Cost-effective Sensorless BLDC/PMSM Driver

Digital controllers are becoming increasingly advanced, with continuous improvements in Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture significantly enhancing their performance. These advancements result in more efficient and powerful controllers capable of handling complex computations and real-time control tasks with greater precision and speed. Such microcontrollers can be utilized in digital converters and inverters, including motor drive systems. Using a suitable microcontroller in motor drive applications offers greater flexibility in designing Field Oriented Control (FOC), a sophisticated method for controlling torque and speed. This project aims to design an indirect FOC based PMSM driver suitable for low power applications such as small electric vehicles, supporting sensorless operation to achieve precise and efficient motor control through a robust FOC algorithm with fixed sampling and calculation times. The development platform includes a test rack with a PMSM coupled to a DC generator. This test station is used to test the developed firmware and hardware with different load conditions, using tools such as oscilloscope, J-Link debugger, and a multimeter. The implementation plan begins with the initial setup and requirements analysis. This is followed by algorithm development using MATLAB simulation. Subsequent steps include firmware development, testing and debugging, and finally, validation and documentation.