IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 30, NO.
3, MAYIJUNE 1994
Rotor Position Sensing in Switched
Reluctance Motor Drives by
Measuring Mutually Induced Voltages
Iqbal Husain, Member, IEEE, and Mehrdad Ehsani, Senior Member, IEEE,
Abstract-This paper describes a new method of indirect rotor
position sensing for switched reluctancemotor (SRM)drives. The
principle is based on measuring the mutually induced voltage
in an inactive phase which is either adjacent or opposite to the
energized phase of an SRM. The mutual voltage in the “OW
phase, induced due to the current in the active phase, varies
significantly as the rotor, corresponding to the energized stator,
moves from its unaligned position towards complete alignment.
This mutually induced voltage variation is captured by a simple
electronic circuit and then processed in a microcontroller to
determine the commutationinstants, thereby eliminatingthe need
for direct rotor position sensors in an SRM.
Successful operation of a four-phase S R M drive has been
demonstrated in the laboratory using the mutual voltage (MV)
technique of indirect rotor position sensing. The theoretical as-
pects of mutually induced voltages in an S R M and the relevant
experimental results are presented in this paper.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE VARIOUS ADVANTAGES of switched reluctance
motor (SRh4) drives make it an attractive alternative to
existing adjustable speed ac and dc drives for commercial
applications. The combination of an SRh4 and an appropriately
controlled converter provides many of the desired charac-
teristics of an efficient drive system. The positive features
of an SRM have set the research objective of developing
simple, low-cost and robust SRM drives that can be efficiently
operated in hostile environments, such as under the hood of
an automobile.
The phase excitation pulses of the SRM need to be properly
synchronized with the rotor position for effective control
of speed, torque and torque pulsations; therefore, the rotor
position information is essential as a feedback for the control
section. A shaft position transducer, such as an opto-interrupter
with slotted disk or a high precision encoder, is usually
employed to determine the shaft position. Efficient four-
quadrant drives using these mechanical devices as position
sensors have been reported previously [ 11, [ 2 ] .However, these
discrete position sensors not only add complexity and cost to
the system but also tend to reduce the reliability of the drive
system. Also, in space restricted applications, such as in the
Paper IPCSD 93-51, approved by the Industrial Drives Committee of the
IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1992 Industry
Applications Society Annual Meeting, Houston, TX USA. Manuscript released
for publication November 16, 1993.
The authors are with Texas Applied Power Electronics Center, Department
of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843
USA.
IEEE Log Number 9400155.
0093-9994/94$04.00 0 1994 IEEE
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665
automobile or in the aerospace, the discrete sensors are quite
undesirable. Therefore, intensive research has been underway
in the U.S. and elsewhere to eliminate the discrete position
sensor while providing the necessary position information to
the drive controller.
Several indirect position sensing schemes have been re-
ported in the literature, some of which are limited in per-
formance while others attempt to achieve the performance
comparable to that obtained from precision encoders and
resolvers. Almost all of the reported techniques are based
on the principle of inductance measurement in one of the
unenergized phases since the unsaturated phase inductance
of an SRh4 varies significantly between the aligned and
unaligned positions of the stator and rotor poles. One way
to obtain the position information is to monitor the phase
current waveform and determine the position by calculating
the phase inductance value from the rate of change of current
information. This waveform detection technique was first
suggested and implemented by Acarnley et al. [3], and was
later used by Dunlop et al. 143, Harris et al. [ 5 ] and MacMinn
et al. [6]. All these methods suffer from the disadvantage
of injecting a diagnostic pulse to an inactive phase, which
generates negative torque. Dunlop et al. drew the attention
on interphase magnetic coupling effects that decrease the
resolution of the position sensing scheme. Harris et al. also
discussed the effects of interphase coupling along with the
problems of eddy currents and core saturation. MacMinn’s
method is similar to the previous two, but his scheme sampled
two phases simultaneously to eliminate corruption in data.
These methods are based on probing into an unenergized phase
by pulsing from the main converter. An alternative method
of pulsing from an external small signal circuit has been
described in [7]. The most sophisticated method of position
detection, reported by Lumsdaine et al. [8], models the motor
characteristics employing a state observer and calculates the
position angle using terminal measurements of phase voltages
and currents. A fast powerful processor is needed for this
method to perform significant real time computation, and also
an accurate knowledge of machine and load parameters is
required.
In low-voltage, high-current applications, the interphase
coupling effects due to high currents being switched at a high
frequency in the magnetizing phase will significantly corrupt
the sample diagnostic pulses, whether these pulses are applied
from the main converter or from an external small-signal
666
circuit. Fixed-frequency PWM control with varying duty-cycle
or chopping control are invariably used for current control
in SRM drives in the low speed range; therefore, waveform
detection techniques may not be suitable for these applications.
An alternative approach of indirect position sensing is by
measuring the mutually induced voltage in an inactive phase
which is either adjacent or opposite to the energized phase
[9]. This method is feasible since the induced voltages caused
by interphase coupling vary significantly as a function of the
rotor position in the SRM due to the double saliency of the
motor. As will be shown later, this mutually induced voltage
contains variations due to the self-inductance as well as due
to the mutual-inductance between coils of different phases.
This paper describes the fundamental idea and the basic
principle of position sensing using mutually induced volt-
ages. Experimental results using a one-horsepower, four-phase
SRM, intended for automotive applications, are also given. A
brief description of the principles of operation of an SRM
drive is given at the beginning for the ease of comprehension
of the readers.
11. BASICSRM PRINCIPLES
The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is a doubly salient
reluctance machine with independent phase windings on the
stator. The rotor does not have any windings, and is usually
made of steel laminations. The machine can be viewed as
a variable reluctance stepper motor operated with closed-loop
position control. The stator and the rotor have unequal number
of poles with 614, 816, and I216 being common configurations.
When a motor phase is supplied with a dc voltage, the
energized stator pole pair attempts to pull the closest rotor
pole pair into alignment to minimize the reluctance of the
magnetic path. By consecutive energization of successive
phases, continuous rotation in either direction is possible.
The torque in an SRM is developed by controlling the
magnetomotive force (MMF) in accordance with the periodic
reluctance variation. The torque developed in an SRM under
the simplifying assumption of magnetic linearity is given by
1.2dL(8)
T ( 0 , i )= - 2 -
2 d0
where i is the phase current, L ( 0 ) is the instantaneous self-
inductance and 0 is the rotor angular position. For positive or
motoring torque, the stator phase must be energized during
the rising inductance region, while for regeneration, phase
currents must be synchronized with the decreasing inductance
period. The idealized inductance profile for one electrical cycle
is shown in Fig. ](a). The phase excitation pulses for the
motoring and generating modes are shown in Fig. I(b) and
(c), respectively. Constant-torque operation is possible in the
low-speed range by controlling the current either by hysteresis
control or fixed-frequency PWM control. The controller must
position the phase currents appropriately so that the residual
decaying current in a commutated phase does not produce
negative torque during the motoring mode of operation.
From (I), it is obvious that the torque is independent of
the direction of current flow; hence, unipolar converters are
sufficient to drive an SR motor in contrast to conventional
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 30, NO. 3, MAYIJUNE 1994
Fig. 1. Idealized inductance profile and the phase excitation currents: (a)
Phase coil inductance, (b) phase current for motoring operation, (c) phase
current for regenerating operation.
ac machines which require bidirectional currents. The most
versatile and the most flexible SRM converter is the classic
bridge converter which has two switches and two diodes
per phase [ IO]. However, in low-voltage applications, the
forward voltage drop across each of the converter switches
is a significant fraction of the available dc bus voltage; thus,
none of the two switch per phase configurations are suitable.
Single-switch per phase converters, such as the suppression
resistor converter or the C-dump converter [ I 11, can be used
for these applications. The suppression resistor converter is
highly inefficient since it completely dissipates the stored
energy. Nevertheless, it is used in low-voltage applications,
such as in automobiles, because of its low cost and simplicity.
The C-dump converter did not become popular because of
complicated control requirements. The dual decay converter
[12], which is a modification of the suppression resistor
converter, has been used for the experimental set-up of this
research.
111. THEORETICAL
ANALYSIS
A. Flux Linkages
The mutual-inductance is basically due to the leakage flux
developed between the energized phase and other phases [ 131.
Fig. 2 shows the schematic diagram of an 816 SRM along with
the flux lines that appear in the various reluctance paths when
phase A is energized for torque production. The flux 41 is
the main magnetizing flux, while the remaining flux lines 411,
$[2, $13, $14, 415 and 4l6 are the leakage fluxes. The voltage
applied to phase A is composed of the drop in coil A plus the
mutually induced voltages in the other phases.
The reluctance between two stator pole tips causes the
leakage flux 411 which passes between the two stator pole
tips via the rotor. This flux depends on the flux in phase A as
well as on the rotor position. When the phase A stator pole
and the corresponding rotor pole reaches alignment, the flux
goes to zero since all the flux will then take the much lower
reluctance path across the airgap. The leakage flux $12 is the
flux crossing the slot due to the slot body reluctance, which
is constant. The leakage fluxes 413 and & results from the
stator back-iron reluctance and are also constant. The fluxes
 -

HUSAIN AND EHSANI: ROTOR POSITION SENSING IN SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR DRIVES 667

one during the freewheeling period. The modes can be best

explained with the help of Fig. 3 which shows the hysteresis
control of current and two phases of a suppression resistor
converter. In mode 1, the switch S is closed, and the full supply
voltage V appears across the phase coil. The phase current
rises up to the level of above the reference current level Io
when it is time to turn off the switch. Mode 2 begins following
this switch turn-off. In this mode, phase current freewheels
through the resistor Rd and decreases up to the lower threshold
level when the switch S is turned on again. The current is
thus maintained approximately constant around the reference
level. The phase and the mutual voltage balance equations are
derived in the following for the two modes of operation.
Mode 1: The motor phase voltage, when a current i is
flowing through the stator windings, is governed by the
equation
dX
v = iRph+ -
dt
+U, (2)
Fig. 2. Cross-section of an 8/6 SRM and the flux lines when phase A is
energized.
where X is the flux linkage, v, is the mutual voltage and
Rph is the phase coil resistance. The mutual voltage is Small
compared to the dc bus voltage, and hence, we can neglect
it in this magnetization equation. Also, assuming magnetic
linearity, the flux linkage X is given by Li, where L is the
instantaneous self-inductance of a phase coil. Rewriting (2),

Taking the instantaneous current i equal to the reference

current I, and replacing by w, the voltage balance equation
becomes

Fig. 3. Hysteresis control of current: (a) The hysteresis band (b) two phases
of a suppression resistor converter. The mutually induced voltage in an adjacent or opposite
phase, in this mode, is given by
$11, 4i2,$13 and 414 cause a mutually induced voltage drop
dXm
in phase B given by u,1= -
dt
where Am is the mutual flux linkage. Assuming ,A =
M(W0
where 4 ~ = + +
, 411 4 l 2 413 4l4. + 9

The leakage flux &(= $16 - $ls) across phase A and phase
C causes a mutually induced voltage in phase C, and this flux
is completely dependent on the rotor position. The mutually
induced voltage in phase C is given by Substituting (5) in (6) we get

U, =N C .
d4l
dt
B. Mutually Induced Voltages
Mode 2: In mode 2, the applied voltage is zero and the
Let us now analyze the mutually induced voltage in an stored energy dissipates in the freewheeling resistor Rd. The
inactive phase when a constant current is maintained in the voltage balance equation, in this case, is
torque producing phase by chopping or PWM duty-cycle
control. The operation in this region of interest can be divided dX
-+IoR=Q
into two segments, one during the magnetization period and dt

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I
668 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 30, NO. 3, MAYNUNE 1994
where R = R d + R p h . This expression can be written as
' I
/I The mutually induced voltage during this mode can be
derived in a similar way as was done in mode 1, and the
result is
M ( 8 ) I odL M(8)
vm2 =
L ( 0 ) do
w - IoR-
L(0)
+ I,-w.dM
do
Equations (7) and (9) show that the voltages v,1 and u,2
are both dependent on the instantaneous rotor position. If these
voltages are calibrated against the rotor position, the latter can
be estimated by measuring these mutually induced voltages
and then using a conversion table. In less sophisticated sys-
tems, the commutation instants can be determined by simply
comparing the mutual voltage with a preset threshold level.
Iv. PRINCIPLE OF SENSING
A. Sensing Phase Selection
Any one of the inactive phases can be selected for sensing
the mutual voltage and used for estimating the rotor position.
However, for an 8/6, four-phase SRM, it is advantageous to
sense the phase which is in quadrature with the energized
phase. This is explained below with the help of Fig. 2 by
considering phases A and C. When the energized stator phase
(say phase A) is in the completely unaligned position with
a rotor, the fluxes in the opposite phase (phase C in this
case) 4ls and 4 l 6 are almost equal and opposite, and they
tend to cancel each other. Consequently, the mutual voltage in
phase C is almost zero. When the stator phase A is halfway
aligned with the rotor (rotor no. 2 in Fig. 2 ) , the flux 4 / 6
dominates over the flux 415 since the reluctance path of
the former is smaller. A positive mutual voltage appears in
phase C in this situation. Again, when phase C is completely
unaligned with a rotor, the two fluxes cancel each other, and
there is negligible mutually induced voltage. As the rotor
pulls away from this aligned position in the counter-clockwise
direction, the induced voltage starts becoming negative as 4ls
dominates over &. Therefore, there exists one complete cycle
of mutually induced voltage variation, from a positive peak to
a negative peak, in phase C per electrical revolution of the
motor.
B. Implementation and Simulation
The mutually induced voltages 7 I m 1 and I J , ~ , derived in
the previous section, can be measured and used to estimate
the shaft position indirectly. A simple implementation scheme
of comparing the mutually induced voltage with a preset
threshold level for commutation is presented in this paper.
Either the voltage uml or the voltage v2, can be measured in
synchronism with the chopping or PWM frequency. A sample-
and-hold circuit is used to capture and hold any one of the two
mutual voltages. The sampling of mutual voltage is synchro-
nized with the intra phase-switching instants; therefore, the
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synchronizing Control
aignal signals
I I I
I A.--
Fig. 4. Block diagram of the discrete sensor elimination scheme using the
(9)
mutual voltage (MV) technique.
sampling frequency for estimating the position angle becomes
equal to the PWM or chopping frequency. Since the chopping
or PWM frequency is quite high, the resolution of sampling is
adequate. The block diagram of the implementation scheme for
rotor position sensing using mutually induced voltages is given
in Fig. 4. The sample-and-hold circuit generates the mutual
voltage which is rotor position dependent, and the decoder
converts it to an equivalent position angle. The decoder
can be implemented within the microcontroller itself. The
microcontroller processes the position information containing
signal and generates the gating signals for the converter.
Mathematical expressions for the self and mutual induc-
tances are necessary to simulate the mutually induced voltages
vml and 'u,,2, given by (7) and (9), respectively. The self-
inductance of phase A and the mutual-inductance between
phases A and C were measured experimentally by exciting
the coils with a 2-kHz sinusoidal signal. Since these functions
are periodic, a Fourier series representation can be obtained
by spectrum analysis. Fourier series expressions for the self
and mutual inductances, obtained by this method for the 8/6,
four-phase SRM, are given by the following equations.
Ln(0)= 0.000758 + . 0 0 0 4 7 ~ 80 ~ .000071
- C O S 28
+ 0.000009 cos 38 + 0.000032 cos 48
- .000022 cos 50,
M,,(O) = 0.000001 + .00007sirl8.
The experimentally determined inductances and the analyti-
cally obtained waveforms for one electrical cycle are given in
Figs. 5 and 6, respectively. The mutual voltages obtained by
putting the expressions for L a ( 0 ) and Mac(8)are shown in
Fig. 7. The experimental waveform of v,~, obtained by using
a sample-and-hold circuit, is given in Fig. 8.
C. Limitations of the Technique
The mutually induced voltages depends on the rotor speed
and the active phase current, which is evident from (7) and
(9). The commutation table must take these into account to
generate the optimum phase excitation signals. For low-speed
operation., the speed dependent terms are negligible, and the
rotor position can be estimated from a three-dimensional table,
constructed from (7) and (9). The conversion table can be
represented in the form of a function as
At higher speeds, the speed dependent terms must be
considered; in that case, the method loses its practicality due
HUSAIN AND EHSANI: ROTOR POSITION SENSING IN SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR DRIVES 669

.- I I

0.2 , , , , , , , , , , , I
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 500 330
Rotor posltion in degrees (electrical)

Fig. 5. Experimentally and analytically obtained self-inductance variation

for phase A.

Fig. 8. Experimentally obtained mutual voltage v-2 in phase C.

I I I T
- . O B - ) , , , , , , , , , , , I
0 W 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 500 330 360

Rotor position in degrees (electrical)

Fig. 6. Experimentally and analytically obtained mutual-inductance variation vdc

between phases A and C.

-'" I I

Fig. 9. Dual decay SRM converter.

v. THE DRIVESYSTEM
The forward voltage drop across the converter switches is a
significant fraction of the available dc bus voltage in low-
voltage, high-current SRM converters. Moreover, in space
-2.01 , , , , ~ , , , , , , 1 restricted applications, star-connected SRM's are used with
0 30 W 90 120 150

Rotor position in degrees (electrical)

180
Fig. 7. Mutually induced voltages in phase C when phase A is energized.
to intensive computational requirements. Therefore, the MV
technique is best suited for speeds below the base speed of an
SR motor, where the current can be maintained at a desired
level either by fixed-frequency PWM control or hysteresis
control.
For geometries other than 816, it may become necessary to
estimate the rotor position based on mutual voltages induced
on adjacent phases instead of the opposite phase. The mutual
flux in adjacent phases is composed of several leakage fluxes,
similar to the flux linkages shown in phase B of Fig. 2. Deter-
mining the rotor position from mutually induced voltages of
adjacent phases puts a computational burden on the controller,
although conceptually this estimation can be accomplished.
210 240 270 XU 330
(n +1) leads coming out of the motor for an n-phase
construction. Therefore, the dual decay converter, which is
appropriate for efficient operation at low voltages, is chosen
as the drive circuit for this research. The circuit topology for
the dual decay converter is shown in Fig. 9. The circuit is
a modification of the suppression resistor converter where
a switch S has been added in parallel to the energy-dump
resistor Rd in the freewheeling circuit. The performance of
the converter is improved by proper control of the switch S
during freewheeling for each phase. The control objective is to
reduce the energy lost in the energy-dump resistor. The details
of operation and design for the dual decay converter appear
in [12].
Low-voltage, high-current power MOSFET's with very low
on-state resistances have been used as the power switches
for the converter. The devices are driven by Teledyne MOS-
gate drivers TSC4424. The position feedback information,

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 670 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 30, NO. 3, MAYIJUNE 1994

r
i

Fig. IO. Commutation of a phase using the MV technique. Upper trace: MV Fig. I 1. Phase current and the gating signal under lightly loaded conditions.
output, 1 V/div, 2 ms/div. Lower trace: 10 gating signal, V/div, 2 mddiv. Upper trace: phase current, 5 Ndiv, 20 ms/div. Lower trace: gating signal,
IO V/div, 20 ms/div.

obtained from the MV position sensing circuit, is fed to the

microcontroller which generates the gate commutation signals. a pair of rotor and stator poles. Thus, for an 2% accuracy in
A torque command signal regulates the current according to position estimation, the maximum rotor position error is
the desired load torque. The current, and consequently torque, 2 0
AO, = (0, max - OL m i n ) x - Mech.
is controlled in the drive system by a constant frequency 100
PWM control with varying duty-cycle. The PWM switching
where e,,, and d ~ are ~the rotor
~ angles
i ~ in mechanical
frequency was set at 25 kHz.
degrees for the aligned and unaligned positions, respectively.
In the following, the sources of error in position estimation
VI. EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS are first identified, and then, the accuracy achievable by the
The one HP, 816, four-phase star-connected SRM has been MV technique is calculated.
used to demonstrate the practicality of rotor position sensing
using the mutual voltage (MV) technique. The motor phase A. Commutation Error Determination
inductance varies from 0.26 to 1.21 mH with a winding Phase commutation decisions are made by comparing the
resistance of 0.3 12. The motor was run from a 14-V dc supply. estimated rotor position with a reference angle. The error in
Steady-state tests were conducted both under no-load and commutation comes from error in position estimation. These
loaded conditions to evaluate the performance of the new errors are caused by sampling rate and quantization error in
discrete position sensor elimination scheme. Fig. I O shows each sample. The worst case commutation angle error is given
the commutation of phase A by comparing the mutually
by
induced voltage of phase C to the desired threshold level.
The oscillograph of Fig. 11 shows the phase current and = A&,
AOromII1 + A&, (10)
gating signal under light-load conditions. The gating signals
where AO,, is the error due to sampling rate and Ad,, is the
are switching at 25 kHz and the current is regulated by varying
quantization error in each sample.
the duty-cycle. The loading tests showed that the speed can
The variation of mutual voltage from maximum to minimum
be varied from its maximum down close to zero, and the
is a non-linear function of the rotor position with varying
sensing scheme performs satisfactorily for the entire speed
sensitivity; therefore, only the average sample error in the
range, keeping excellent track of the rotor position.
digitizing process can be calculated. Let the digital equivalent
values of the MV signal corresponding to the maximum and
VII. RESOLUTION
AND ERRORANALYSIS minimum values be d l and d2, respectively.
Errors in rotor position estimation has a direct impact on the Assuming linear variation of mutual voltage, the average
commutation threshold positions, and shifts the phase conduc- sample quantization error can be calculated as
tion periods. The accuracy of position information determines
the efficiency and torque capability as well as torque pulsation
of the drive; therefore, the sensorless techniques for SRM must
satisfy an accuracy requirement in position estimation. The
angular span of interest in sensitivity calculations for position
estimation is between the aligned and unaligned positions of where P, is the number of rotor poles.

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HUSAIN AND EHSANI: ROTOR POSITION SENSING IN SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR DRIVES
The frequency of sampling the mutual voltage is another
measure of rotor position resolution. The sampling rate error
depends on the motor speed and the frequency of sampling. For
a speed of N r/min, the rotor angular frequency is x 360°/s.
This angular frequency divided by the sampling frequency
gives the sampling rate error as follows
6N
ae, = -.
fs
B. Errors in MV Technique
The MV technique of indirect rotor position sensing was
implemented using the 816, four-phase SR motor. The mutual
voltage variation as a function of the rotor position was from
1.8 to 4.2 V in the experimental set-up. The corresponding
digital counts are 246 decimal and 861 decimal, which leads
to a quantization error of
At?,, = 0.05’ Mech.
The sampling frequency for the MV technique is essentially
the same as the PWM frequency which was set at 25 kHz.
Also, the experimental sRMdrive was designed for adjustable
speeds ranging from 2 r/min to IO00 r/min. The worst case
sampling rate error would occur at the maximum speed, and
this error, at the speed of 1000 r/min, is
AOs, = 0.24’ Mech.
These two errors lead to a commutation angle error of
Aecomm= 0.05 + 0.24 = 0.29’ Mech.
The calculated shaft position error gives an accuracy within
1%;therefore, it can be claimed that the MV technique, with
the present set-up, is adequate for better than 1%commutation
accuracy.
The consequences of 1%commutation error on efficiency,
torque and torque pulsation can only be determined by nu-
merical simulation and extensive experiments of the drive
system. However, the mass produced SRM’s are likely to
have parameter variations of about 5% from phase to phase
and from motor to motor. Therefore, the accuracy of the MV
technique is well within the SRM drive product tolerances.
VIII. CONCLUSION
A new sensorless rotor position angle detection scheme
using the variation of mutually induced voltages in an inactive
phase of an SRM is presented in this paper. The proof of
principle of the scheme has been demonstrated by a laboratory
set-up, and it was observed that the position sensing method
tracks the rotor position through a wide range of speed. The
principle advantage of this method is the direct measurement
of an internal signal which is available without the injection of
any diagnostic pulses. The sensing circuit is also quite simple,
being composed of signal processing components only.
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67 1
The mutual voltage (MV) method is particularly suitable for
low to medium speed, low-voltage, high-current SRM drives
with single-switch per phase converters. The method is also
very resistant to the high switching noise which exists in this
kind of drives.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Mr. K.
R. Ramani for his technical assistance in preparation of the
experiments in this project.
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[SI A. Lumsdaine and J. H. Lang, “State observers for variable-reluctance
motors,” IEEE Trans. Ind. EZec., vol. 37, pp. 133-142, Apr. 1990.
[9] M. Ehsani, “Method and circuits for rotor angle detection in switched
reluctance motor drives by mutual voltage detection,” US. patent
pending.
[lo] R. M. Davis, W. F. Ray, and R. J. Blake, “Inverter drive for switched
reluctance motor: circuits and component ratings,” Inst. Elect. Eng.
Proc., vol. 128, pt. B, no. 2, pp. 126-136, Mar. 1981.
[ I l l M. Ehsani, J. T. Bass, T. J. E. Miller, and R. L. Steigenvald, “Devel-
opment of a unipolar converter for variable reluctance motor drives,”
IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. IA-23, pp. 545-553, MayIJune 1987.
[12] M. Ehsani, I. Husain, K. R. Ramani, and J. H. Galloway, “Dual
decay converter for switched reluctance motor drives in low voltage
applications,” in IEEE-PESC Conf: Rec., 1991, pp. 620-624.
[I31 J. C. Moreira and T. A. Lipo, “Simulation of a four phase switched
reluctance motor including the effects of mutual coupling,” Electric
Machines and Power Systems, vol. 16, pp. 281-299, 1989.
Iqbal Husain (S’93, M’93) received the B.Sc. de-
gree from Bangladesh University of Engineering
and Technology, Dhaka, and the M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees from Texas A&M University, College Sta-
tion, all in electrical engineering, in 1987, 1989, and
1993, respectively.
His research interests are in the areas of adjustable
speed drives, microcomputer control of drives, en-
ergy conversion, network analysis, and modeling of
power converters. He has worked towards the de-
velopment of several indirect rotor position sensing
schemes for switched reluctance motor drives.
..
Dr. Husain is also the reciuient of an IEEE Industrv Auulications
I
Society
Industrial Drives Committee Prize Paper Award.
612 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 30, NO. 3, MAY/IUNE 1994

Mehrdad Ehsani (S’7O-M’81-SM’83) received the

B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Texas
at Austin in 1973 and 1974, respectively, and the
Ph. D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-
Madison in 1981, all in electrical engineering.
From 1974 to 1977 he was with the Fusion
Research Center, University of Texas, as a Re-
search Engineer. From 1977 to 1981 he was with
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, as a
Resident Research Associate, while simultaneously
doing doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison in energy systems and control systems. Since 1981 he has been at
Texas A&M University, College Station, where he is now the Halliburton
Chaired Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Texas Applied
Power Electronics Center (TAW). He is the author of more than 85 publica-
tions in pulsed-power supplies, high-voltage engineering, power electronics,
and motor drives. He is also co-author of a book on converter circuits for
superconductive magnetic energy storage and a contributor to an IEEE Guide
for Self-Commutured Converters and other monographs. He is the author of
seven U.S. patents. His current research work is in power electronics, motor
drives, hybrid vehicles, and their control systems. He is a registered P.E. in
the State of Texas.
Dr. Ehsani is a member of IEEE Power Electronics AdCom, IEEE Industry
Applications Society Council, Chairman of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society Power Converter Committee, and Chairman of the IEEE Myron
Zucker Student-Faculty Grant Program. He is the recipient of the Prize Paper
Award in Static Power Converters and Motor Drives at the IEEE Industry
Applications Society 1985, 1987, and 1991 Annual Meetings. In 1984 he was
named Outstanding Engineer of the Year by the Texas Society of Professional
Engineers. He was General Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics Specialist
Conference for 1990 and is an IEEE Industrial Electronics Distinguished
Speaker. He is also a member of Sigma Xi.

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