Rotor position estimation and design of low cost controller circuit for Switched Reluctance Motor based on machine design parameters

An efficient and reliable operation of the Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) can be achieved only by proper estimation of the rotor position. The rotor position information in switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives is essential for generating the proper firing sequence and for controlling the speed of the drive. Also SRM drives in recent days are more expensive than their conventional AC and DC drives. This is to a great extent caused by the lack of a standardized power electronic converter for SRM drives. This paper describes a new and simple method for determining the rotor position of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) based on motor design structure and a design of low cost converter for low and high speed operations. The scheme is successfully implemented with minimum number of switching devices and position sensors to control the speed of the switched reluctance motors in both the direction. This controller executes controller algorithms via micro-controller to generate SRM driving signal.