Accepted Manuscript

A reliable initial rotor position estimation method for sensorless control of

interior permanent magnet synchronous motors

Xuan Wu, Sheng Huang, Ping Liu, Ting Wu, Yunze He, Xiaofei Zhang,
Kun Chen, Qiuwei Wu

PII: S0019-0578(19)30294-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isatra.2019.07.012
Reference: ISATRA 3265

To appear in: ISA Transactions

Received date : 15 November 2018

Revised date : 26 June 2019
Accepted date : 2 July 2019

Please cite this article as: X. Wu, S. Huang, P. Liu et al., A reliable initial rotor position estimation
method for sensorless control of interior permanent magnet synchronous motors. ISA Transactions
(2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isatra.2019.07.012

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*Title page showing Author Details

A Reliable Initial Rotor Position Estimation Method for Sensorless

Control of Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

Xuan Wu1, Sheng Huang2, Ping Liu1, Ting Wu1, Yunze He1, Xiaofei Zhang1, Kun Chen1, Qiuwei Wu2
1
College of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Correspondence:

Xuan Wu
College of Electrical and Information Engineering,

Hunan University,

Changsha

410082,

China

Phone: +086-0731-88822461

Fax: +086-0731-88822461

E-mail:xuanwu24@163.com
*Highlights (for review)

Highlights

1、In this paper, a reliable initial rotor position detection method for sensorless

control of the IPMSM is presented.

2、No filters are needed for extracting the fundamental currents and the induced

currents.

3、The proposed method can improve the magnet polarity detection reliability.

4、The proposed method is suitable for standstill rotor application and free-running

rotor application.

5、The inverter voltage error is offset by the use of two opposite pulse voltage signals

in the improved HF pulse voltage signal injection method.

*Blinded Manuscript - without Author Details
Click here to view linked References

1 A Reliable Initial Rotor Position Estimation Method for Sensorless

2 Control of Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

3 Abstract: In this paper, a novel initial rotor position estimation method for reliable start-up of the IPMSM is presented. The

4 proposed method combines the improved high frequency pulse signal injection with positive and negative d-axis current bias

5 injection. Differing from the conventional initial rotor position detection scheme, the injection and the field-oriented control

6 periods are separated in the proposed method. Therefore, the filters are not needed in the process of high-frequency response

7 current and fundamental current extraction. The magnet polarity can be estimated by exciting the positive and negative d-

8 axis currents. Afterwards, the peak values of d-axis current during the voltage injection period are accumulated to detect

9 the rotor magnetic polarity. The proposed method can improve the reliability of the magnet polarity detection. Moreover, it is

10 suitable for both the standstill rotor application and the free-running rotor application. The effectiveness of the proposed method

11 is verified on a 1.5 kW IPMSM drive platform.

12 Index Terms—Interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM), sensorless, initial rotor position estimation,
13 magnetic polarity detection, high frequency pulse voltage injection.

14 1. INTRODUCTION

15 Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) have been widely used in industrial applications with advantages, such as

16 high efficiency, high energy density, etc. [1]. However, the real performance of the PMSMs is closely related to the motor control

17 method. The field-oriented control (FOC) method is widely used in the area of motor control. The rotor position is required in

18 PMSM when the FOC method is utilized [2]-[5].Usually, a mechanical sensor, such as resolver and encoder, is adopted to detect

19 the rotor position. Generally, the installation of position sensor reduces the system reliability and increases its cost. Therefore,

20 sensorless control methods of PMSMs have been extensively studied during the past few years [6]-[7]. In PMSM drives, smooth

21 start-up heavily relies on an accurate initial rotor position. When the initial position is abnormal, the starting for IPMSM will fail,

22 or even reverse [8]-[9].

23 To obtain an accurate initial position, several saliency-based methods have been proposed for the interior-PMSM (IPMSM).

24 For example, the high-frequency (HF) rotating signal injection method [10] and the HF pulsating carrier signal injection method

25 [11]. In the HF rotating injection method, the voltage vector is injected into the αβ -axis [12]. Due to the use of the HF rotating

26 signal, the dynamic performance is restricted within a narrow limit. Another estimation method is the pulsating carrier signal

27 injection, which injects the pulsating signal into the d- or q-axis in the rotor reference frame [13]. The induced carrier current

1
 1 contains the position information, and it can be inputted into a phase-locked loop (PLL) to obtain the estimated position and

2 speed. However, low pass filters (LPFs) are needed as feedback in FOC loops to extract fundamental current, which cause extra

3 delay and the sacrifice of the control performance [14].

4 Since the inductance of IPMSM contains two cycles in a single electrical period, the rotor position obtained by above

5 saliency-based methods fails to be distinguished whether it needs to add π elec-rad. Therefore, the identification of the

6 magnet polarity is necessary [15].

7 To identify the magnetic polarity of the rotor, various methods have been employed [16]-[28], such as the short pulses

8 injection method [16]-[17] and the secondary harmonics based method [20]-[21]. In [16], the short pulses injection method is

9 used for identifying the magnetic polarity. However, it’s complicated to choose the pulses length and the amplitude, and only two

10 single positive and negative peak values of induced current are used for the polarity detection. The estimation accuracy strongly

11 depends on the current sampling precision of A/D converter, the difference between positive-negative current peak values is not

12 always obvious enough to make a polarity judgment [17]. In addition, it’s necessary to estimate the initial position of a free-

13 running motor in some applied situation, which features that its rotating speed and direction is not clear [18]. For example,

14 when the motor with large inertia is powered off abruptly, it takes some time for the rotor speed to decrease to zero. In the

15 process of speed reducing, the motor may get a restart command suddenly. In such condition, the motor needs to fulfill the initial

16 position estimation process. The short pulses injection is implemented when the position estimation process is suspended. It

17 means that the short pulses injection leads to the inaccuracy position estimation when the motor operates in free-running

18 mode [19]. The second harmonics detection method is suitable for the free-running operation of IPMSM [20]. However, the low

19 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of secondary carrier current components has limited the precision of the rotor identification [21]. The

20 zero sequence voltages injection method is reported in [22], the magnetic polarity identification is completed by modulating

21 of the zero sequence carrier voltage amplitude. Therefore, the method not only enhances the SNR of position estimation,

22 but also extenuates the distortion of the harmonic. However, the additional voltage sense circuit is requested to determine the

23 zero sequence carrier voltage.

24 A comprehensive initial position estimation method for IPMSM has been presented in [23], pulsating-voltage-vector injection

25 method is used to obtain the estimated rotor position. In addition, a sinusoidal low-frequency d-axis current and a positive ramp

26 q-axis current are combined to confirm rotor polarity. Although this combination method can make the position estimation

27 correct, however, multiple filters are used to extract the HF current signal, which degrades the system performance owing to

28 the time delay. Secondly, the magnetic polarity identification is not robust enough, and the method in [23] is only suitable for

29 applying in the system which is allowed to rotate, such as pump-like or fan systems, the position estimation method in [23] has
2
 1 limited application range.

2 To overcome these problems, a reliable initial position estimation method for the start-up of IPMSM drive is proposed in

3 this paper. The proposed method combines the improved HF pulse signal injection method with two opposite current bias

4 injection method. The voltage injection periods are separated from the FOC periods, therefore, the filters are not needed in the

5 process of HF response currents and fundamental current extraction; the rotor position information is directly carried

6 by the difference between the two current variations of d-axis. Moreover, the position estimation process is not affected by

7 the inverter voltage error effects. For identifying the magnetic polarity, two opposite current bias are imposed into d-axis,

8 and the d-axis current during the voltage injection period are accumulated. Then, the difference of the accumulated

9 current is compared to confirm the rotor polarity. The proposed method is also suitable for free-running rotor

10 applications. The effectiveness of proposed method has been verified on a 1.5-kW IPMSM drive platform by comparing with

11 the method in [23].

12 2. ANALYSIS OF CONVENTIONAL INITIAL ROTOR POSITION DETECTION

13 This section introduces the conventional initial position detection, which combines the pulsating carrier voltage injection

14 method with the short pulses injected method.

15 The PMSM can be modeled in the rotor reference frame as [13]:

 d
16 vd = Rid + Ld dt id − ωr Lqiq
 (1)
v = Ri + L d i + ω L i + ω ϕ
 q q q
dt
q r d d r m

17 where vd , vq and id , iq are the stator voltage and current; Ld and Lq are the d-, q-axis inductance; R is the stator resistance;

18 ωr is the rotor electrical angular velocity; ϕ m is the peak value of the rotor PM flux linkage.

19 The injected HF pulsating carrier signal is,

20  vdc
e 
 cos( wc t ) 
 e  = Vc   (2)
 vqc   0 

21 where Vc and wc are the amplitude, the angular speed of the injected HF pulsating carrier signal, respectively.

22 The induced carrier current in the estimated dq-reference frame can be derived as [13],

3
 1
Vc  1 1 1 1 j 2(θr )  Vc2 d 2id 
e
idqc =  ( + ) + ( − )e  sin ωc t + (ϕm )sin 2 ωc t cos2 (θr )e j (θr ) (3)
2ωc  Ld Lq Ld Lq 
2
2ωc d λd 2

2
2 1 dλd d λd dλ2d
where λd ≈ ϕm + Ld id + (0)id
2
is the d -axis flux linkage; Ld = (0) and (0) < 0 ; θr = θr − θˆr is the rotor position
2 did 2 did did 2
3 error, θr is the actual rotor position, and θˆr is the estimated rotor position.

5 Fig.1. Signal processing for obtaining rotor position.

6 The rotor position information is contained in θr terms of (3), the q-axis carrier current component is more suitable for

7 extracting the inductance saliency information. According to the heterodyning process in Fig.1, the current response about rotor

8 position information can be described as

9
Vc 1 1
i pos = ( − )sin 2(θr ) (4)
2ωc Ld Lq

10 Note that when i pos is regulated to zero, θr can be either 0 or 180 electrical deg, and the rotor magnetic polarity may be the N-

11 or S-poles. Therefore, additional rotor N/S pole identification process is necessary.

12 As illustrated in Fig.2, the conventional initial position estimation method is carried out in two steps [16-17]. Firstly, the

13 rotor position is obtained by superimposing the pulsating carrier voltage on the estimated d-axis. Secondly, the rotor

14 position estimation process is suspended, and the short pulse injects on the estimated d-axis, by comparing the peak values of

15 d-axis response current to identify the magnet polarity. When the N/S pole identification process is implemented, the

16 estimated rotor position will not update. Thus, the conventional initial position estimation method will cause the inaccuracy

17 of the position estimation when the rotor operates in free running mode [18].

4
 1
2 Fig.2. Block diagram of the conventional initial position estimation method.

3 3. PROPOSED INITIAL ROTOR POSITION DETECTION METHOD

4 This section explains the proposed initial position estimation method, which means the combination of improved HF pulse

5 voltage injection and two opposite current bias injection method. The improved HF pulse voltage method is adopted to obtain the

6 initial rotor position without the correction of magnet polarity. Afterwards, the magnet polarity is distinguished by adopting the

7 d-axis current bias.

8 3.1. Improved HF Pulse Voltage Signal Injection Method

9 In the stationary αβ-reference frame, the vector representation of (1) can be described as

10  d d 
vαβ = Riαβ +  L iαβ + LΔ iαβ* e j 2θr * j 2θ r
 + j 2ωr LΔ iαβ e + jωrϕm e jθr (5)
 dt dt 

11 where L = (Ld + Lq ) / 2 , LΔ = ( Ld − Lq ) / 2 , iαβ* is the conjugate vector of iαβ .When the motor runs at low speed and standstill,

12 ωr ≈ 0 , and the resistive voltage drop is negligible. Thus, the equation of (5) can be approximated by,

13 d d
vαβ = L iαβ + LΔ iαβ* e j 2θ r (6)
dt dt
14 Consider that：

15 d * d
*
vαβ = L iαβ + LΔ iαβ e − j 2θ r (7)
dt dt
16 *
where vαβ is the conjugate vector of vα β .

17 d d *
In order to obtain the current differentiation iαβ , the equation eliminating the same factor iαβ can be derived as：
dt dt

5
 1 d 1
iαβ = 2 *
( LΣ vαβ − LΔ vαβ e j 2θ r ) (8)
dt LΣ − L2Δ

2 vαβ = Ve jθm is the fundamental equation for deriving e.g. the INFORM method [6], where θ m is the voltage angle in the αβ-

3 reference frame. Then, the equation (8) can be expressed as,

d L L
4 iαβ = ( 2 Σ 2 Ve jθ m − 2 Δ 2 Ve − jθ m e j 2θ r ) (9)
dt LΣ − LΔ LΣ − LΔ

6 (a) (b)

7 Fig.3. Coordinate distribution of each axis. (a). One injected voltage vector scheme. (b). Two opposite voltage injection scheme.

8
9 Fig.4. Sequence of improved HF pulse voltage signals injection method with opposite voltage injection.

10 Assuming that the period (e.g. a switching period) is extremely short, the current differentiation diαβ / dt of equation (9) can be
11 approximated by Δ iαβ / Δt :

12 Δ iα β = ( c 1 + c 2 e j 2 (θ r −θ m )
) Δ t ⋅ vα β (10)

13 where c1 = L / (L2 − L2Δ ) , c2 = −LΔ / (L2 − L2Δ ) .

14 Referring to Fig. 3(a), dq-frame is the real dq-reference frame, which represents rotation angle of the real rotor position. deqe-
6
 1 frame means estimated dq-reference frame, which is introduced when the rotor position is unknown in the sensorless control

2 system. The deqe-frame has the phase difference of θr from dq-frame. Then, the equation of (10) will be converted into the

3 estimated dq-reference frame:

4 ˆ ˆ ˆ
Δidqe =Δiαβ e− jθr = (c1 +c2ej2(θr−θr−θm) )ΔtVdqe (11)

5 where θˆm = θ m − θˆr is the phase difference between injected voltage vector and the estimated d-axis.

6 Referring to Fig.3(a), when a single constant voltage vector Vi = Vi is injected on the estimated d-axis, and the voltage signal

7 injected on the estimated q-axis is zero. Then, it can be obtained that θˆm = 0 . Thus, the equation (11) can be expressed as,

8 ˆ ˆ
Δidqe =Δiαβ e− jθr = (c1 +c2ej2(θr−θr ) )ΔtVdqe (12)

9 The voltage injection periods are separated from the FOC period. In the FOC period, Vdqe = VFOC , where VFOC is the output

10 voltage calculated from PI control. In the injection period, Vdqe = Vde = Vi when the voltage signal is applied to the estimated d-

11 axis. Thus, the equation (12) can be derived as,


Δ idqe = c1Δ tVi + c 2 Δ tVi e j 2θ r
12 (13)
13 Then, the equation (13) can be further written as,

14 Δ idqe = Δ ide + j Δ iqe = c1 Δ tVi + c2 Δ tVi cos 2θr + jc 2 Δ tVi sin 2θr (14)

15 The imaginary part Δ iqe in (14) contains rotor position error θr , which can be used for rotor position estimation. However, the

16 inverter nonlinear errors [24] will cause that the voltage vector cannot inject to the estimated d-axis accurately, which further

17 result in an estimation error.

18 Fig.4 shows the sequence of the improved HF pulse voltage injection method. The position error, which is caused by inverter
19 nonlinear effects, is compensated by applying two opposite voltage signals to the estimated d-axis. A control period includes
20 three switching periods, which is composed of a FOC and a voltage injection period. In the injection period with two switching

21 periods, two opposite pulse voltage signals ( +Vd and −Vd ) are imposed to the d-axis, the single pulse voltage signal is injected
e e

22 once every two switching periods. For example, when the PWM switching frequency is 5 kHz, the injection frequency is 3.33

23 e
kHz. idq (k ) is the estimated d- and q-axis current at a certain time of k. In the position estimation process, the q-axis current is

24 e
still used for rotor position detection. The q-axis current gained in turn is subtracted each other to obtain the current variable Δiqx ,
7
 1 such as, Δiqe0 , Δiqe1 . Δ(Δiqe ) = Δiqe1 − Δiqe0 is the resultant current of the next and the moment, which contains the position

2 estimation error. The following derivation details how the inverter voltage error is offset by the proposed method.

3 Referring to Fig.3(b) and Fig.4, two voltage signals Vi and −V i are applied to the d e -axis. If the voltage errors ΔV will

4 constant during the switching periods, the two real voltage signals can then be expressed as,

5 jθˆm1
Vdqe 1 = Vi e ≈ Vi − ΔV (15)

6 jθˆm 2
Vdqe 2 = Vi e ≈ −Vi − ΔV (16)

7 where subscripts 1 and 2 represent the first and the second injection period.

8 Hence, by substituting (15) and (16) into (11), the current variations contained voltage errors in the estimated dq-

9 reference are given:

10 ˆ ˆ
Δidqe1 = (c1+c2e j 2(θr −θr −θm1) )Δt(Vi -ΔV ) (17)

11 ˆ ˆ
Δidqe 2 = (c1+c2e j 2(θr −θr −θm2) )Δt(-Vi -ΔV ) (18)

12 As it can be observed from Fig.3 (b), θ̂m1 =Δθm1 , θ̂m2 =−π +Δθm1 , and Δθm1 ≈Δθm2 . It is not difficult to find that:

13  ˆ
Δ idqe1 − Δ idqe 2 = 2c1ΔtVi + 2c2 e j 2(θ r −θm1 ) ΔtVi (19)

14 The imaginary part of current variations, Im( Δ idqe1 − Δ idqe 2 ) , can be further derived as：

15 Im(Δidqe1 −Δidqe2 ) = Δ(Δiqe ) = 2c2ΔtVi sin2(θr −θˆm1 ) (20)

16 It is observed from (20) that the voltage error vectors have been contracted. Moreover, referring to Fig.3(b), it’s noted that the

17 angle θ̂m1 =Δθm1 is very close to zero .Therefore,

18 (21)
Δ ( Δiqe ) = 2k sin(2θr ) ≈ 4kθr

19 where k =c2ΔtVi is invariable.

20 As illustrated in Fig.5, the estimated rotor position θˆr and speed ωˆr can be extracted by applying a normal PLL.

21

22 Fig.5. Block diagram of the proposed signal processing.

8
 1 3.2 . Proposed Magnetic Polarity Identification Method by Giving Positive and Negative d-axis Current Bias

2 This section explains the proposed polarity detection method which applies two opposite current biases on the estimated d-axis.

3 The real part of the current variations terms in (14) can be rewritten as：

4 Δide = c1ΔtVi + c2ΔtVi cos2θr (22)

5 It should be noted that c2 << c1 is observed from LΔ < L . Therefore, c1ΔtVi is dominant in the real part of (22). Assuming that

6 the d e -axis aligns with the actual d-axis, the magnitude of Δide in (22) will be,

L 1
7 Δide = c1ΔtVi = ΔtVi  ≈ ΔtVi  (23)
(L2 − L2Δ ) L'

8 where L' is the equivalent incremental inductance of d-axis.

9 '
Observing that Δt and Vi are constant, the magnitude of Δide is inversely proportional to the L , which might reduce depending

10 on the saturation situation. Fig.6 and Fig.7 show the magnetic saturation effect. I d∗ and −Id* represent positive- and negative-

11 direction d-axis current bias, respectively. When I d∗ is used, the direction of ψ s and ψ m keep the same (Fig.7(a)) so that the

12 gap magnetic field is strengthen, lead to the increase of ide (as point B showed in Fig.6); when −Id* is applied, ψ s and ψ m hold

13 the opposite direction (Fig.7(b)) so that the gap magnetic field is weaken, there is no d-axis current increment (as point A
14 showed in Fig.6).

15 Therefore, in an artificial saturation condition, the difference of L' ,i.e., corresponding Δide represents the magnetic polarity. In

16 the situation that different DC d-axis currents I d∗ are given, imposing the injected HF pulse voltage signals with Vde = 60V , then

17 L' and ide of IPMSM are measured and shown in Fig.8. In Fig.8(b), the blue and red points equivalent to the point A and B in

18 Fig.6, respectively. The amplitude variation of ide in the left half of Fig.8 (b) is rather small than that in the right-half when

19 opposite current biases are injected. Therefore, by comparing the amplitude of ide under two opposite current bias, the rotor

20 e
magnet polarity can be detected. For guaranteeing the reliability of the method, the accumulation form of the id can be

21 considered, i.e.  i de and  ide ( − I d* ) .

( + I d* )

9
 1

2 Fig.6. Effects of magnetic saturation. Fig.7. Gap synthesizes magnetic field.

3
4
5 (a) (b)
6 Fig.8. Effects of both DC d-axis current idle and HF pulse voltage signals Vde on the IPMSM. (a) Equivalent d-axis incremental

7 inductance L' . (b) Amplitude of d-axis current response ide .

8 3.3. Implementation of the Proposed Initial Position Detection Scheme

9 Fig.9 and Fig.10 show the block diagram of the proposed initial position estimation method and the signal processing for
10 position estimation method, respectively. During the implementation, two opposite pulse voltages are injected following the FOC
11 switching period. A control period has three switching periods, the frequency of the injected pulse voltage signals is set as 2/3 of

12 the PWM switching frequency. In step1, the HF pulse voltage signals are injected to obtain the estimated position θˆr 0 .In step 2,

13 two opposite d-axis current bias are consequently set. Magnitudes of the induced d-axis currents are compared for identifying the

14 e
magnet polarity. If the magnetic saturation effect is magnified， id > ide . Then, the correct initial rotor position is
( + I d* ) ( − I d* )

15 θˆr 0 . In contrast, if ide < ide , the initial rotor position is θˆr 0 + π . The polarity detection is only implemented for one time,
( + I d* ) ( − I d* )

16 once the final rotor position θˆr is confirmed, it can be directly used for motor starting.

10
 1

2 Fig.9. Block diagram of proposed position detection scheme.

3
4 Fig.10. Flowchart for proposed initial position estimation method.

5 4. INITIAL ROTOR POSITION DETECTION CAPABILITY ANALYSIS

6 In this section, the capabilities analysis of the proposed initial position detection scheme is presented, including the

7 comparison with the conventional position estimation method in free-running situation, and the effects of cross-coupling

8 magnetic saturation on position estimation accuracy.

9 4.1. Acquisition of Position Error and Magnetic Polarity in Free-running Situation

10 In the conventional initial position estimation method, the pulsating carrier injection and the short pulses injection are both

11 implemented on the estimated d-axis. The two processes cannot be preceding simultaneously. Once the magnetic polarity

12 identification starts, the rotor position estimation process stops. It means that the short pulses injection method is only valid in

11
 1 standstill, not in free-running situation.

2 Different from the conventional method, the proposed magnetic polarity identification method is integrated with the HF pulse

3 voltages injection method. During the rotor N/S pole identification, the HF pulse voltage vectors are still injected into d-axis. It

4 means that the update for estimated rotor position is always carried out. Therefore, the proposed method is suitable for free-

5 running rotor. In addition, the proposed nonzero d-axis biases injection method has higher SNR than the short pulses injection

6 method. Thus, the proposed method has good reliability for magnetic polarity identification.

7 4.2. Effect of Cross-Coupling Magnetic Saturation

8 Because the incremental self- and mutual- inductances in dq-axes vary with the dq-axes currents, the position estimation

9 accuracy will be influenced by the cross-saturation effect [27]. Additionally, the position error rises up with the load current.

10 Without taking the cross-saturation effect into account, L and LΔ in (6) may cause a non-negligible position error. In the IPMSM,

11 the high-frequency model can be modified as [27].

12
 vα   Ld M  −1 d  iα 
 v  = T (θ r )  M 
Lq 
T (θ r ) i  (24)
 β  dt β
cos(θr ) − sin(θr ) 
13 where T (θr ) =   is the transformation matrix, M is the incremental mutual inductance related with the cross-
 sin(θr ) cos(θr ) 

14 saturation effect.

15 The current in the stator frame can be deduced as [27],

1 1 1 
16  + cos(2θ r + θ M ) sin(2θ r + θ M )
 v 
d iα   L1 L2 L2
 a 
 = (25)
dt iβ   1 1 1  v
 L sin(2θ r + θ M ) − cos(2θ r + θ M )   β 
 2 L1 L2 

17 θ M = tan −1 (− M / LΔ ) (26)

18 where θ M is the position error bias caused by the cross-saturation effect, L1 = ( Ld Lq − M 2 ) / LΣ , L2 = ( Ld Lq − M 2 ) / ( L2Δ + M 2 ) .

19 5. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

20 The proposed initial position detection method is verified on a 1.5 kW IPMSM drive platform, as shown in Fig.11. The

21 detailed parameters of IPMSM are listed in Table.I. The IPMSM has 4-pole, 12-slot construction, concentrated windings. The

22 induction motor provides the load torque. The TMS320F2808 with 100 MHz, 32-bit fixed-point DSP family, is used for

23 implementing the control methods and providing the PWM signals for the inverter. The DSP also are responsible for the
12
 1 following functions: sampling of DC bus voltage and stator current, panel display and keyboard input, RS-232 and upper and

2 lower machine CAN bus communication function, start overcurrent relay control, and energy consumption brake control, etc.

3 The switching frequency is 5 kHz, the injected pulsating carrier voltage vector is 60V/ 500Hz, the injected HF pulse voltage

*
4 signals is 60V/3.33kHz. In the proposed initial position method, the I d is 2A in the magnetic polarity identification process, and

5 0A in other situations. The actual rotor speed and position are detected by the encoder PENON- K3808G. The obtained position

6 and speed are used as the reference value, and they do not really participate in closed-loop control of the IPMSM drive.

7 Table.I IPMSM Parameters

Parameters Values Parameters Values

Rated Power /kW 1.5 Rated Torque/N.m 4.8
Rated voltage /V 380 Number of pole pairs 2
Rated current /A 2.7 d-axis inductance/mH 17.81
Rated speed/(r/min) 3000 q-axis inductance/mH 26.72
8

9
10 (a) (b)

11
12 (c)
13 Fig.11. Experimental platform of 1.5kW IPMSM drive system. (a) The whole experimental test. (b) The development board of

14 TMS320F2808. (c) Hardware implementation diagram of the control system.

13
 1 5.1. Experimental Results of the Conventional Magnetic Polarity Detection Method Based on the Short Pulse

2 Injection

3 Fig.12 shows d-axis response current waveforms with short pulses injection method. In order to verify the reliability of the

4 short pulse injection method, the rotor is locked at 0° when the motor is standstill. The locked rotor position acts as a reference

5 position, when compares with the estimated position. In Fig.12(a), two opposite 200V-1ms pulses are injected, and the pulse

6 interval is 50ms. In Fig.12(b), the peak value of positive current is higher than that of the negative. Therefore, the rotor

7 polarity is N pole. On the contrary, when the peak value of negative current is higher than that of the positive in Fig.12(c), the

8 rotor polarity is S pole and a 180° compensation is necessary. However, the two peak values of d-axis current are too small,

9 when the current sampling resolution is not enough, the system will hard to make correct identification.

10
11 (a)

12
13 (b) (c)
14 Fig.12. Magnetic polarity detection with short pulses injection method. (a) Injection 200V-1ms pulses with a 50ms interval. (b)

15 d-axis current response when the rotor is at N pole. (c) d-axis current response when the rotor is at S pole.

16 5.2. Performance of the Proposed Initial Position Detection Scheme at Standstill

17 The initial position estimation results of the proposed method is illustrated in Fig.13, the current actual rotor position is 126°.

18 After the step 1 illustrated in Fig.13(a), the estimated rotor position θˆr 0 is 308.3°. Then, in step 2, I d* and −I d* are consequently

19 given. The d-axis response current ide is obtained and its peak values are accumulated for 15 times. As seen in Fig.13(b), by

14
1 comparing two corresponding accumulated values of ide , a 180° should be compensated for θˆr 0 because of  ide ( + I *
d )
<
15

2  ide ( − I *
d )
. Finally, the estimated position θˆr is 128.3°, and the position estimation error is 2.3°.
15

3 Fig.14 shows initial position detection results in the case that the actual rotor position is 54°. The estimated position θˆr 0

4 is obtained by 55.5°, then the current I d* and −I d* are given. As shown in Fig.14 (b), it can be found that  ide ( + I ) *
d
>
15

5  ide ( − I ) .Therefore, the final estimated rotor position is still 55.5°, and the position estimation error is 1.5°.
*
d
15

7 Fig.13. Initial position estimation at standstill ( θ r = 126  ). (a) Measured d-axis current and estimated rotor position.(b)
8 Accumulated values of d-axis current peak.

15
 1
2 Fig.14. Initial position estimation at standstill ( θ r = 54  ). (a) Measured d-axis current and estimated position. (b) Accumulated
3 values of d-axis current peak.
4 5.3. Performance of the Proposed Initial Position Detection Scheme at Free-running

5 Fig.15 (a) shows the initial position detection results of the proposed method in the case that an artificial rotor position

6 step is applied during the magnetic polarity detection, i.e., free-running situation. The actual initial rotor position is 90°,

7 after the improved HF pulse voltage injection method is implemented, the estimated position θˆr 0 is obtained by 88.6°.

8 When a 60° position step is given, the estimated rotor position convergences to 147.8°, and a 180°compensation is

9 unnecessary since  ide >  ide .

( + I d* ) ( − I d* )
15 15

10 Fig.16 (a) shows experimental waveforms of another free-running situation, where an artificial position falling step is

11 applied during the negative d-axis DC bias excitation. The first actual rotor position is 120°, the estimated rotor position

12 θˆr 0 is 302.8°. Then, a 40° position falling step is given , the estimated rotor position convergence to 257.4°. The final

13 estimated rotor position is 77.4° since  ide <  ide .

( + I d* ) ( − I d* )
15 15

16
 1
2 Fig.15. Initial position estimation at free-running situation ( θ r = 150 ). (a) Measured d-axis current and estimated
3 position. (b) Accumulated values of d-axis current peak.

4
5 Fig.16. Initial position estimation at free-running ( θ r = 8 0  ). (a) Measured d-axis current and estimated rotor position.
6 (b) Accumulated values of d-axis current peak.
7 5.4. Comparison with the Initial Position Estimation Method in [23]

8 In this section, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a comparison between the proposed method

9 and the method in [23] is given. According to the study carried in [23], the pulsating voltage frequency and amplitude are set as

10 500 Hz and 100V, respectively. The injected sinusoidal d-axis current signal is amplitude of 3 A with frequency of 5 Hz, and the

11 positive ramp q-axis current is 3A and lasts 100ms.

17
 1 Fig. 17 shows the current step responses results based on the proposed method and the pulsating-carrier-signal-injection
2 method in [23]. The d-axis current step command is given, and the q-axis reference current is set to zero to ensure that the
3 rotor will not rotate in the short period. The PI controllers of current-loop based on these two methods share a set of
4 parameters. In Fig. 17(a), the d-axis current response is obtained from the proposed method. In order to avoid affecting the d-

5 axis current step responses, it is worth to notice that two opposite voltage vectors are injected on the q e -axis and the closed-loop

6 voltage signal of d-axis participates in a FOC operation every three switching cycles. In Fig.17(b), the proposed method has a
7 faster d-axis current step response than the pulsating-carrier-signal-injection method in [23]. This is mainly due to the fact that
8 the method in [23] uses multiple filters to extract the current signal, which will reduce the bandwidth of the current control-loop.

9
10 Fig.17. Current response with the proposed method and the method in [23]. (a)With the proposed method where the voltage

11 signals are injected on qe-axis. (b) With the pulsating-carrier-signal-injection method in [23].

12 Fig. 18 gives the experimental results of the method in [23]. In order to compare the performance of the methods in initial

13 position estimation, we use the same controller parameters. Moreover, the rotor position in Fig.18(a) and (b) is set as the same as

14 the Fig.13 and Fig.14, which is initially locked at 126° and 54°. The whole position estimation process is performed in 450ms. In

15 Fig.18(a), the pulsating-voltage-injection method is implemented, the rotor position is obtained as θˆr 0 = 308.8° . The

16 amplitude difference of the HF d-axis current response under positive- and negative-cycle of sinusoidal d-axis current is a

17 negative number, which means that a 180° should be added on θˆr 0 . Then, the estimated position is updated as 128.8°. The

18 position estimation error is 2.8° with the sinusoidal d-axis current injection method performed. To confirm the correction of the

18
 1 rotor polarity, a positive ramp current with 100ms is applied on the q-axis. The measured angular acceleration is positive, which

2 shows the rotor polarity identification of the former method is correct. The final estimation error is 2.7°. In contrast to Fig. 18(b),

3 the rotor position was estimated as θˆr 0 = 55.2° . The magnetic polarity identification process is then performed in 200ms. The

4 amplitude difference of the HF d-axis current response between the positive- and negative-cycle of sinusoidal d-axis current is a

5 positive number, which can be obtained when the rotor is at N pole. Thus, there is no angle needed to be compensated for θˆr 0 .

6 The final position estimation error is 3.2°.

7
8 Fig.18. Initial position estimation process with the method in [23]. (a) When the actual position is 126°. (b). When the actual

9 position is 54°.

10 As illustrated in Fig.18, compared with the proposed method, the position estimation accuracy of the method in [23] is

11 roughly the same. However, the proposed method in polarity identification is more robust and has a wider applicative situation.

12 The obtained d-axis response current is accumulated for magnetic polarity identification. Thus, the difference of accumulated

19
 1 valve is at least greater than 1A as shown in Fig.13 and Fig.14. However, in the method proposed in [23], the polarity detection

2 is implemented by utilizing a sinusoidal low-frequency current on d-axis. The amplitude difference of HF d-axis current response

3 is less than 0.4A as shown in Fig.18, which is easy to cause misjudgment in identifying magnetic polarity. Therefore, the positive

4 ramp current, which is applied on the q-axis, needs to confirm whether the polarity estimation by sinusoidal low-frequency

5 current injection method is correct. If the rotor polarity is incorrect, it will be detected again by sinusoidal low-frequency current

6 injection method. So the method in [23] is more complicated to implement on. Although the combined rotor polarity

7 estimation method can make a correct identification to magnetic polarity, it can only fit for the systems which allows to

8 rotate, such as a fan or pump-like systems. Thus, the position estimation method in [23] has limited application situations.

9 In addition, the time of whole position estimation process in the proposed method and the method in [23] is 50 ms and 450 ms,

10 respectively. The proposed method is shorter than the method in [23] with 400 ms. Moreover, it is much easier to implement the

11 proposed method and the calculation of the position error is more straightforward. Because the difference of synthesizing

12 current variation under two opposite voltage vector injection directly contains the rotor position information. However,

13 the magnetic polarity is identified by the combination of two steps in [23], and filters are needed to extract the dependent

14 position error signal.

15 5.5. Starting Performance of the Proposed Initial Position Detection Scheme under Different Loads

16 Fig.19 shows the position estimation error at sensorless startup with different loads, from standstill to 300 rpm. There is no

17 rotor reverse or shake phenomenon. The IPMSM is able to start with 200% of the maximum rated load.

18
19 (a) (b)

20
 1
2 (c)

3 Fig.19. Experimental results of starting for IPMSM under different loads. (a)With 50% rated load.(b)With 100% rated

4 load.(c)With 200% rated load.

5 5.6. Compensation of the Inverter Nonlinear Error

6 Fig.20 illustrates the tracking results of actual rotor position with/without compensation of the inverter nonlinear error. For a

7 more intuitive observation, Fig.21 further demonstrates the position estimation error from 0° to 360°. In Fig.21, without the

8 compensation of the inverter nonlinear error, the average and maximum values of estimation error are 4.39° and 8.17°,

9 respectively. After compensation, the average and maximum values of estimation error decrease to 3.12° and 6.31° , respectively.

10 The better estimation accuracy can be obtained with the inverter nonlinear error compensation.

11
12 Fig.20. Tracking results of initial rotor position.

21
 1
2 Fig.21. Position estimation error with and without the proposed inverter nonlinear error compensation.

3 Fig.22 shows the startup results without/with compensation of the inverter nonlinear error, including the actual position θr , the

4 estimated position θˆr , and the position estimation error θr . Experimental results show a better startup with the compensation.

5
6 (a)

7
8 (b)

9 Fig.22. Startup test results with/without the inverter nonlinear error compensation. (a) Without compensation. (b)With

10 compensation.

11 5.7. Compensation for the Cross-saturation Effects

12 To eliminate the additional position error originating from the cross-saturation effect, many methods have been proposed

13 to compensate the cross-saturation effect [28]- [29]. The position error can be compensated by using (26) and the pretested data

14 in [29]. However, the predicted or measured incremental inductance characteristics may not constant with the changing in

15 temperature. Through theoretical calculations and measured tests, the position error are roughly proportional to the q-axis current

22
 1 in the position sensored drive, i.e., θM ≈ KM iq , where the compensation coefficient KM can be measured and then summarized

2 from statistical data. Thus, with the utilization of KM , by regulating the q-axis current can compensate for the position

3 error in the position sensored drive. Nevertheless, the cross-saturation effect further increases in the position sensorless drive,

4 which is main source of position error.

5 In this paper, the cross-saturation effects are compensated by a comprehensive test method, where the statistical results origin

6 from both position sensored and sensorless drive. In the sensorless drive, θM′ ≈ KM′ iq . Then, the comprehensive error is

7 θM′′ ≈ KM′′ iq ,where K M′′ = ( K M + K M′ ) / 2 . Fig.23 shows the compensatory angle θ M′′ based on iq in position sensored and sensorless

8 drive, it can be found that the position error can be compensated online based on q-axis current.

9
10 Fig.23. Cross-saturation effects and q-axis currents.

11 6. CONCLUSIONS

12 This paper has proposed a reliable initial position estimation method based on the combinations between the improved HF

13 pulse signal injection method and two opposite current bias injection method. The crucial conclusions are summarized as follows.

14 1) Compared with available latest methods in reference, such as [23], the proposed improved HF pulse voltage signal injection

15 method has an advantage of eliminating the filters, and also has a relatively high current control loop bandwidth. Moreover, the

16 proposed method is more robust in magnetic polarity identification and has wider applicative situation.

17 2) Compared with the conventional initial position detection method limited to standstill rotor mode, the proposed method can

18 be suitable for free-running rotor application.

19 3) The inverter voltage error is offset by using two opposite pulse voltage signals in the improved HF pulse voltage signal

20 injection method.
23
 1 4) The effectiveness of the proposed initial position estimation method is verified through experimental results on a 1.5kW

2 IPMSM drive platform.

3 Acknowledgments

4 The authors are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions which help improve the quality of

5 the paper.

6 Conflicts of Interest

7 The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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27
*Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a

conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.