Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Intelligent Control

and Automation, June 21 - 23, 2006, Dalian, China

Vector Control-Based Speed Sensorless Control of

Induction Motors Using Sliding-Mode Controller*
Ping Liu Lanying Hao
Shandong Electric Power College School of Control Science and Engineering
Erhuan Nan Road Jinan, Shandong, 250002, China Shandong University
Jinan, Shandong 250061, China
liuping9279@163.com hly@mail.sdu.edu.cn

Abstract – In order to eliminate the influence of parameter motor. Because of these problems, it is an important
uncertainties on field-oriented control for induction motor drive, requirement to eliminate the speed sensor from the control
a sliding-mode speed controller with integral sliding surface is system.
proposed. In this proposed control scheme the sliding-mode Therefore, speed sensorless control of induction motor
control strategy is worked in conjunction with the field-oriented
has been focused on many studies and researches in the
control method to improve the controller performance. The
estimated rotor speed used in speed feedback loop is calculated control of induction motor drives. The core of problem is to
by an adaptive algorithm based on measured terminal quantities. estimate rotor speed in order to obtain and apply it to the
Stability analysis based on Lyapunov theory is presented to speed feedback subsystem. From the beginning of the 1980s,
demonstrate that the rotor speed is exponential convergent. there were series research works throughout the world to
Simulation results are also presented to confirm the control induction machines without the need for speed sensors.
characteristics of the proposed overall control scheme. Different methods are used for flux and speed estimation. In
these schemes the speed is usually obtained by the
Index Terms - induction motor, sliding-mode control, field- measurement of stator voltages and rotor currents [6-8].
oriented, speed sensorless control However, the estimation is usually heavily dependent on
machine parameters.
I. INTRODUCTION
This paper proposes a new robustness control strategy. In
Up to now, indirect field-oriented technique [1] has been the proposed control algorithm the rotor speed used in speed
widely used for the control of induction motor servo drive in feedback loop is obtained by speed observer system based on
high-performance applications. The technique guarantees the the measurement of terminal quantities, and meanwhile, to
decoupling of torque and flux control commands of the eliminate the influence of parameter uncertainties, a
induction motor, so makes the induction motor be controlled robustness sliding-mode speed controller is used that will
linearly as a separated excited dc motor. But the decoupled work in conjunction with the field oriented technique. Then,
control performance is still influenced by the uncertainties, stability analysis using Lyapunov stability theory is given to
due to the unpredictable parameter variations, external load demonstrate that the rotor speed is exponential convergent.
disturbances, and unmodeled and nonlinear dynamics. To And simulation results verify validity of the proposed overall
overcome these drawbacks, optimal control, sliding-mode control scheme.
control, adaptive control and intelligent control are proposed
II. EQUATIONS OF INDUCTION MOTOR IN THE ROTOR FLUX
[2-4].
ORIENTATION
In the past decade, sliding-mode control strategy have
attracted many researchers and made a great development for Voltage equations of a squirrel-cage induction motor in
the speed control of the induction motor drives. It bases on the rotor flux orientation:
advantages of sliding-mode control [5]: good performance dψ ds
against unmodeled dynamics, robustness to parameter u ds = R s i ds + − ω eψ qs , (1a)
dt
variations and external disturbances, and fast dynamic
dψ qs
response. u qs = Rs iqs + + ωeψ ds , (1b)
In indirect field-oriented control of induction motors, dt
dψ
knowledge of rotor speed is required to establish speed loop 0 = Rr idr + dr − (ωe − ωr )ψ qr , (1c)
feedback. But generally, rotor speed is obtained by motor dt
speed detecting device. Conventional motor speed detecting dψ qr
device usually adopts tachogenerator or digital shaft-position 0 = Rr idr + + (ωe − ωr )ψ dr , (1d)
dt
encoders. These sensors increase cost of the control system, and the following flux equations:
exist difficulties in mounting and maintaining these speed ψ ds = Ls ids + Lm idr , (2a)
sensors, and make the system easy be disturbed, lower the
system reliability, destroy rigidity and flexibility of induction ψ qs = Ls iqs + Lm iqr , (2b)

*
This work is partially supported by the department of Science & Technology of Shandong Province (Grant No.03BS089).

1-4244-0332-4/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE

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 ψ dr = Lr idr + Lm ids , (2c) Lr L L − L2m
ψˆ qr = ψˆ qs − s r i qs , (11b)
ψ qr = Lr iqr + Lm iqs , (2d) Lm Lm
where u ds , u qs are the applied voltages to phases d and q of Therefore, the flux observer based on the voltage model
is given by [9]:
the stator, respectively; ids , iqs , are the corresponding stator dψˆ ds
= u ds − R s ids + ωˆ eψˆ qs + K I 1 (ψ dr
*
− ψˆ dr ) , (12a)
currents. idr , iqr are d- and q-axis rotor currents. The rotor and dt
dψˆ qs
stator flux in the direct axis are given by ψ dr and ψ ds , = u qs − Rs iqs − ωˆ eψˆ ds + K I 2 (ψ qr*
− ψˆ qr ) , (12b)
whereas in the quadrature axis they are defined by ψ qr and dt
L L L − L2m
ψ qs . The rotor speed is given by ω r and the angular speed of ψˆ dr = r ψˆ ds − s r i ds , (12c)
Lm Lm
the rotor flux linkage vector by ω e . Rs , Rr are the stator and
Lr L L − L2m
rotor resistances; Ls , Lr are the stator and rotor self- ψˆ qr =ψˆ qs − s r i qs . (12d)
Lm Lm
inductances; Lm is the stator-rotor mutual inductance.
Where, KI1 and KI2 are correction parts, which need to be
On the assumption that the effects of magnetic saturation, tuned in the simulation in order to obtain the desired result.
core loss and skin effect are neglected. The electrical model is The desired values of rotor flux under the rotor flux
augmented by the mechanical subsystem given as: linkages oriented in the d-axis are given by:
3 L
Te = P m (ψ dr iqs −ψ qr ids ) , (3) ψ dr
*
= Lm ids
*
, (13a)
4 Lr
ψ qr
*
=0, (13b)
J dω r B
+ ω r + TL = Te  (4) Estimated synchronously rotating speed of ω̂ e is achieved
P dt P
Where J and B denote the motor-load moment of inertia and using PI controller with zero command signal:
the viscous friction coefficient; P is the number of pole pairs
and TL is the load torque.
⎛
ωˆ e = K ω ⎜⎜1 +
T
1 ⎞
s ⎟ (
⎟ ψˆ qr − ψ qr
*
, ) (14)
⎝ ω ⎠
If the vector control is fulfilled, then:
Where, Kω and Tω are tuning parameters of PI controller.
ψ dr = ψ r , (5)
R i qs
dψ dr Then the estimated rotor speed is: ωˆ r = ωˆ e − r .
=0, (6) Lr i ds
dt
IV. SLIDING-MODE CONTROL
ψ qr = 0 , (7)
Under the complete field-oriented control, the mechanical
From (1c) and (1d), we obtain: equation (4) can be equivalently described as:
ψ dr = Lm ids , (8) dωˆ r
+ aωˆ r + f = bi qs* , (15)
dt
Then the electromagnetic torque is controlled only by q-axis where
stator current and becomes: B K PTL
3 L a= , b= T , f = , (16)
Te = P m ψ dr i qs . (9) J J J
4 Lr and K T is defined as:
III. SPEED OBSERVER DESIGN 3P 2 Lm *
KT = ψ dr , (17)
From (1a) and (1b), the estimated d-q components of 4 Lr
stator flux linkages are as follows: Furthermore, consider (15) with uncertainties:
dψˆ ds ωˆ r = −(a + Δa)ωˆ r − ( f + Δf ) + (b + Δb)i qs* , (18)
= u ds − R s ids + ωˆ eψˆ qs , (10a)
dt where Δa , Δb and Δf denote parameter uncertainties and
dψˆ qs
= u qs − R s i qs − ωˆ eψˆ ds , (10b) are defined as:
dt Δa䰉Δ ( B J ) , Δb = Δ ( K T J ) , Δf = Δ ( P TL J ) ,
where ∧ denotes estimate.
Define the tracking speed error as:
From (2a)-(2d), the estimated d-q components of rotor
flux linkages are: e(t ) = ω r* (t ) − ωˆ r (t ) , (19)
L L L − L2m Taking the derivative of (19) with respect to time yields:
ψˆ dr = r ψˆ ds − s r i ds , (11a)
Lm Lm e(t ) = ω r* (t ) − ωˆ r (t ) = −ae(t ) + u (t ) + d (t ) , (20)
where

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 u (t ) = −bi qs
*
+ aω r* + f + ω r* , (21) From (25), we know that (31) is not positive:
and V (x, t ) = s (x, t )s(x, t ) ≤ 0 . (32)
d (t ) = Δaωˆ r + Δf − Δbi qs
*
, (22) According to equation (32), the sliding-mode reaching
condition is satisfied, that is to say the uncertain system (20) is
According to (20), the sliding-surface is defined as [10]: asymptotically stable.
t
∫
S (t ) = e(t ) − (k − a)e(τ )dτ = 0 ,
0
(23) In the same way, if we design the sliding-mode speed
controller as u (t ) = ke(t ) − β sgn(s ) , then
where (k − a ) is strictly negative.
V (x, t ) = s (x, t )[− β sgn (s(x, t )) + d (t )]
When the sliding mode occurs, S (t ) = S (t ) = 0 , the
≤ − s(x, t ) (β − d (t ) ), (33)
dynamical behavior of the controlled system can be
equivalently expressed as: Assume that l = (β − d (t ) ), t 1 , t 2 are the hitting time of the
e(t ) = (k − a)e(t ) , (24) SMC by (26) and (27) under the sliding conditions
From (24) it is evident that after reaching the sliding-mode s (x, t )s(x, t ) = −l s ( x, t ) , (34)
surface s , the speed error e(t ) will converge to zero and
immediately. In other words, estimated speed ω̂ r can track the s (x, t )s(x, t ) = −rs 2 (x, t ) − l s( x, t ) , (35)
desired speed command asymptotically. respectively.
Assume that: Solve (34) between t=0 and t=t1, (35) between t=0 and t=t2:
d (t ) < β , (25) s(t = 0)
Then, based on the uncertain system (18), some researches t1 = , (36)
l
designed the sliding-mode speed controller as [5, 10]:
⎛ r s(t = 0) ⎞
u (t ) = ke(t ) − β sgn(s ) , (26) ln⎜⎜1 + ⎟
l ⎟
However, as the robustness of the SMC is not guaranteed t2 = ⎝ ⎠. (37)
during the hitting phase and the system response relies on the r
hitting time, it is expected that the hitting time should be while x > 0 , since x > ln(1 + x) , suppose the initial state of
s(t = 0) and l for (36) and (37) are the same, then t1 > t 2 .
minimized. To solve this problem, in this paper the sliding-
mode speed controller is designed as [11, 12]:
u (t ) = ke(t ) − β sgn(s ) − rs , (27) VI. SIMULATION RESULTS
Where k is the gain defined as above, β is the switching In this section the proposed overall closed-loop control
gain, r is the positive constant gain. system including the speed observer has been investigated by
From (21) and (27), we obtain the torque current command: simulation. The parameters of induction motor used in this
1 drive system are: J=0.00035Kg/m2, P=1, Rs=24.6Ω, Rr=16.1Ω,
*
i qs (t ) = [− ke(t ) + β sgn( s ) + rs + aω r* + f + ω r* ] . (28)
b Ls=1.493H, Lr=1.493H, Lm=1.46H, The ω r∗ is changed from 0
Above designed sliding-mode speed controller has a short
hitting time, that is to say the method resolves the speed to 100 rad/sec, and the ψ dr∗ is set to 2.58 Wb.
tracking problem for the induction motor with some Fig. 2 shows the rotor speed tracking performance with
uncertainties in mechanical parameters and load torque. And at load torque T L = 0 . It can be seen that the proposed SMC
the same time, a continuous term rs is used that can either control scheme has a fast response time, a good tracking
shorten hitting time or reduce the chattering. Fig. 1 is the performance, and torque has a fast convergence speed. Even in
overall induction motor control scheme. the transient, only a 4.5% speed error appears. This means that
V. ANALYSIS OF STABILITY even during the speed transients the scheme can track the
speed command accurately.
By choosing a Lyapunov function candidate:
V (x, t ) = 0.5s(x, t )2 , (29) ∗
∗
ψ dr i ds uds
the first time derivative of (29) is: 1/Lm
IM
V (x, t ) = s (x, t )s(x, t ) = s(x, t )[e(t ) − (k − a )e(t )] ,
PI
(30) ids ∗
(d-q)
i qs uqs
SMC
Substituting (20) into (27), then
V (x, t ) = s (x, t )[− β sgn (s(x, t )) − rs (x, t ) + d (t )] ω r∗ iqs

= − β s (x, t ) − r s (x, t ) + d (t ) s(x, t )

2
ω̂ r
Speed

≤ − β s(x, t ) − r s(x, t ) + d (t ) s (x, t )

2 Observer ψ dr
*

= −r s(x, t ) − s (x, t ) (β − d (t ) ) ,
2
(31)
Fig. 1 Overall induction motor control scheme

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 If we choose the sliding-mode speed controller as In the control scheme, make the torque command change
u (t ) = ke(t ) − β sgn(s ) , other conditions are the same as from 0Nm to 1.0Nm. The Fig. 5 shows the corresponding
above, we can obtain speed tracking performance shown as speed response. When the load torque changed, the control
Fig. (3-1). From it, the rotor speed response time is about 0.45 scheme has a good robustness to external load torque variation
sec. However, in the proposed sliding-mode control algorithm with maximum speed error 8% during the transient, no steady
the speed response time is about 0.02 sec as shown in Fig. (3- state error.
2), it is shorter than above case. The results of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show that the proposed
In order to test the robustness of the controllers with rotor scheme is robust to rotor resistance uncertainty and external
resistance uncertainty, the rotor resistance is stepped to load variation.
Rr = 2 Rrn , other conditions are the same as above. From Fig. 4
Fig. 6 is Error performance of the rotor speeds and fluxs.
Fig. (6-2) is speed error between estimated and actual values,
it can be seen that at the steady state there is a little speed error
Fig. (6-4) is speed error between estimated and reference
not more than 0.2%, and a 5.3% speed error during the
values. From Fig. 6 we can see that the estimated rotor speed
transient. The result shows that the proposed scheme is robust
and flux approach the actual values. That means the observer
to rotor resistance uncertainty.
system has high estimation accuracy and satisfies our requests
6
100
completely.
4 10
speed error (rad/s)
rotor speed (rad/s)

80 100
actual value 2

speed error (rad/s)

5

rotor speed (rad/s)

60 80
0
40 60
reference value -2 0

20 40
-4
-5
20
0 -6
0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8 0 2 time 4(s) 6 8
0 -10
(2-1) (2-2) 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8

0.4 (5-1) (5-2)

Fig. 5 Speed response when the torque command is changed
0.3
torque (Nm)

0.2 12
100
10

speed error (rad/s)

0.1 80
rotor speed (rad/s)

8
estimated value
60
0 6
40 4
-0.1
0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8 20 2
(2-3) 0 actual value
0
Fig. 2 Speed tracking performance when TL = 0 -20
0 2
-2
time 4 (s) 6 8 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8

(6-1) (6-2)
101 101
12
reference speed 100
100 100 10
rotor speed (rad/s)

speed error (rad/s)

rotor speed (rad/s)

80
8
rotor spe ed (ra d/s)

99 99 refrence speed
60
reference actual speed 6
98 speed 98
40 4
estimated speed
97 97 20
actual speed 2
96 96 0 0

95 95 -20 -2
0.4 0.4 0.45 time 0.5 (s) 0.55 0.6 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8
time 0.6 (s) 0.8 1

(3-1) (3-2) (6-3) (6-4)

-3
Fig. 3 speed response time performance 2.7 x 10
4

estimated value
q -ax is ro to r flu x (Wb )

2.65 2
d-axis rotor flux (W b)

6 estimated value
100
5 2.6 0
speed error (rad/s)
rotor speed (rad/s)

80 4 2.55 -2
refererce speed reference value
60 3 reference value
2.5 -4
2
40
1 2.45 -6
actual speed
20
0 2.4 -8
0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8
0 -1
0 2 time 4 6 8 0 2 time 4 (s) 6 8
(s) (6-5) (6-6)
(4-1) (4-2)
Fig. 4 Rotor speed response when Rr=2Rrn Fig. 6 Observer system performance

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 VII. CONCLUSIONS
The indirect field-oriented control is sensitive to some
uncertain parameters. Therefore, in this paper the sliding-
mode control strategy worked in conjunction with the field-
oriented method to improve the controller performance,
eliminate the problem caused by parameter uncertainties, and
reject the interference disturbances. Meanwhile, the steady
state relation in the vector control was used in the observer
system to calculate rotor speed. Although the construction of
observer system is simple, the rotor speed was estimated
exactly. Simulation results were presented and confirmed the
characteristics of the proposed overall control scheme. The
overall control algorithm has good performance against
unmodeled dynamics, robustness to parameter variations and
external disturbances, and fast dynamic response.
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