Improved sensorless control of a permanent magnet machine using fundamental pulse width modulation excitation

A new method to estimate the rotor position of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives over a wide speed range, including zero frequency is introduced. The method measures the motor current derivative in response to the standard pulse width modulation (PWM) sequence to estimate rotor position. No additional signal injection or separate test vectors are required although modification is needed when narrow PWM voltage vectors occur. Three compensation techniques are proposed to improve the quality of the position estimation and reduce current distortion when narrow vectors are used for position estimation. Experimental results for sensorless speed and position control of a 4 kW PMSM verify the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.