Low speed position estimator for switched reluctance machine using flux/current model

摘要

A method for estimating rotor position of a switched reluctance motor during rotor start-up or low speed operation includes applying a sequence of relatively high frequency, short duration electric probing pulses to at least two inactive excitation phase windings of a multi-phase motor. The voltage and current at each of the two inactive excitation phase windings are measured and the resultant values used to compute an estimated rotor/stator linkage/flux in each of the two excitation phase windings. The computed linkage/flux and measured phase current of the two inactive excitation windings is then used in a model to determine the rotor position. In one form, rotor position is determined by establishing a table of values representing rotor position as a function of phase current for each of a plurality of values of motor phase linkage/flux and selecting from the table a value of rotor position corresponding to the measured phase current and computed linkage/flux for the phase.