How simulation can help defining necessary speed sensor-bearing performance for asynchronous motor control

This paper presents a method to define the optimum sensor performance to meet customer requirements on asynchronous motor performance parameters such as efficiency or output torque ripple. The method uses simulation: a speed sensor-bearing simulation tool is coupled with an asynchronous motor model of the electromechanical parts as well as the motor control to perform a reduced Design of Experiments study using the extreme outcomes for the sensor as inputs to the motor system model. Subsequently, a mapping of the efficiency or another output parameter of the motor can be realized with respect to the torque and speed range selected. This mapping is checked against the desired minimum performance required by the customer, to finalize the assessment of the sensor-bearing performance with a robustness verification. The method has been applied to a case where two different variants of sensor populations have been tested in a certain given motor and control configuration. The results show that it is possible to predict the necessary sensor-bearing performance in terms of motor performance.