Four-quadrant operation

Theoretical background
Consider an elevator system shown in figure below. It consists of a carriage, a counter-
weight and a pulley driven by a DC motor. The counter-weight is usually set to around
50% of the fully loaded weight of the carriage to maximize overall efficiency.

This system goes through all the 4 quadrants of operation, namely:

1. Forward Motoring: ωm is positive and Tem is positive

2. Forward Regeneration/Braking/Generation: ωm is positive and Tem is negative
3. Reverse Motoring: ωm is negative and Tem is negative
4. Reverse Regeneration/Braking/Generation: ωm is negative and Tem is positive
Forward motoring occurs when the carriage is loaded more than the counter-weight and
the carriage needs to be pulled up, in this case the DC motor must produce torque along
the direction of rotation to compensate for the lower counter-weight. Forward
regeneration occurs when the carriage is loaded less than the counter-weight and the
carriage needs to be pulled up, in this case the DC motor must produce torque against
the direction of rotation to prevent the carriage from being drawn too fast by the heavier
counter-weight. Reverse motoring occurs when the carriage is loaded less than the
counter-weight and the carriage needs to be pulled down, in this case the DC motor
must produce torque along the direction of rotation to compensate for the lower weight
of carriage. Reverse regeneration occurs when the carriage is loaded more than the
counter-weight and the carriage needs to be pulled down, in this case the DC motor
must produce torque against the direction of rotation to prevent the carriage from being
lowered too fast due to its heavier weight.

In motoring mode power is drawn from the motor and in regeneration mode power is
fed back to the motor.