PLC-Based Speed Control of DC Motor

Ashraf Salah El Din Zein El Din

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shebin El Kom,
Minoufiya University, Egypt, http://www.menofia.edu.eg
e-mail: ashrafzeineldin2002@yahoo.com , Tel. 20-48-2220395, Fax.20-48-2235695

Abstract- In this paper, a simplified approach for
speed control of a separately excited DC motor using
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is presented.
This approach is based on providing a variable dc
voltage to armature circuit of dc motor from a fixed
dc supply voltage via a PLC which is used as a dc/dc
chopper. Pang-Pang control method is used for
switching on or off power to dc motor (armature
circuit) depending on the reference (command) speed.
It is easy, fast and effective by this method of control
to vary motor speed from 0 to 100% of rated speed.
The proposed system is suitable for different
industrial applications such as subway cars, trolley
buses, or battery-operated vehicles.
Keywords- PLC, DC motor, Speed Control, Pang-Pang
Control
I. INTRODUCTION
The methods of speed control of DC motors are
normally simpler and less expensive than that of ac
drives. Due to the commutators, dc motors are not
suitable for very high speed applications and require
more maintenance than ac motors. Controlled rectifiers
provide a variable dc output voltage from a fixed ac
voltage, whereas choppers can provide a variable dc
voltage from a fixed dc voltage. Due to their ability to
supply a continuously variable dc voltage, controlled
rectifiers and dc choppers made a revolution in modern
industrial control equipment and variable-speed drives
[1]. Many industrial drives and processes take power
from dc voltage sources. In most cases, conversion of the
dc source voltage to different levels is required. For
example, subway cars, trolley buses, or battery-operated
vehicles take power from a fixed dc source. However,
their speed control requires conversion of a fixed voltage
dc source to a variable voltage dc source for the armature
of the dc motor [2,3,4]. A Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC) is an industrially hardened computer-
based unit that performs discrete or continuous control
functions in a variety of processing plant and factory
environments. Originally, it was intended as a relay
replacement equipment for the automotive industry [5,6].
In the world of control, the use of PLC is ever increasing.
Industrial process control is one of the very important
areas where the PLC is extensively used. The flexibility
offered by the system to implement various control laws
is great. This paper proposed speed control of dc motor
system using PLC, which is used as dc to dc chopper.
The proposed system gives smooth variation over a wide
range of control. This system avoids the time derivatives
dv/dt or di/dt of power transistors like MOSFETs or
IGBTs if classical chopper is used. This system may be
used in different industrial applications such as trolley
buses, subway cars or battery-operated vehicles.
II. A CLASSICAL CHOPPER FED DC MOTORS
A dc chopper is connected between a fixed-voltage dc
source and a dc motor to vary the armature voltage. Also,
a dc chopper can provide regenerative braking of the
motor and can return energy back to the supply. The
circuit arrangement of a chopper-fed dc separately
excited motor is shown in Fig.1. The motor current is
either continuous or discontinuous depending on Mark
space ratio (Ton/T) and the inductance of the armature
circuit. Figure.2 illustrates the waveforms of the motor
current in continuous and discontinuous operation. There
are three possible modes of operation: Switch Q
conducts, free-wheeling action takes place through the
free-wheeling diode, and motor coasts. The governing
equations for different modes of operation are as follows
[2,3]:
Mode (1)
Switch Q is turned on, and motor is connected to
supply during the interval of
0< t < t1 and ia = i1
The voltage equation is;
Vdc = Ra i1+La di1/dt + Kω (1)
The torque equation is
Td =K i1 = Jdω/dt + Bω + TL (2)
Mode (2)
Switch Q is turned off, and free-wheeling action is
presented during the interval t1 < t < t2 and ia = i2
The system equations are
0 = Ra i2+La di2/dt + Kω (3)
Td =K i2 = Jdω/dt + Bω + TL (4)
Mode(3)
Motor coasts during the interval t2 < t < T
Ia = 0
0 = Jdω/dt + Bω + TL (5)
In order to determine the performance of the system,
numerical method can be used.

1-4244-0449-5/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE IPEMC 2006

 Figure 1 A classical chopper-fed dc motor
Figure 2 Continuous and discontinuous motor current at steady state operation
III. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The proposed system as shown in Fig.3 consists of a
separately excited dc motor loaded by eddy current
break. Its armature circuit is controlled via a d-c to dc
chopper which is represented by a Programmable
Logic Controller (PLC). There is a pair of relays
interfaced to the PLC output terminals. The first relay
is connected in the series with armature circuit of dc
motor. On the other hand, the second relay is
connected in parallel with the armature circuit of dc
the motor. This combination of the two relays acts as
a dc to dc chopper. A feedback signal voltage from
the tacho-generator is connected as an input to an
operational amplifier comparator. A reference voltage
corresponding to the command speed is also an input
to the comparator. The output signal of the
comparator is either + 0.9 Vcc which represents the
polarity of the difference error between the reference
voltage and the feed back voltage. The input interface
of the PLC used in this research operates in the range
of an input voltage between 8 and 30 volts. From this
point, a Pang-Pang controller is suitable in this
application. As the input voltage to the PLC is
+0.9Vcc ≈ 13.5 volt, the PLC is operated and hence
the output relay (1) is switched On, but the output
relay (2) is switched off. This means that dc power is
transferred to the dc motor. On the other hand, if input
voltage to PLC is -0.9Vcc, output relay (1) is
switched off, while output relay (2) is switched on.
This means that a freewheeling period of is started.
The average value of motor voltage is varied
according to the variation of duty cycle, which is
controlled by adjusting a reference voltage
corresponding to command motor speed. An input
switch is interfaced to the PLC for use in an
emergency. The advantages of the proposed system may
be summarized as: wide range of speed control (from 0% to
100% of rated speed) can be obtained, less complex circuit
1-4244-0449-5/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE
and low size memory used program consisting of three
rungs (statements), as shown in Figs.4 and 5 where both
011 and 0111 are addresses of the two output relays 1 and 2.
701 is an internal relay address which is used temporarily
during the execution of the program and switch 01 is an
emergency switch.
IV. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The proposed system is practically designed and
implemented using PLC 100 (Allen Breddly) to verify
the developed model of the system. The behavior of
this system under transient and steady state operations
determined by solving the non-linear system
equations (1-5) using Rung Kutta fourth-order method
with a suitable interval time of calculation that equals
0.01 sec. It is clear that there is two region of motor
current, continuous or discontinuous, it depends on
the reference motor voltage and the load. Figure 6
shows the computed and experimental responses of
motor speed, terminal voltage and current; due to
positive change of reference speed (from 1000 to
1200 r.p.m.), at half-load. It is clear that the motor
speed follows the desired speed reference and the
motor current is continuous during the period of
changing of the reference speed and is discontinuous
otherwise. This means that the proposed controller is
effective and accurate. On the other hand, as reference
speed is negatively changed (from 1000 r.p.m. to 500
r.p.m.) and the motor is half-loaded, the motor speed
follows the reference speed as shown in Fig.7, but the
frequency of both voltage and current of the motor
vary during the cycle in proportional inversely with
the reference speed. Figures 8-9 show the motor
voltage and current as the load torque is varied from
initial steady state value, to another steady value, then
returned back to its initial steady state value where the
IPEMC 2006
reference speed is kept constant. It is clear that the
motor current and voltage are affected when moving
from continuous to discontinuous current modes or
vice versa, according to the load value.
V. CONCLUSION
The paper proposed a simple, effective and accurate
speed controller of separately excited dc motor using
PLC, which acts as a dc to dc chopper. Using PLC
instead of classical controlled switches such as
Thyristors, MOSFETs and IGBTs in the proposed
system achieves a compact system and avoids the
variation of dv/dt and di/dt of the controlled switches.
The proposed system gives speed control in a wide
range from 0 to 100% of the rated speed. A pang-pang
controller is used. It is effective and fast, but there is a
fluctuation of motor speed appears in the steady mode
operation. A filter may be used for eliminating the
distortion of the motor speed. The start-up and steady-
state behaviors of the motor are predicted using the
proposed simulation. Comparison between the
simulation and experimental results for closed loop
systems proved they are in line with each other.
VI. REFERENCES
[1]Mohamed Harunur-Rashid,"Power Electronics Circuits,
Devices, and Applications", Prentice Hall International,
1990.
Figure 3 The proposed system
[2]David Finney, "The Power Thyristor and its
Applications", McGraw-Hill Book Company (UK) Limited,
1980
[3]P.C.Sen, "Thyristor DC drives", Krieger Pub. Co.
(07/01/1991)
[4]Petru Livinti and Gheorghe Livint, "The Synthesis of
Automatic Controllers For Electrical Drive Systems With
D.C. Motors", 9th International Research/Expert Conference
TMT2005, Antalya, Turkey, 26-30 September 2005.
[5] Bolton, W. "Programmable Logic Controllers", Elsevier
Science & Technology Books, San Diego, USA, 2003
[6]Tomas Sysala and Peter Dostal, "Adaptive Control
Algorithm Implemented Into Programmable Logic
Controller", 9th International Research/Expert Conference
TMT2005, Antalya, Turkey, 26-30 September 2005.
VII. APPENDIX
The test motor is a separately excited dc motor, 50volt. 50
watt, 1 ampere, 3000 r.p.m. having the following
parameters:
Ra= 10.5 ohm, La= 0.06 H, Rf = 550 ohm, B= 1E-05
N.m./(rad/sec.), K= 0.127 Volt/(rad./sec.), J=1.2E-04
Kg.m2.
VIII. SYMBOLS:
La, Ra: Armature inductance and resistance
Rf: Field resistance
B: Viscous friction coefficient
J: Moment of inertia.
K:Back e.m.f. coefficient.
ω: Moror speed (rad./sec.)
Fig. 4 A ladder diagram program Fig.5 A flow chrat of a program

Motor Voltage (Volt.)

Motor Speed (r.p.m.)

1500
30
1000 20

500 10
0
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
Tim e (s e c.) Time (Sec.)
Reference Speed

1500 1

Motor Current
0.5
(r.p.m.)

(Amp.)
1000 0
500 -0.5
-1
0 -1.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (sec.) Time (Sec.)

(a) Simulation Results (b) Simulation Results

Ch.1 Motor Speed (1000 r.p.m./div.)

Ch.2 Reference Speed (2volt./div.)
Ch.1 Motor Voltage Ch.2 Motor Current
(c)Experimental Results
(d) Experimental Results
Figure 6 Motor performance due to positive step change of reference speed at half load
 Motor Voltage (volt.)
Motor Speed (r.p.m.) 2500 25
20
2000
15
1500 10
5
1000
0
500 -5
0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 Time (Sec.)
Time (sec.)

Motor Current (Amp.)

1.5
1
2500
0.5
Reference Speed

2000
0
(r.p.m.)

1500
-0.5
1000
-1
500 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0 Tim e (Sec.)
-1 1 3 5
Tim e (Sec.) (C)Simulation Results

(a) Simulation Results

Ch.1 Motor Voltage Ch.2 Motor Current

(D) Experimental Results

Ch.1 Motor Speed (1000 r.p.m./div)

Ch.2 Reference Speed (2volt./div.)
(b) Experimental Results
Figure 7 Motor performance due to negative step change of reference speed at half load
Motor Speed (r.p.m.)

1500

1000

500

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (sec.)
 Motor Voltage (volt.)
30
20
10
0
-10 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Time (Sec.)

1 Ch.1 Motor Speed (1000 r.p.m./div.)

Motor Current (Amp.)

0.5 Ch.2 Reference Speed (2volt./div.)

0

-0.5

-1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
-1.5
Tim e (Sec.)

Simulation Results

Ch.1 Motor Voltage Ch.2 Motor Current

Experimental Results

Figure 8 Motor performance due to change of load from no load to full load then return
back to no load at of reference speed=1000 r.p.m.