Optik 125 (2014) 6589–6593

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Optik
journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ijleo

Chaos induced in Brushless DC Motor via current time-delayed

feedback
Chun-Lai Li a,∗ , Wen Li a , Fu-Dong Li b
a
College of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Institute of Science and Technology, Yueyang 414000, China
b
The Training Center of Hunan Electric Power Corporation, Changsha 410131, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Chaos in motor system is beneficial in some niche fields such as industrial mixing processes. In this paper,
Received 2 November 2013 we investigate the issue of inducing chaos in Brushless DC Motor (BLDCM). Based on the differential-
Accepted 25 June 2014 geometry control theory, a nonlinear function of current time-delayed control is derived. Analysis shows
that the feedback scheme can induce the BLDCM operating in a stable regime to chaotic state across a
Keywords: large range of domain of control parameters, and if the values of control parameters ˛ and ˇ are set at an
Induce chaos
appropriate level, the variation of the time delay  becomes insensitive to the occurrence of chaos, which
Brushless DC Motor
is available in the compensation with inaccuracy of time-delay control.
Current time-delayed feedback
© 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
PACS:
05.45.−a

1. Introduction proteins or many other shear-sensitive macromolecules, a fast stir-

Chaos is an interesting phenomenon in nonlinear dynamical
systems holding the features of apparent randomness and unpre-
dictable behavior [1–5]. The existence of chaos in motor systems
was discovered by Kuroe in 1989 [6]. Since then, investigation on
chaos of motor drive systems has become a field of active research
due to its potential applications in many areas, such as indus-
trial machinery, hybrid vehicle and electrical submersibles thruster
drives.
Recently, the secure and stable operation of motor drive sys-
tems has been researched extensively. Analysis indicates that with
systemic parameters falling into a certain area, the motor drive sys-
tem displays chaotic behavior [1,6–8]. The occurrence of chaos in
motors is highly undesirable in most engineering applications for
its performance. Thus, an extensive research has been carried out
toward the chaos control in several types of motor drive systems
[9–11].
However, chaos in motor systems is beneficial in some niche
processes, such as fluid mixing and vibratory compactor. In the
industrial mixing processes, an approach for improving the mix-
ing is to increase the stirring rate of motors, but it is some
times impractical for applications. For example, in the product of
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: strive123123@163.com (C.-L. Li).
ring can cause high shear rates [12]. In recent years, industrial
mixing has been proposed to improve the energy efficiency by
using chaotic-motion motor [13]. This mechanical mean not only
produces the desired chaotic mixing, but also offers the merits of
high controllability and high flexibility. In the process of compact
soil and concrete materials, a chaotic compactor can offer better
compaction performance than a conventional compactor.
There are some works on the chaos inducing in motor systems.
Qin et al. [14] investigated the influence of random phase (ran-
dom noise) on the dynamical behavior of a single-machine-infinite
bus power system. It is found that when the phase disturbance is
weak, power system is stable. But with the increase of disturbance
intensity, power system become unstable and fall into chaos finally.
However, random noise is not conducive to control. Wei et al. [15]
reported that direct time-delayed current can induce and enhance
chaos in permanent magnet synchronous motor, which needs a
large control and is seemingly impractical for applications. Zhu
studied the issue of chaos inducing of asynchronous motor by using
time-delay feedback rotor angular frequency [16]. Analogously, Li
studied the chaos induced in permanent magnet DC motor via time-
delay feedback rotor speed [17]. Obviously, the methods by Zhu
and Li are impractical for applications since the time-delayed rotor
speed is not easy to get and measure.
In this work, we focus on the issue of inducing chaos in Brushless
DC Motor (BLDCM) via nonlinear time-delayed current feedback.
Different from the existent works [15–17], the proposed scheme

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2014.06.033
0030-4026/© 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
6590 C.-L. Li et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 6589–6593

promises the occurrence of chaos according to Li–Yorke criteria where z ∈ Rn is the state variable; y ∈ Rm is the output signal; u(y(t −
[18]. Based on the differential-geometry control theory, an ana- )) ∈ Rm is the control function to be designed; f (z) and h(z) are
lytical solution of current time-delayed function is derived, which smooth vector fields; b(z) is the output function satisfying b(0) = 0.
provides a systematic approach for design and completely avoids To obtain the output function b(z) and further to determine the
blind numerical search. By using this approach, we can present a control function u(y(t − )), we would introduce an indispensable
standard procedure for the design of chaos inducing in BLDCM. Our Lemma [22].
analysis shows that the feedback scheme can induce the BLDCM In the first instance, for notation, the Lie derivative of function
operating in a stable regime to chaotic state across a large range of b(z) with respect to field f (z) can be defined recursively by
domain of control parameters, and if the values of control param-
eters ˛ and ˇ are set at an appropriate level, the variation of the
 T
∂b(z)
time delay  becomes insensitive to the occurrence of chaos. The Lf b(z) = f (z)
∂z
characteristic of insensitivity is available in the compensation with
inaccuracy of time-delay control.
 T
∂(Lf b(z))
Lf2 b(z) = f (z)
∂z
2. Description of BLDCM  T
∂(Lf2 b(z))
The dimensionless mathematical model of BLDCM can be Lf3 b(z) = f (z)
∂z
described by [19,20]
⎧ ···
⎪
⎪
did
= −ıid + ωiq + ud
⎪
⎪ dt
⎪
⎨ And the Lie bracket of the two vector fields f (z) and h(z), which
diq
= −iq − ωid + ω + uq (1) can further generate a new smooth vector field, is defined recur-
⎪
⎪ dt
⎪
⎪
sively as follows:
⎪
⎩ dω = (iq − ω) + i iq − TL
d
dt ∂h(z) ∂f
adf h(z) = f (z) − h(z)
where id and iq denote the direct-axis current and quadrature ∂z ∂z
current, respectively; ω denotes the angle speed; ud , uq denote ∂(adf h(z)) ∂f
adf2 h(z) = f (z) − (adf h(z))
the direct-axis and quadrature stator voltage components, respec- ∂z ∂z
tively; TL is the load torque; ı, ,  and  are the operating
∂(adf2 h(z)) ∂f
parameters. In our paper, we only take the case ud = uq = TL = 0. adf3 h(z) = f (z) − (adf2 h(z))
The bifurcation diagram for ı ∈ [0.1, 0.8] versus with  = 60,  = ∂z ∂z
4.35,  = 0.26 is shown in Fig. 1(a). And the typical phase portrait ···
with ı = 0.4 and ı = 0.32 are shown in Fig. 1(b) and (c).

3. Inducing chaos in BLDCM via current time-delayed Lemma 1. The controlled system (2) has relative degree n at a point
feedback z* and can be described by an nth-order linear differential equation on
a neighborhood M of z* if and only if
3.1. Preliminaries
(I) rank h(z) adf h(z) ··· adfn−1 h(z) = n for z ∈ M.
We know that a dynamic system with time-delay is of inherently
(II)  = span{h(z), adf h(z), . . ., adfn−2 h(z)} is involutive on neigh-
infinite dimension, which leads complicated dynamics obtainable
borhood M.
even in a simple system. Wang originated that chaos can be induced
in a stable linear system by a simple time-delay feedback control
[21]. Then-after Zhou provided a rigorous proof for this method In this case, the output function y = b(z) of system (2) is a solu-
[18]. In accordance with the theory of nonlinear control, if the rel- tion of the partial differential equations:
ative degree of a stable nonlinear system is equal to the order, one
can linearize this system exactly. The practicability of the lineariza- ∂b(z)
[h(z), adf h(z), . . ., adfn−2 h(z)] = 0
tion means that the time-delay feedback control for inducing chaos ∂z
in linear systems can be applied to design for inducing chaos in non-
linear dynamic systems. This is the basic fundamental to obtain an
analytical solution of the time-delayed controller if we can hold the
3.2. Derivation of current time-delayed feedback controller
linearization transformation for the BLDCM.
In this section, we investigate the issue of inducing chaos in
The controlled BLDCM can be expressed as the form as (2)
BLDCM which operates in a stable regime far away from chaotic
behavior via current time-delayed feedback. The significance of our ⎧
work is to provide a standard design procedure to obtain a current ⎨ dz = f (z) + h(z)u(y(t − ))
time-delayed feedback controller that ensures the occurrence of dt (3)
⎩
chaos in stable BLDCM without exploratory. y = b(z)
The controlled nonlinear differential system is considered here,
which is the most common and important in practical engineering, in which
and represented as ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
⎧ −ıid + ωiq 0
⎨ dz = f (z) + h(z)u(y(t − )) ⎢ ⎥
⎦ , h(z) = ⎣ 0 ⎦
T
dt (2) z = (id , iq , ω) , f (z) = ⎣ −iq − ωid + ω (4)
⎩ 1
y = b(z) (iq − ω) + id iq
 C.-L. Li et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 6589–6593 6591

Fig. 1. Bifurcation diagram and phase portrait of system (1): (a) bifurcation diagram; (b) phase portrait with ı = 0.4; and (c) phase portrait with ı = 0.32.

It follows from the definition of Lie derivative and Lie bracket Considering  = 60 and letting b1 = 0.01, one achieve
that
⎡ ⎤ b(z) = 0.01id2 − 1.2id + 0.01iq2 (6)
−iq
∂h ∂f ⎢ ⎥ To this end, according to the analysis presented in [22], we can
adf h(z) = f (z) − h(z) = ⎢ i −  ⎥ choose a small-amplitude time-delay feedback in the form u(y(t −
∂z ∂z ⎣d ⎦
)) = ˛ sin[ˇy(t − )] to induce the BLDCM to be chaotic. This, in
 turn, implies that we can take the feedback controller
∂(adf h(z)) ∂f
adf2 h(z) = f (z) − (adf h(z)) u(y(t − )) = ˛ sin[ˇ(0.01id2 (t − ) − 1.2id (t − ) + 0.01iq2 (t − ))]
∂z ∂z
⎡ ⎤ (7)
(1 −  − ı)iq
⎢ ⎥ Obviously, the control scheme in our work is practical for appli-
= ⎢ (1 +  − ı)i −  −  ⎥
⎣ d ⎦ cations since this scheme comprises the time-delayed current but
excludes the time-delayed rotor speed.
iq2 − id2 + ( − )id +  +  2

and we get 4. Numerical analysis of BLDCM with current time-delayed

feedback
A= h(z) adf h(z) adf2 h(z)
⎡ ⎤ In this section, we carry out the numerical simulations to con-
0 −iq (1 −  − ı)iq
firm the effectiveness of the proposed analytical control function of
⎢ 0 i −  (1 +  − ı)i −  −  ⎥
= ⎣ d d ⎦ time-delay feedback for inducing chaos in BLDCM. Through careful
bifurcation analysis aligning with the variation of control param-
1  iq2 − id2 + ( − )id +  +  2 eters, we examine the regular pattern of chaos in BLDCM across a
parametric domain. The effects about the variation of the controller
After transformation of elementary row, one can determine the parameters ˛, ˇ,  can provide guidance concerning how to select
rank of the matrix A as rank[A] = 3. So, the first condition of Lemma the control parameters to induce chaos in BLDCM.
1 is satisfied. For the convenience in later of this section, the system’s param-
Following from the defined vector fields and Lie bracket, we eters are fixed as ı = 0.32,  = 60,  = 4.35,  = 0.26, with which
obtain the following expressions: the BLDCM operates in a stable regime, and these parameters are
⎡ ⎤ not considered for the effect on the system dynamics.
0 −iq
⎢ ⎥
rank h(z) adf h(z) = rank ⎣ 0 id −  ⎦ = 2 4.1. Dynamics analysis of BLDCM by varying parameter ˛
1 
Our purpose here is to study how the control gain ˛ affects the
rank h(z) adf h(z) [h(z) adf h(z)]
system behaviors. In numerical analysis, we let the control gain ˛
⎡ ⎤ varies in the region [–10, 10], and consider three cases of control
0 −iq (1 −  − ı)iq
parameters, Case I: ( = 0.3, ˇ = 5.6), Case II: ( = 0.3, ˇ = 1.6) and
⎢ ⎥
= rank ⎣ 0 id −  (1 +  − ı)id −  −  ⎦=2 Case III: ( = 1.2, ˇ = 5.6) for the comparison of the influences on
inducing chaos.
1  iq 2 − id2 + ( − )id +  +  2
The global bifurcation diagram of the controlled BLDCM system
So, the linear space  = span{h(z), adf h(z)} is involutive in M. The (3) for Case I is displayed in Fig. 2(a) and closer views particularly for
controlled system holds the relative degree 3 at the point z*. ˛ ∈ [0.5, 1.1] and ˛ ∈ [2.9, 3.4] are depicted in Fig. 2(b) and (c). Sim-
In the light of Lemma 1, we obtain the following output differ- ilarly, the global bifurcation diagram and the corresponding partial
ential equations: enlarged view for Case II and Case III are plotted in Figs. 3 and 4,
respectively.
∂b(z) ∂b(z) It is known from Fig. 2 that the line dots near the origin cor-
h(z) = =0
∂z ∂ω respond to simple periodic motions, and the cloudy dots far from
∂b(z) ∂b(z) ∂b(z) ∂b(z) the origin are associated with chaotic motions. We can note clearly
adf h(z) = −iq + (id − ) + =0 that there are critical values for ˛ = 2.995 and ˛ = 3.331 where a
∂z ∂id ∂iq ∂ω
burst of periodic motions arises. Comparing Case II with Case I, the
which lead to the solution b(z) = a1 id2 + a2 id + b1 iq2 . When setting parameter region on occurrence of simple periodic motions near
a1 = b1 , a2 = −2b1 , we have the origin reduces when the value of ˇ decreases, and the number
of visible periodic windows increases, as shown in Fig. 3. When
b(z) = b1 id2 − 2b1 id + b1 iq2 (5) increasing the time delay from  = 0.3 (Case I) to  = 1.2 (Case
6592 C.-L. Li et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 6589–6593

Fig. 2. (a) Global bifurcation diagram versus ˛ for Case I; (b, c) the partial enlarged view.

Fig. 3. (a) Global bifurcation diagram versus ˛ for Case II and (b) the partial enlarged view.

III), it is found that the effects about the variation of the delay 
are small, as shown in Fig. 4. We know that there always exists
inherent time-delay of mechanical and control operations when
processing data in a real-time control, and the characteristic of
insensitivity is available in the compensation with inaccuracy of
time-delay control.
4.2. Dynamics analysis of BLDCM by varying parameter ˇ
We now examine how the controlling parameter ˇ affects the
system behaviors through bifurcation analysis. The global bifurca-
tion diagram of the controlled BLDCM system (3) for Case I: (˛ =
1.7,  = 0.3), Case II: (˛ = 6.0,  = 0.3) and Case III: (˛ = 1.7,  =
2.3) versus with ˇ are plotted Fig. 5(a)–(c), respectively.
It reveals clearly from Fig. 5(a) that there exists the first periodic
response near the origin, and sequential existences of chaos appear
intermittently in between the states of periodic response. Note that
chaotic motions intermittently occur depending on the selecting of
controlling parameter ˇ.
Comparing Case II with Case I, the parameter domain on occur-
rence of periodic motion near the origin reduces when lifting up
the value of gain ˛, indicating that a smaller value of ˇ is required
to induce chaos in BLDCM. We further note that the parameter
domain on occurrence of periodic windows faraway from the ori-
gin increases when lifting up the value of gain ˛, which implies
less parametric domain of occurrence of chaos holds, as shown in
Fig. 5(b).
Comparing Case III with Case I, it is found that the effects about
the variation of the delay  are small, as shown in Fig. 5(c).
4.3. Dynamics analysis of BLDCM by varying parameter 
Also we are concerned with how the controlling parameter of
time delay  affects the system behaviors. Particularly we take an
interest in if inducing chaos is widely available in parametric region
of . Resembling the above analysis, we consider three cases of con-
trol parameters, Case I: (˛ = 1.7, ˇ = 5.6), Case II: (˛ = 8, ˇ = 5.6)
and Case III: (˛ = 1.7, ˇ = 9) for the comparison of the influences
on inducing chaos.
Fig. 6(a) shows the global bifurcation of a small control gain
˛ = 1.7 for  ∈ [0, 6]. The first existence of the chaotic state is
allocated in the interval of 0 <  < 0.2, and sequential existences
of chaos appear intermittently in between complicated quasi-
periodic motions. Note that chaotic motions intermittently occur
depending on the selecting of . In other words, the state of system
response is sensitive to the control parameter of time delay  when
feedback control gain ˛ is set at the small value for inducing chaos.
We note that the increased control gain ˛ can extend the para-
metric domain of chaos. If the value of control gain ˛ is set at an
appropriate level, the variation of the time delay  becomes insen-
sitive to the occurrence of chaos. As the control gain is lifted up to
˛ = 8, the global bifurcation is plotted in Fig. 6(b). In this case, the
existence of chaotic state persists throughout the whole parametric
domain.

Fig. 4. (a) Global bifurcation diagram versus ˛ for Case III; (b) the partial enlarged view.
 C.-L. Li et al. / Optik 125 (2014) 6589–6593
Fig. 5. Global bifurcation diagram versus ˇ for (a) Case I; (b) Case II; and (c) Case III.
Fig. 6. Global bifurcation diagram versus  for (a) Case I; (b) Case II; and (c) Case III.
However, when increasing the value of controlling parameter
ˇ, the number of visible quasi-periodic windows increases. When
lifting up the gain from ˇ = 5.6 (Case I) to ˇ = 9 (Case III), the global
bifurcation is shown in Fig. 6(c), which implies less parametric
domain of chaos holds.
5. Conclusion
In this paper, we focus on the issue of inducing chaos in Brushless
DC Motor (BLDCM) via nonlinear time-delayed current feedback.
Different from the existent works [15–17], the proposed scheme
promises the occurrence of chaos according to Li–Yorke criteria.
Based on the differential-geometry control theory, an analytical
solution of current time-delayed function is derived, which pro-
vides a systematic approach for design and completely avoids blind
numerical search. By using this approach, we can present a standard
procedure for the design of chaos inducing in BLDCM. Through
careful bifurcation analysis aligning with the variation of control
parameters ˛, ˇ, , we examine the regular pattern of chaos in
BLDCM across a parametric domain. The effects about the varia-
tion of the controller parameters can provide guidance concerning
how to select the control parameters for inducing chaos in BLDCM.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Hunan Provincial Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant No. 10JJ2044) and the Research Foun-
dation of Education Bureau of Hunan Province, China (Grant No.
13C372).
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