperature profiles for power semiconductors. The model can be implemented readily into a spreadsheet or simple mathematical algebraic calculation software. The technique can be used for predicting lifetime and reliability level of power circuits easily. Details of the analytical approach and illustrative examples are presented in this paper.

2. 21.     F. Forest, J.-J. Huselstein, S. Faucher, M. Elghazouani, P. Ladoux, T.A. Meynard, F. Richardeau, C. Turpin, "Use of opposition method in the test of high-power electronic converters," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 530- 541, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The test and the characterization of medium or high-power electronic converters, under nominal operating conditions, are made difficult by the requirement of high-power electrical source and load. In addition, the energy lost during the test may be very significant. The opposition method, which consists of an association of two identical converters supplied by the same source, one operating as a generator, the other as a receptor, can be a better way to do these test. Another advantage is the possibility to realize accurate measurements of the different losses in the converters under test. In the first part of this paper, the characteristics of the method concerning loss measurements are compared to those of the electrical or calorimetric methods, then it is shown how it can be applied to different types of power electronic converters, choppers, switched mode power supplies, and pulsewidth modulation inverters. In the second part, different examples of studies conducted by the authors, and using this method, are presented. They have varying goals, from the test of soft-switching inverters to the characterization of integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCT) devices mounted into 2-MW choppers.

Emerging Technology

2. 22.     Jun-Young Lee, Myung-Joong Youn, "An advanced sustaining technology for plasma display panel using voltage-balancing method," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 542- 553, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A cost-effective plasma display panel (PDP) sustainer employing current injection method (CIM) for energy recovery is proposed. Using a voltage-balancing technique, driver cost can be reduced by about 20%-30% compared with that of the conventional H-bridge driver by using low-voltage switches. The energy recovery performance can be improved by the current that is built up before the energy recovery operation. This buildup current is utilized to change the polarity of the panel electrode and provides additional variable to determine pulse slopes. Experimental results show that the voltage stress of switches connected in series is identically clamped to sustain voltage during sustain operation and that light is emitted more stably by independent control of the rising and falling slopes using CIM. Therefore, the proposed sustainer is expected to be suitable for a low-cost PDP sustaining driver requiring stable discharge characteristics.

2. 23.     R. Amirifar, N. Sadati, "Low-order H/sub /spl infin// controller design for an active suspension system via LMIs," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 554- 560, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : An application of a new controller order reduction technique with stability and performance preservation based on linear matrix inequality optimization to an active suspension system is presented. In this technique, the rank of the residue matrix of a proper rational approximation of a high-order H/sub /spl infin// controller subject to the H/sub /spl infin//-norm of a frequency-weighted error between the approximated controller and the high-order H/sub /spl infin// controller is minimized. However, because solving this matrix rank minimization problem is very difficult, the rank objective function is replaced with a nuclear-norm that can be reduced to a semidefinite program so that it can be solved efficiently. Application to the active suspension system of the Automatic Laboratory of Grenoble provides a fourth-order controller. The experimental results show that the control specifications are met to a large extent.

2. 24.     Kapjin Lee, Chulsoo Kim, Kyihwan Park, "Development of an eddy-current-type magnetic floor hinge," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 561- 568, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A magnetic floor hinge is suggested to use a magnetic damping characteristic obtained by the eddy-current effect. It has a superior advantages compared to the conventional hydraulic floor hinge. First, there exists no wear in the magnetic damper since the disk rotates between the magnets without contact. Second, the deviation of the damping torque is very small in varying seasons due to the low temperature dependence of the conductivity of the disk to which the magnetic damping torque is proportional. The analytical models obtained for the damping torque and the recovering torque are experimentally investigated. The cost optimal design is carried out using the analytical models while satisfying the performance requirements. The analytical results are compared with experimental results. Finally, a prototype of the magnetic floor hinge is built.

2. 25.     Rong-Jong Wai, Kuo-Ho Su, "Adaptive enhanced fuzzy sliding-mode control for electrical servo drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 569- 580, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The design and properties of an adaptive enhanced fuzzy sliding-mode control (AEFSMC) system for an indirect field-oriented induction motor (IM) drive to track periodic commands are addressed in this study. A newly designed EFSMC system, in which a translation-width idea is embedded into the FSMC, is introduced initially. Moreover, to confront the uncertainties existed in practical applications, an adaptive tuner, which is derived in the sense of the Lyapunov stability theorem, is utilized to adjust the EFSMC parameter for further assuring robust and optimal control performance. The indirect field-oriented IM drive with the AEFSMC scheme possesses the salient advantages of simple control framework, free from chattering, stable tracking control performance, and robust to uncertainties. In addition, numerical simulation and experimental results due to periodic sinusoidal commands are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy, and its advantages are indicated in comparison with FSMC and EFSMC systems.

2. 26.     C.H. Lo, Y.K. Wong, A.B. Rad, "Intelligent system for process supervision and fault diagnosis in dynamic physical systems," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 581- 592, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In recent years, the increasing complexity of process plants and other engineered systems has extended the scope of interest in control engineering, which was previously focused on the development of controllers for specified performance criteria such as stability and precision. Modern industrial systems require a higher demand of system reliability, safety, and low-cost operation, which in turn call for sophisticated and elegant fault-detection and isolation algorithms. This paper develops an intelligent supervisory coordinator (ISC) for process supervision and fault diagnosis in dynamic physical systems. A qualitative bond graph modeling scheme, integrating artificial-intelligence techniques with control engineering, is used to construct the knowledge base of the ISC. A supervisor provided by the ISC utilizes the knowledge in the knowledge base to classify various system behaviors, coordinates different control tasks (e.g., fault diagnosis), and communicates system states to human operators. The ISC provides a robust semiautonomous system to assist human operators in managing dynamic physical systems. The proposed ISC has been successfully applied to supervise a laboratory-scale servo-tank liquid process rig.

2. 27.     A. Kusiak, S. Shah, "Data-mining-based system for prediction of water chemistry faults," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 593- 603, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Fault monitoring and prediction is of prime importance in process industries. Faults are usually rare, and, therefore, predicting them is difficult. In this paper, simple and robust alarm-system architecture for predicting incoming faults is proposed. The system is data driven, modular, and based on data mining of merged data sets. The system functions include data preprocessing, learning, prediction, alarm generation, and display. A hierarchical decision-making algorithm for fault prediction has been developed. The alarm system was applied for prediction and avoidance of water chemistry faults (WCFs) at two commercial power plants. The prediction module predicted WCFs (inadvertently leading to boiler shutdowns) for independent test data sets. The system is applicable for real-time monitoring of facilities with sparse historical fault data.

2. 28.     F. Jatta, G. Legnani, A. Visioli, "Friction compensation in hybrid force/velocity control of industrial manipulators," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 604- 613, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper deals with the implementation of a hybrid force/velocity controller for the automatic edge following of two-dimensional unknown planar contours performed by an industrial robot manipulator. In particular, the authors address the problem of compensating the joint friction effects that have to be taken into account in the controller design in order to achieve a reasonable performance with regards to normal force and tangential velocity errors. For that reason, two model-based friction-compensation methods are compared: a static method, based on a previously identified model, and an adaptive method, where joint friction parameters are recursively updated. By means of an extensive experimental activity, it is shown that, in spite of its simplicity and despite the friction effects changing in time during the robot operations, the devised adaptive procedure obtains a high performance in different operating conditions.

2. 29.     J. Moreno, M.E. Ortuzar, J.W. Dixon, "Energy-management system for a hybrid electric vehicle, using ultracapacitors and neural networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 614- 623, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A very efficient energy-management system for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), using neural networks (NNs), was developed and tested. The system minimizes the energy requirement of the vehicle and can work with different primary power sources like fuel cells, microturbines, zinc-air batteries, or other power supplies with a poor ability to recover energy from a regenerative braking, or with a scarce power capacity for a fast acceleration. The experimental HEV uses lead-acid batteries, an ultracapacitor (UCAP) bank, and a brushless dc motor with nominal power of 32 kW, and a peak power of 53 kW. The digital signal processor (DSP) control system measures and stores the following parameters: primary-source voltage, car speed, instantaneous currents in both terminals (primary source and UCAP), and actual voltage of the UCAP. When UCAPs were installed on the vehicle, the increase in range was around 5.3% in city tests. However, when optimal control with NN was used, this figure increased to 8.9%. The car used for this experiment is a Chevrolet light utility vehicle (LUV) truck, similar in shape and size to Chevrolet S-10, which was converted to an electric vehicle (EV) at the Universidad Catolica de Chile. Numerous experimental tests under different conditions are compared and discussed.

Control And Signal Processing

2. 30.     K. Ohno, T. Hara, "Adaptive resonant mode compensation for hard disk drives," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 624- 630, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper is concerned with a mechanical resonant mode compensation problem for hard disk drives. Conventional notch filters must have deep and wide enough frequency characteristics in order to accommodate all possible resonant mode characteristic perturbations, which result in deterioration in positioning accuracy and residual vibration after seeking. This paper proposes an easy-to-implement adaptive notch filter of which the center frequency follows the resonant frequency change. The basic idea of this adaptive filter is to balance two kinds of frequency weighted variances of the control input signal.

2. 31.     N. Muskinja, B. Tovornik, "Swinging up and stabilization of a real inverted pendulum," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 631- 639, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The basic aim of the present work was to swing up a real pendulum from the pending position and to balance stably the pendulum at the upright position and further move the pendulum cart to a specified position on the pendulum rail in the shortest time. Different control strategies are compared and tested in simulations and in real-time experiments, where maximum acceleration of the pendulum pivot and length of the pendulum rail are limited. A comparison of fuzzy swinging algorithm with energy-based swinging strategies shows advantages of using fuzzy control theory in nonlinear real-time applications. An adaptive state controller was developed for a stabile, and in the same time optimal balancing of an inverted pendulum and a switching mechanism between swinging and balancing algorithm is proposed.

2. 32.     Rong-Jong Wai, Ching-Hsiang Tu, "Adaptive grey control for hybrid resonant driving linear piezoelectric ceramic motor," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 640- 656, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents an adaptive grey control (AGC) system for a linear piezoelectric ceramic motor (LPCM) driven by a newly designed hybrid resonant inverter. First, the motor configuration and the driving circuit of an LPCM are introduced, and its hypothetical dynamic model is described briefly. The hybrid resonant drive system has the merits of high voltage gain from a parallel resonant current source and the invariant output characteristic from a two-inductance two-capacitance (LLCC) resonant driving circuit. Since the dynamic characteristics and motor parameters of the LPCM are highly nonlinear and time varying, an AGC system is therefore investigated based on the principle of computed torque control and grey method to achieve high-precision position control under wide operation range. In this control system, a grey uncertainty predictor is utilized to estimate the lumped uncertainty on line to relax the requirement of the unknown uncertainty in the design of a computed torque position controller. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed drive and control system is verified by numerical simulations and experimental results in the presence of uncertainties.

2. 33.     Rong-Jong Wai, Kuo-Ho Su, "Supervisory control for linear piezoelectric ceramic motor drive using genetic algorithm," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 657- 673, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper presents a supervisory genetic algorithm (SGA) control system for a linear piezoelectric ceramic motor (LPCM) driven by a two-inductance two-capacitance resonant driving circuit. First, the motor configuration and driving circuit of an LPCM are introduced, and its hypothetical dynamic model is described briefly. Since the dynamic characteristics and motor parameters of the LPCM are highly nonlinear and time varying, an SGA control system is therefore investigated to achieve high-precision position control. The proposed SGA control system is composed of two parts. One is a GA control that is utilized to search an optimum control effort online via gradient descent training process, and the other is a supervisory control to stabilize the system states around a predefined bound region. Compared with conventional GA control systems, the proposed control scheme possesses the salient advantages of simple structure, fewer executing time, and good self-organizing properties. The effectiveness of the proposed driving circuit and control system is verified with numerical simulations and hardware experiments under the occurrence of uncertainties. In addition, the advantages of the proposed control scheme are indicated in comparison with a traditional integral-proportional position-control system.

2. 34.     Rong-Jong Wai, Li-Jung Chang, "Adaptive stabilizing and tracking control for a nonlinear inverted-pendulum system via sliding-mode technique," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 674- 692, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Since the system behaviors of a dual-axis inverted-pendulum mechanism including actuator dynamics are highly nonlinear, it is difficult to design a suitable control system that realizes real-time stabilization and accurate tracking control at all times. In this paper, an adaptive sliding-mode control system is implemented to control a dual-axis inverted-pendulum mechanism that is driven by permanent magnet synchronous motors. First, the energy conservation principle is adopted to build a mathematical model of the motor-mechanism-coupled system. Moreover, an adaptive sliding-mode control system is developed for stabilizing and tracking control of the dual-axis inverted-pendulum system, where an adaptive algorithm is investigated to relax the requirement of the bound of lumped uncertainty in the traditional sliding-mode control. In addition, numerical simulation and experimental results show that the proposed control scheme provides high-performance dynamic characteristics and is robust with regard to parametric variations, various reference trajectories, and different initial states.

2. 35.     Z. Salcic, Jiaying Cao, Sing Kiong Nguang, "A floating-point FPGA-based self-tuning regulator," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 693- 704, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Recursive-least-square (RLS) algorithm is widely used in many areas with real-time implementation using digital signal processors. In this paper, the authors present a pure hardware implementation of a self-tuning regulator (STR) that uses a real-time RLS algorithm as the parameter estimator. The STR contains a controller design circuit and a controller circuit. Due to RLS computation-precision and dynamic-range requirements, the hardware implementation uses a floating-point format. The floating-point processing elements presented in this paper use parameterized design, where the number of exponents and mantissa bits can be changed as the data range and the accuracy of a specific application require. The strategies for overcoming the covariance matrix asymmetrical problem during the hardware computation and the covariance matrix resetting is introduced when the system is poorly exciting are presented. The design was verified with real-time experiments using a new testbed. The experiment results are presented.

Letters To The Editor

2. 36.     M.M. Hernando, A. Fernandez, J. Garcia, D.G. Lamar, M. Rascon, "Comparing Si and SiC diode performance in commercial AC-to-DC rectifiers with power-factor correction," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 705- 707, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Improvements in power electronics are basically the result of research in two main fields, namely: 1) new topologies and 2) new devices. Researchers' efforts to achieve improved topologies are necessarily limited by the characteristics of the devices. As a result, both topologies and devices must move forward jointly and at same time. This letter studies the impact of silicon carbide diodes on a classic structure of power-factor correction-the boost converter.

2. 37.     Sang Kyung Kim, Hee Seok Han, Young Jin Woo, Gyu Hyeong Cho, "Detection and regulation of CCFL current and open-lamp voltage while keeping floating condition of the lamp," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 707- 709, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new simple balanced circuitry using four printed circuit board trace capacitors effectively detects the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp current and the transformer voltage of the inverter without grounding either side of the lamp. The inverter employing this circuit is free from the problems caused by grounding one side of the lamp, and it provides a stable and wide dimming control as well as an open-lamp voltage regulation with a better efficacy.

2. 38.     A.F. Zobaa, "Maintaining a good power factor and saving money for industrial loads," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 710- 711, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Power quality has been gaining importance in the last few years and, more so, because of the deregulation of electricity. Harmonic distortion at a load bus is of paramount importance to both utility and customers. For the utility, a power factor (PF) improvement reduces system losses and increases the portion of generation capacity available for productive uses. This letter introduces a mathematical model to select the size of a compensating capacitor with minimum total cost including limitation of the PF, avoiding resonance condition, and satisfying the IEEE Std 18-1992 limits.

2. 39.     Yongqiang Ye, D. Wang, "Learning more frequency components using P-type ILC with negative learning gain," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 712- 716, April 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, through the analysis on error contraction conditions in the frequency domain, it is found that a negative learning gain can be used in iterative learning control (ILC). The proper use of negative learning gain can increase the learnable frequency range. The conventional P-type learning control with both positive and negative gains is used over multichannel learnable bands. The design procedure is demonstrated via an example of robot joint control. Two channels, one uses a positive learning gain and the other a negative learning gain, substantially increase the frequency components to be learned by the P-type controller. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of using a negative learning gain.

Volume 53, Number 3, June 2006 Access to the journal on IEEE XPLORE IE Transactions Home Page

Power Electronics

3. 1.     A. Bendre, G. Venkataramanan, D. Rosene, V. Srinivasan, "Modeling and design of a neutral-point voltage regulator for a three-level diode-clamped inverter using multiple-carrier modulation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 718- 726, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The three-level diode-clamped multilevel converter commonly called the neutral-point-clamped converter has become established to be a preferred topology for high-power motor drive applications operating at several kilovolts. Although solutions to the problem of maintaining a stable neutral-point voltage in the converter continue to be the topic of research, a simple solution based on a design-oriented dynamic model of the system is not widely known. This paper presents the design, analysis, and implementation of a simple neutral-point voltage regulator for a three-level diode-clamped multilevel inverter, which uses a multiple-carrier sine-triangle modulator in conjunction with a closed-loop controller for neutral-point regulation. Redundant state choices are controlled via a continuous offset voltage that regulates the dc injection into the midpoint of the dc bus. A small-signal transfer function is developed in closed form, for neutral-point regulation, with the voltage offset as the control variable. Besides maintaining dc-bus voltage balance, the use of the approach leads to a significant reduction in the voltage distortion at the neutral point, allowing a definitive reduction in the required dc bus capacitance. Analytical, computer simulation, and experimental results verifying the approach are presented in this paper.

3. 2.     Xiangning He, A. Chen, Hongyang Wu, Yan Deng, Rongxiang Zhao, "Simple passive lossless snubber for high-power multilevel inverters," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 727- 735, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A passive lossless snubber circuit for multilevel inverters is proposed in this paper. The topology is simple and requires no extra control circuit. In order to reduce the high-voltage stress on power switches with this snubber circuit, an improved snubber circuit is presented by adding separate low-power direct current voltage sources into the original one. The operating principles and design considerations are described in detail in this paper. A prototype of a three-phase three-level diode-clamped inverter with the improved passive lossless snubber is built and tested. The simulation and experimental results indicate that not only can it realize the soft switching operation of the three-level inverter with low-voltage stress but also the topology and the control are simple.

3. 3.     Jih-Sheng Lai, Xudong Huang, E. Pepa, Shaotang Chen, T.W. Nehl, "Inverter EMI modeling and simulation methodologies," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 736- 744, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A numerical prediction of electromagnetic interference (EMI) allows evaluation of EMI performances at the design stage and before prototyping. It can also help reduce the post-prototype electromagnetic compatibility cost by minimizing late redesign and modifications of a drive implementation. This paper describes two simulation approaches with time- and frequency-domain simulations and verifies them with experimental results. Both time- and frequency-domain simulation approaches are found effective as long as the noise source and propagation path are properly modeled. The three-dimensional (3-D) finite-element-analysis (FEA)-based parasitic parameter extraction tool-Ansoft Spicelink has been used substantially. To gain additional degree of confidence, the results obtained from FEA are verified with closed-form solutions and actual measurements.

Drive Control

3. 4.     S. Lineykin, S. Ben-Yaakov, "Unified SPICE compatible model for large and small-signal envelope simulation of linear circuits excited by modulated signals," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 745- 751, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The envelope-simulation method, developed earlier for large-signal simulation [time domain (TRAN)] is extended to include small-signal envelope simulation (ac) and dc sweep simulation (steady state for a range of carrier frequencies). The model is derived for amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and phase modulation (PM) modulation schemes and is demonstrated on a piezoelectric transformer circuit. The model is based on the equivalent circuit approach and can be run on any modern electronic circuit simulator. An excellent agreement was found between the simulation results according to the new unified envelope model, full simulation, and experimental results.

3. 5.     A.I. Maswood, Zee Kum Yoong, "Design aspects of a switch-mode transformer under wide input voltage variation," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 752- 758, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Proposed is a discrete switch-mode fly-back power supply that combines part of its resonance topology into its switch-mode transformer (SMT). The resonant action is generated by the snubber circuit, and an expensive tank circuit is avoided. The "minimum switch on" circuit from the proposed SMT primary and lower auxiliary winding is designed in such a way that it provides a delay of half-resonant cycle before the driver circuit switches on the biasing circuit. This paper presents some practical design aspects of a series of SMTs intended to be used in developed and developing countries where the ac mains voltage is expected to fluctuate from very narrow to wide ranges, respectively.

3. 6.     Qi Feng, R.M. Nelms, J.Y. Hung, "Posicast-based digital control of the buck converter," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 759- 767, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The analysis, design, and microcontroller-based implementation of a digital controller using a Posicast element are presented for the buck converter. Posicast is a feedforward compensator that eliminates overshoot in system response, but the traditional approach is sensitive to variations in natural frequency. The new method described here reduces the undesirable sensitivity by using Posicast within a feedback loop. Compared to classical proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, the new control results in lower noise in the control signal because the controller has a lower gain at high frequency. Furthermore, the authors' experiments indicate that the new controller is less sensitive to the inherent time delay associated with a digital controller for a dc-dc converter. The authors present a straightforward method to design controller parameters from the small-signal averaged model of the converter dynamics. Experimental results for a PID-controlled converter and Posicast-type controller are also compared.

3. 7.     Chien-Ming Wang, "New family of zero-current-switching PWM converters using a new zero-current-switching PWM auxiliary circuit," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 768- 777, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new family of zero-current-switching (ZCS) pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) converters using a new ZCS-PWM auxiliary circuit is presented in this paper. The main switch and auxiliary switch operate at ZCS turn-on and turn-off, and the all-passive semiconductor devices in the ZCS-PWM converters operate at zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) turn-on and turn-off. Besides operating at constant frequency and reducing commutation losses, these new converters have no additional current stress and conduction loss in the main switch in comparison to the hard-switching converter counterpart. The PWM switch model and state-space averaging approach is used to estimate and examine the steady-state and dynamic character of the system. The new family of ZCS-PWM converters is suitable for high-power applications using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The principle of operation, theoretical analysis, and experimental results of the new ZCS-PWM boost converter, rated 1.6 kW and operating at 30 kHz, are provided in this paper to verify the performance of this new family of converters.

3. 8.     M. Bertoluzzo, G. Buja, R. Menis, "Direct torque control of an induction motor using a single current sensor," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 778- 784, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A novel scheme for the direct torque control (DTC) of an induction motor (IM) is proposed, which uses a single sensor of current inserted in the inverter dc link. The rationale behind the proposal is to develop a low-cost but high performance IM drive. The scheme exploits a simple and robust algorithm to reconstruct the stator currents needed to estimate the motor flux and torque. The algorithm operates in two stages: first, it predicts the stator currents from a model of the motor and then adjusts the prediction on the basis of the sensed dc-link current. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the ability of the scheme in reproducing the performance of a traditional DTC IM drive.

3. 9.     C. Lascu, G.-D. Andreescu, "Sliding-mode observer and improved integrator with DC-offset compensation for flux estimation in sensorless-controlled induction motors," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 785- 794, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Two flux observers for wide speed range direct torque control (DTC) of sensorless induction-motor drives are presented and compared. The first one is a full-order sliding-mode observer with proportional plus integral (PI) compensation, without rotor speed adaptation. The second one is based on a zero phase-delay-improved integrator of the voltage model, which uses only a PI flux amplitude control with stator-flux reference magnitude in the correction loop. In both cases, an estimated dc offset is built up and memorized by the PI integral component and this totally compensates for all dc offsets and drifts originated in the acquisition channels. Two feasible solutions for on-line stator-resistance identification are proposed. Simulation and experimental results prove the accuracy, robustness, and high-dynamic performance of both observers when employed in sensorless DTC drives. The effectiveness of state estimation is confirmed by a steady state and transient sensorless operation at very low speed with rated load torque and step-speed reversal.

3. 10.     K. Ohishi, E. Hayasaka, T. Nagano, M. Harakawa, T. Kanmachi, "High-performance speed servo system considering Voltage saturation of a vector-controlled induction motor," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 795- 802, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : Generally, a speed servo system of a vector-controlled induction motor has limitations of motor voltage and current. When the speed servo system has a large torque reference, the output of its PI controller is often saturated. In this case, the conventional servo system stops the integral calculation of its PI controller. However, this system often has a large overshoot and/or an oscillated response caused by both a windup phenomenon and phase error on the vector control condition. This paper proposes a new speed servo system considering voltage saturation for the vector-controlled induction motor. The proposed control method compensates the phase error on vector control condition quickly, and always keeps the vector control condition. The experimental results show that the proposed system well regulates the motor speed and the secondary magnetic flux for a large torque reference without a windup phenomenon.

3. 11.     N. Mutoh, T. Kazama, K. Takita, "Driving characteristics of an electric vehicle system with independently driven front and rear wheels," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 803- 813, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new type of electric vehicle drive system, which has independently driven front and rear wheels, is proposed. This structure can distribute the driving and braking torque according to running and load conditions, and provides a fail-safe effect. Moreover, it is possible to improve drivability, steering ability, and stability while running and braking by arranging a permanent magnet synchronous motor and an induction motor for driving the front and rear wheels, respectively. These are important functions for an urban car to easily cope with common situations such as traffic jams and starting and stopping operations, and the special situation of failure of the motor drive system while running on city routes. The functions are verified through simulations and experiments with the bench test equipment equivalent to the actual system.

3. 12.     Ming Cheng, Qiang Sun, E. Zhou, "New self-tuning fuzzy PI control of a novel doubly salient permanent-magnet motor drive," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 814- 821, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In a doubly salient permanent-magnet (DSPM) motor drive, it is difficult to get satisfied control characteristics by using a normal linear proportional plus integral (PI) controller due to the high nonlinearity between speed and current or torque. Hence, a new self-tuning fuzzy PI controller with conditional integral, which is performed by a single-chip N87C196KD, is proposed. The initial parameters of the controller are optimized by using genetic arithmetic. Simulation and experiments on the newly proposed 8/6-pole DSPM machine have shown that the proposed new self-tuning fuzzy PI controller offers better adaptability than the normal linear PI control and that the developed motor drive offers better steady-state and dynamic performances.

3. 13.     M. Aydin, Surong Huang, T.A. Lipo, "Torque quality and comparison of internal and external rotor axial flux surface-magnet disc machines," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 822- 830, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In this paper, pulsating torque components of permanent magnet machines and pulsating torque minimization techniques are discussed for axial flux surface-magnet disc-type PM machines. The pulsating torque analysis describing general instantaneous electromagnetic torque equation and torque ripple factor is briefly provided in order to analyze torque ripple component. Detailed finite-element analyses focusing on the minimization of cogging and torque ripple components using several techniques are also given. A detailed comparison of the two techniques is also illustrated in this paper.

3. 14.     Kuo-Tsai Chang, M. Ouyang, "Rotary ultrasonic motor driven by a disk-shaped ultrasonic actuator," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 831- 837, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A rotary ultrasonic motor, including a disk-shaped ultrasonic actuator and a rotor, is developed, and the characteristics of the motor, including speeds, torques, output powers, and efficiencies, against various preload forces, voltages, and frequencies are investigated. The actuator is developed on a thin piezoelectric buzzer with three fixed screws and driven by a single-phase electrical power source. Here, the buzzer is composed of a nickel-alloy disk and a piezoceramic disk, and the screws are individually arranged at 90/spl deg/, 120/spl deg/, and 150/spl deg/ arc locations on the nickel-alloy disk. An optimal driving point of the actuator for driving the rotor in both clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) directions is located at a point on the 90/spl deg/ arc edge region, and the CW and CCW directions are controlled by the frequency of the electrical power source. In doing so, the principle, construction, and driving mechanism of the actuator are first expressed. Then, the principle is verified according to vibration mode analysis with ANSYS simulation. The ANSYS simulation concerns the numerical model, structure, and mesh analysis as well. Moreover, a driving and measuring system, including an ac power supply system and a system that measures speed and twist forces, is constructed to evaluate the performance of the actuator and motor.

3. 15.     K. Ohishi, T. Miyazaki, K. Inomata, H. Yanagisawa, D. Koide, H. Tokumaru, "Robust tracking servo system considering force disturbance for the optical disk recording system," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 838- 847, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : This paper proposes a new robust tracking servo system for the optical disk recording system with feedforward controller based on the prediction of the tracking error. In optical recording systems, the feedback servo system must suppress the influence of force disturbance and parameter variation. To overcome this problem, this paper designs the robust feedback control system by using coprime factorization and disturbance observer. The detecting signal of the optical disk recording system is only a tracking error. Hence, the feedforward controller of the proposed tracking control system is constructed based on both the "zero-phase-error tracking" control theory and the prediction of the tracking error. The experimental results point out that the proposed tracking servo system has a quick and precise tracking response and keeps the residual tracking error below its tolerance.

3. 16.     Jin-Woo Ahn, Sung-Jun Park, Dong-Hee Lee, "Novel encoder for switching angle control of SRM," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 848- 854, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : In a switched reluctance motor drive, it is important to synchronize the stator phase excitation with rotor position because the position of the rotor is an essential information. Although high-resolution optical encoders or resolvers are used to provide precise position information, these sensors are expensive. Moreover, in a high-speed region, switching angles are fluctuated back and forth out of the preset value, which is caused by the sampling period of the microprocessor. In this paper, a low-cost analog encoder suitable for practical applications is proposed. In addition, the control algorithm to generate switching signals using a simple digital logic is presented. The validity of the proposed analog encoder with a proper logic controller is verified from the experiments.

Signal Processing And Control

3. 17.     F. Piazza, S. Squartini, R. Toppi, M. Navarri, M. Pontillo, F. Bettarelli, A. Lattanzi, "Industry-oriented software-based system for quality evaluation of vehicle audio environments," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 855- 866, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A new set of integrated software tools are proposed for the evaluation of vehicle audio quality for industrial purposes, taking advantage of the auralization approach that allows to simulate the binaural listening experience outside the cockpit. Two main cooperating tools are implemented. The first fulfills the function of acquiring relevant data for system modeling and for canceling the undesired effects of the acquisition chain. The second offers a user-friendly interface for real-time simulation of different car audio systems and the consequent evaluation of both objective and subjective performances. In the latter case, the listening procedure is directly experienced at the PC workplace, leading to a significant simplification of the audio-quality assessing task for comparing the selected systems. Moreover, such kind of subjective evaluation allowed to validate the proposed approach through a complete set of experiments (developed by means of a dedicated software environment) based on appropriate ITU recommendations.

3. 18.     Jinn-Tsong Tsai, Jyh-Horng Chou, Tung-Kuan Liu, "Optimal design of digital IIR filters by using hybrid taguchi genetic algorithm," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 867- 879, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A hybrid Taguchi genetic algorithm (HTGA) is applied in this paper to solve the problem of designing optimal digital infinite-impulse response (IIR) filters. The HTGA approach is a method of combining the traditional GA (TGA), which has a powerful global exploration capability, with the Taguchi method, which can exploit the optimum offspring. The Taguchi method is inserted between crossover and mutation operations of a TGA. Based on minimizing the L/sub p/-norm approximation error and minimizing the ripple magnitudes of both passband and stopband, a multicriterion combination is employed as the design criterion to obtain the optimal IIR filter that can fit different performance requirements. The proposed HTGA approach is effectively applied to solve the multiparameter and multicriterion optimization problems of designing the digital low-pass (LP), high-pass (HP), bandpass (BP), and bandstop (BS) filters. In these studied problems, there are many parameters and numerous local optima so that these studied problems are challenging enough for evaluating the performances of any proposed GA-based approaches. The computational experiments show that the proposed HTGA approach can obtain better digital IIR filters than the existing GA-based method reported recently in the literature.

3. 19.     G. Grandi, M. Landini, "Magnetic-field transducer based on closed-loop operation of magnetic sensors," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 880- 885, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A high-sensitivity magnetic transducer able to sense magnetic fields from dc up to tens of kilohertz is analyzed in this paper. The system is based on a ing field coil fed by a current on the basis of the residual field, sensed by a magnetic sensor (Hall or magnetoresistive) placed in the coil center. In this way, the coil current proportionally represents the external field component along the coil axis, and it can be easily converted in a voltage signal by a series resistor. Then, a one-axis Gauss meter can be readily obtained. The sensitivity and the bandwidth of the overall system are discussed by a transfer function analysis. A hardware prototype has been realized, and significant test results are shown by means of a reference magnetic-field-generation setup. Useful guidelines for the overall system design are given.

3. 20.     S. Goto, M. Nakamura, "Multidimensional feedforward compensator for industrial systems through pole assignment regulator and observer," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 886- 894, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : A feedforward-compensator-design technique is presented for industrial control systems. The proposed feedforward compensator can improve dynamic characteristics of multidimensional systems by modifying the input signals. The multidimensional feedforward-compensator design is based on the pole assignment regulator, the minimal-order observer, and the conversion from a closed-loop system to an open-loop system. The effectiveness of the proposed feedforward compensator is demonstrated by a simulation study of temperature control of a thermal power plant and by experiments of the contour control of an articulated robot arm.

3. 21.     P. Baranyi, Yeung Yam, "Case study of the TP-model transformation in the control of a complex dynamic model with structural nonlinearity," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 895- 904, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : The main objective of this paper is to study and validate the effectiveness of the tensor-product (TP)-model transformation in a state-dependent nonlinear controller design for a prototypical aeroelastic system that exhibits a variety of control phenomena such as limit cycle oscillation, flutter, and even chaotic vibrations. In this paper, the TP-model transformation is applied to transform the identified analytic model of the prototypical aeroelastic system to TP-model form whereupon linear matrix inequality-based controller-design theorems, within the parallel-distributed-compensation (PDC) frameworks, can be immediately executed. Numerical simulations are used to provide empirical validation of the control results. The effectiveness of the controller design is compared to the former approaches.

3. 22.     Hsin-Jang Shieh, Faa-Jeng Lin, Po-Kai Huang, Li-Tao Teng, "Adaptive displacement control with hysteresis modeling for piezoactuated positioning mechanism," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 905- 914, June 2006.  Full Text Link
Abstract : An adaptive displacement control with hysteresis modeling for a piezoactuated positioning mechanism is proposed in this paper because the dynamic performance of piezosystems is often severely deteriorated due to the hysteresis effect of piezoelectric elements. First, a new mathematical model based on the differential equation of a motion system with