Design and Development of a Three Phase

Induction Motor Drive using NI-myRIO

Vinay Kumar Awaar M N Sandhya Rani G Sandhya Rani
Department of EEE Department of EEE Department of EEE
GRIET GRIET GRIET
Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India
vinaykumaar.a@gmail.com namburisandya@gmail.com sandhyaranister@gmail.com

Pravardh Naragani Sasidhar Talluri Satya Sreyas Vakkalanka

Department of EEE Department of EEE Department of EEE
GRIET GRIET GRIET
Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India Hyderabad, India
pravardhnaragani@gmail.com sasidhar.talluri24@gmail.com materialenergy.maya@gmail.com

Abstract— This paper aims to describe the design, an inverter with six steps, each step is of 600 intervals for a
implementation, and operation of a three-phase inverter. As a complete cycle of 3600. Using six switches, the three-phase
general rule, inverters are used in applications that require inverter is shown below
high power, such as industrial induction motors. This Three-
phase Inverter is composed of three legs, each of which consists
of two switches. As a result, there are six switches in total.
Three-phase inverter circuit uses MOSFETs and IGBTs as
switching devices for which a microcontroller provides gate
pulses. Here, pulses are generated and given to switches
employing the NI-MYRio processor. Inverters in three phases
can be operated in any of two conduction modes, 1800 or 1200.
The operation is carried out in 1800 conduction mode in this
paper. It is interfaced with Mat Lab, which generates the
pulses and sends them to Arduino. In the case of NI- myRIO,
pulses are generated through LabVIEW software. This paper
successfully implements a three-phase inverter on hardware to
drive a three-phase induction motor.

Keywords— Voltage Source Inverter (VSI), Arduino, myRIO,

LABVIEW, MATLAB.
I. INTRODUCTION
Through the use of power electronic devices, the inverter
converts DC power into AC power at the desired voltage and
frequency. Most industrial inverters are used for adjustable-
speed AC drives, high voltage DC transmission lines, etc.
Various DC power sources can be used to power the inverter,
including power supply networks, fuel cells, and rectifiers.
VSIs (voltage source inverters) and CSIs (current source
inverters) are two types of inverters. Whenever there is a stiff
DC voltage source at the input terminals of the inverter, the
inverter is called Voltage Fed Inverter (VFI) or Voltage
Source Inverter. CFIs have stiff DC current sources at their
input terminals, making them Current Fed Inverters (CFIs).
The hardware implementation of three-phase voltage source
inverters will be discussed here.
Each type of inverter is designed in such a way that it
performs or suits a particular application. It is possible to
classify inverters into two main types: single-phase inverters
and three-phase inverters.
II. THREE PHASE INVERTER
Using six switches, a three-phase inverter is formed by a
six Step Bridge, and each phase consists of two switches. For
Fig 1. Three-phase inverter using six switches
In fig.1, some capacitors are connected at the input
terminals, and these capacitors suppress the harmonics fed
back to the source and keep the DC input constant. Two
different patterns can be used for gating switches. One is
1800 Conduction Mode and the second one is 1200
Conduction.
In 1800 Conduction Mode, each switch conducts for 1800,
resulting in three switches being on at any given moment.
The switch conducts for a period of 1800 and in this
controlling technique, three switches remain active at any
instant. When the switch MOSFET/IGBT S1 is switched ON,
positive terminal of input DC voltage is connected. When
switch MOSFET/IGBT S4 is turned ON, negative terminal
of input DC voltage connected. In each cycle there are six
modes of operation and each mode is for a duration of 600.
MOSFET/IGBT are numbered following the gate pulse
sequence. The switch signals in the inverter should be shifted
by 600 concerning one another to obtain a balanced three-
phase voltage. It does not matter if the load is connected to
the inverter by a Star connection or a Delta connection; the
switches on the same leg should not be switched on
simultaneously (S1 and S4, S3 and S6, S5 and S2). Unless this
is done, the DC link voltage supply will be short-circuited. A
switch of the same leg should not be switched off
simultaneously, i.e., to prevent undefined AC output line
voltages.

978-1-6654-8057-4/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE

 In 1200 Conduction Mode, every switch conducts for The phase voltages of three-phase VSI,
1200 a second and two switches are on simultaneously.

An inverter using six switches has a similar circuit 2V dc
V AN   sin n t 
diagram to a three-phase bridge inverter. As part of the 120o n 1, 3 , 5 ,... n 
degree mode (VSI), each switch conducts for 120oof cycle.
(1)

For a complete cycle AC output voltage using 2Vdc   2  
120oconduction mode, one must take six steps, each with a VBN   
n 1, 3, 5 ,... n  
sin n t 


3  
duration of 600, just like in 180oconduction mode. For the (2)
first 120o, the S1 switch conducts with S6 for 60o, and then 
2Vdc   2 
the S2 switch conducts the remaining 60o. During S3, S2 and VCN    sin n  t   (3)
S4 conduct for 120o (from 120o to 240o) and 60o (from 120o n 1, 3 , 5 ,... n    3  
to 180o), respectively. S5 is to conduct 120° (from 240o to Where ‘n’ is the harmonic order with the phase
360o) with S4 for 60° (from 240o to 300o) and the remaining displacement ‘φ’ and ‘f’ is the frequency (ω/2π) of the square
60° (from 3000 to 360°) with S6. In order of conduction, the waveform.
following sequence can be shown: - S6S1, S1S2, S2S3, S3S4,
S4S5, S5S6.
Table I. Switching states for 3-phase inverter A) SPWM TECHNIQUE
A VSI is often used to drive an induction motor in
S Vc variable speed applications that requires a suitable PWM
t Switching states Vab Vbc
a
a pulse to control its output voltage. A well-known method,
t sinusoidal PWM (SPWM), can be adopted for the adjustable
e
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6
speed drive (ASD) application. Considering an ideal power
1 On On Off Off Off On Vs 0 -Vs
switch, a modulator schematic to generate a low-frequency
sinusoidal waveform sin(ωt) with an amplitude (defined by a
2 On On On Off Off Off 0 Vs -Vs modulation index Ai) and high-frequency modulator
3 Off On On On Off Off -Vs Vs 0 triangular waveforms c(t), i.e., carrier waveforms and its
corresponding SPWM pulses in shown in gif.4 and fig.5
4 Off Off On On On Off -Vs 0 Vs respectively.
5 Off Off Off On On On 0 -Vs Vs
6 On Off Off Off On On Vs -Vs 0
7 On Off On Off On Off 0 0 0
8 Off On Off On Off On 0 0 0
The topology of a three-phase VSI has a simple control
logic and requires power switches like MOSFETs or IGBTs
to control the output voltage of the VSI. The load voltages
and their corresponding mathematical expressions can be
given as below [1].

Fig. 4 Schematic of SPWM modulator

The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique produces

constant amplitude pulses by modulating the duty cycle and
pulse duration. Using this technique, both the reference and
carrier signals are required. A triangular wave with a high
frequency is used as a carrier wave and a sinusoidal wave
with a low frequency is used as a reference. Using this output
signal, the switches are controlled. The below figure
illustrates the comparison.
Fig. 2. Topology of three-phase VSI

Fig. 3 Load voltage waveform of a three-phase VSI Fig. 5. SPWM pulses generated at 1 kHz frequency
 The SPWM modulator schematic is shown in fig.4
generates the variable pm as represented in by the rectangular
waveform that describes m leg state of an inverter:
1→ ℎ ( )> ( )
= (4)
0→ ℎ ( )< ( )
The turn-ON and turn-OFF signals for the m leg
inverter switches pertain with the variable pm as below:
1→ ℎ
= (5)
0→ ℎ
Where Sum is m leg upper switch and Slm is m leg lower
switch. From equations (4) and (5), it can be noted that the
modulator can generate the constant frequency sinusoidally
weighted SPWM signals to the gates of inverter power
switches. Also, the gate signals for all the upper switches
must be 1200 out of phase and its complement signals should
be given to the lower switches. It is evident from practical
usage of the power switches that the turn-ON times are
shorter than the turn-OFF times, so dead time should be
included between the S1 S3 and S2 S4 signals to prevent
internal short-circuits as shown in fig.6 Error! Reference
source not found.. These SPWM pulses can be generated
using a microprocessor (µp) or a microcontroller unit (MCU).
The selection of such a device mainly depends upon the type
of VSI drive that is used for constant load or variable load
applications. An MCU such as Arduino-UNO is suitable for
constant load drives, whereas µp such as NI-myRIO is
desirable for variable load drives.
Fig.6 PWM Pulses with dead-time representation
Though many industrial loads are of induction type, the
output voltage of VSI must be of the pure sinusoidal
waveform and harmonic free to minimize the losses and to
improve the efficiency of the drive [8]. Hence, a filter circuit
is required to get a sinusoidal output voltage waveform with
minimum harmonic content.
B) FILTERS
Inverters produce harmonics due to the switching
action of the switches and non-linear characteristics of
semiconductors. Thus, filters are used to eliminate harmonics.
Basic types of filters are those installed on the inverter and
those installed on the line.
Fig. 7 L-C filter topology
In order to stop harmonic current from penetrating
the series injection transformer, the inverter side filters are
used since they are closer to the harmonic source and offer a
lower level of rejection. This can lead to phase-shifting
and voltage drops in the fundamental component of the
inverter output. The higher rating transformer is necessary
for line-side filters closer to high voltages. Voltage drops and
phase-shift problems do not disrupt the system due to
filtering capacitors in both filters, and the inverter rating
increases [3] and [4].
III. SIMULATION CIRCUIT THREE PHASE SPWM
INVERTER AND RESULTS
Fig.8 shows the circuit design for this three-phase inverter
module in MATLAB.
Fig.8 Three-phase SPWM inverter
An LC filter is used in this circuit, and an RL-load is
used as a load. This circuit triggers the switches using
SPWM. Here are IGBTs/MOSFETs, a voltage measurement
block is used to measure phase and line voltage, and a scope
is used to observe the output voltage waveforms [5].

Fig.9 LC-filter
Fig. 10 to Fig.13 shows the simulation results for three-
phase inverters with and without LC filters.
Fig.10 Phase voltage of Three-phase Inverter(without filter)
Fig.11 Line voltage of three-phase inverter (without filter)
Fig. 12 Line voltage of three-phase inverter (with filter)
Fig. 13 Output phase voltage of Three-phase SPWM Inverter (with
LC-filter)
IV. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION
A. SPWM generation
A PWM pulse is generated using myRIO as a
microcontroller given to the inverter. However, before giving
the pulses to the inverter, there are two other modules, a dead
band circuit and an isolation circuit as described in fig.14.
Fig. 14 Block diagram of a Controller Circuit
NI myRIO-1900 controllers are programmed with LabVIEW
to generate SPWM pulses. fig.15 shows the output pulses
generated for the VSI power switches. With this controller,
the VSI output voltage can be controlled by varying the
SPWM pulses, which control the IM speed. It is also possible
to change the speed of the IM by varying the fundamental
frequency with the controller. This controller permits varying
the speed and torque of the AC motor with V/f control [6] –
[8].
S1S2 and S3S4 switching periods can be seen in fig.15.
There is a 1.8ms time delay between these switches, which
avoids the risk of short-circuiting the switches of the same
leg in VSI. Fig.16 shows the hardware implementation of the
three-phase inverter model. The generated PWM pulses with
dead-band can be given to the hardware circuit according to
its schematic diagram.
Fig.15 SPWM pulses at 5kHz from myRIO

and savings can be gained if IMs are operated at variable
speeds. Thus, a VFD is the best device for running such
applications at variable speeds by varying the frequency and
voltage of VSI.
Fig. 16 Hardware setup of three-phase inverter fed to three-phase
induction motor
With a carrier wave frequency ranging between a few Hz
and a few kHz, SPWM pulses of various frequencies can be
generated and, thus, the VSI output voltage can be adjusted
[9]. The output voltage waveform of a three-phase VSI
without filter is obtained as shown in fig.17.
Fig. 17 Three-Phase VSI output voltage waveforms
B. Speed control of IM
By varying the frequency of the Sinusoidal wave, an IM's
speed can be controlled directly since it is directly
proportional to its frequency. Table II illustrates the
experiment with the VFD on the Three-phase capacitor start
IM, which has the following parameters: 415V, 50Hz,
0.18kW, 0.25 HP, & 1350 rpm. In Table 1, IM is applied
with variable frequencies and its corresponding speeds are
shown.
TABLE II. VOLTAGE-SPEED VARIATIONS OF AN IM
Frequency (f) VFD controlled parameters
in Hz Voltage of VSI in Volts Speed of IM in RPM
50 420 1330
45 390 1300
40 345 1150
30 250 850
20 160 540
V. CONCLUSION
The simulation of a three-phase VSI is presented, and the
hardware prototype model is developed. The required PWM
pulses at 5kHz for speed control of three-phase induction
motor have been generated using NI-myRIO-1900. The
dead-band is also created with the programming in
LabVIEW software. The hardware model presented for the
speed control by the v/f method and the results obtained are
satisfactory. Since many industries use induction motors to
drive constant loads supplied by AC line power. They may
run for long periods in no-load or off-load conditions,
causing energy losses. However, the losses can be minimized,
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