Robust control of permanent magnet motors: VSS techniques lead to simple hardware implementations

It is shown how very simple velocity-tracking robust controllers for permanent magnet motors driving nonlinear loads can be designed based on variable structure systems techniques. Very fast dynamics, accurate and robust velocity-tracking are achieved with very simple hardware components without resorting to powerful digital signal processors and related interface hardware. A cascade control structure is used to ensure maximum flexibility. The controller for a DC motor is considered in great detail. Extension to AC synchronous PM motors is also presented. At the different control levels robustness is addressed with specific algorithms and the simplest solution is always selected. The controller architecture for both DC and AC synchronous motor are presented and discussed in the paper. Experimental results related to the control of a DC motor driving a nonlinear load are also shown. They demonstrate feasibility and excellent performances of the proposed approach