6 Motor Control Using FPGA For the robot controller application chosen in this book, the electric motor is the actuator of the control scheme. There are many types of electric motors available that can be used for robot applications. The control scheme used for each motor type may be unique, but the overall control approach for motion control is similar across motor drives. 6.1 Introduction to Motor Drives Robots make extemsive use of electric motor drives as actuators, Electric motors as actuators for robot joint movement score over hydraulic and pneumatic actuators. Electric motor based control schemes are cleaner and easier to implement, Early robots used brushed DC motors as actuators, Though the control of DC motors is simple, itis not preferred due to frequent maintenance and possible hazard because of sparking of brushes. Many robot manufacturers now use AC servomotors in place of DC motors. Fast digital circuits have made implementation of complex algorithms feasible, They are needed for control of AC motors. For completeness, this chapter includes FPGA-based control of DC motors along with control techniques used for AC servomotors. Each motor drive provides basie function © Setting of speed reference 6 Motor Control Using FPGA6 Motor Control Using FPGA For the robot controller application chosen in this book, the electric motor is the actuator of the control scheme. There are many types of electric motors available that can be used for robot applications. The control scheme used for each motor type may be unique, but the overall control approach for motion control is similar across motor drives. 6.1 Introduction to Motor Drives Robots make extemsive use of electric motor drives as actuators, Electric motors as actuators for robot joint movement score over hydraulic and pneumatic actuators. Electric motor based control schemes are cleaner and easier to implement, Early robots used brushed DC motors as actuators, Though the control of DC motors is simple, itis not preferred due to frequent maintenance and possible hazard because of sparking of brushes. Many robot manufacturers now use AC servomotors in place of DC motors. Fast digital circuits have made implementation of complex algorithms feasible, They are needed for control of AC motors. For completeness, this chapter includes FPGA-based control of DC motors along with control techniques used for AC servomotors. Each motor drive provides basie function © Setting of speed reference 116 Introduction to Embedded System Design Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays profile generator. The output of the position controller becomes the reference for the speed loop. In a similar way, the output of the speed controller is the reference for the motor currentitorque loop. The job of the controller for all loops is to minimize the error between the reference and feedback values. a com cane6 Motor Control Using FPGA For the robot controller application chosen in this book, the electric motor is the actuator of the control scheme. There are many types of electric motors available that can be used for robot applications. The control scheme used for each motor type may be unique, but the overall control approach for motion control is similar across motor drives. 6.1 Introduction to Motor Drives Robots make extemsive use of electric motor drives as actuators, Electric motors as actuators for robot joint movement score over hydraulic and pneumatic actuators. Electric motor based control schemes are cleaner and easier to implement, Early robots used brushed DC motors as actuators, Though the control of DC motors is simple, itis not preferred due to frequent maintenance and possible hazard because of sparking of brushes. Many robot manufacturers now use AC servomotors in place of DC motors. Fast digital circuits have made implementation of complex algorithms feasible, They are needed for control of AC motors. For completeness, this chapter includes FPGA-based control of DC motors along with control techniques used for AC servomotors. Each motor drive provides basie function © Setting of speed reference