Patent Description:
<CIT> discloses a motor system comprising d-axis and q-axis look-up tables for providing d-axis and q-axis command currents for any given speed, desired torque and DC link bus voltage.

It is an object of the invention to provide a way by means of which the most optimal operating points for an electric motor operating at different speeds, torques, voltages, temperatures, etc. may be determined while still satisfying CPU load (calculation time) and memory (size of variables) constraints.

This object is solved by the subject-matter of the claims. In particular, this object is solved by a motor control system according to claim <NUM>, a control system according to claim <NUM>, an electronic system according to claim <NUM>, a vehicle according to claim <NUM>, a method according to claim <NUM>, a computer program according to claim <NUM> and a computer-readable data carrier according to claim <NUM>. Further details of the invention unfold from the other claims as well as the description and the drawings. Thereby, the features and details described in connection with the motor control system of the invention apply in connection with the control system of the invention, the electronic system of the invention, the vehicle of the invention, the method of the invention, the computer program of the invention and the computer-readable data carrier of the invention, so that regarding the disclosure of the individual aspects of the invention it is or can be referred to one another.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a motor control system for determining an operating point for controlling an electric motor in an electric system comprising a battery and an electronic control unit.

The motor control system comprises a calibrator having an input for receiving a battery voltage of the battery and a motor (or rotor) speed and a requested torque of the electric motor, the calibrator being configured to calculate a modified speed based on the received battery voltage, motor speed and the requested torque.

The motor control system further comprises an operating point controller having an input for receiving a fixed battery voltage reference, the modified speed and the requested torque, the operating point controller being configured for determining the operating point for controlling the electric motor based on the received fixed battery voltage reference, the modified speed and the requested torque.

The identified disadvantage in the prior art is that equations are simplified in a way that all operating points are not optimum. However, using raw equations requires a computer's processor which is not reasonable for many applications, in particular automotive applications.

The invention now proposes to include a calibrator in a motor control system to change the operating point controller's inputs. The calibrator, just as the operating point controller, may be understood as modules of the motor control system, which may be implemented as computer codes, in particular algorithms, to be executed on a computer and/or as electric circuits executing their function.

The equations of the operating point controller are simplified but the calibrator will variate the inputs to oblige the operating point controller to provide the most efficient operating points. A modification of the raw equations by means of performing variables with constants and (more or less) complex functions allows to decompose the different calculations to make the whole process faster to compute.

Despite requiring (reasonable) additional CPU load (few micro-seconds) and memory (few kilo-bytes), the motor control system allows more flexibility, which could permit to choose a balance between different CPU constraints and motor control performances. All operating points can be optimized without having to upgrade the CPU.

In particular, the operating point is defined by a current to be applied through each of the phases of the electric motor.

Moreover, in particular, the motor control system further comprises a control loop configured for receiving the determined operating point, comparing the determined operating point to a measured current and output a voltage request.

Further, in particular, the electric motor is a brushless alternating current motor.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a control system comprising the motor control system according to the first aspect of the invention, whereby the control system further comprises a power stage control system connected to the motor control system.

In particular, the power stage control system is configured to transform a voltage request received from the motor control system into duty cycles to command switches of a power stage of the electronic control unit.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of an electronic system comprising a mechanical system and an electric system, the electric system having the control system according to the second aspect of the invention.

In particular, the electronic system is an electronic vehicle system. In other words, the electronic system may be from an automotive application.

Moreover, in particular, the electronic system is an electronic power steering system. However, other applications in vehicles, such as vehicle electric traction systems, can be implemented as well.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a vehicle comprising the electronic system according to the third aspect of the invention.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a method for determining an operating point for controlling an electric motor in an electric system comprising a battery and an electronic control unit, the method comprising the steps of:.

In particular, the method further comprises the steps of comparing the determined operating point to a measured current and outputting a voltage request.

Moreover, in particular, the method further comprises the steps of transforming a voltage request into duty cycles and correspondingly commanding switches of a power stage of the electronic control unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to the fifth aspect of the invention.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, the above object is solved by means of a computer-readable data carrier having stored thereon the computer program according to the sixth aspect of the invention.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention unfold from the following description, in which by reference to drawings <FIG>, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail. Thereby, the features from the claims as well as the features mentioned in the description can be essential for the invention as taken alone or in an arbitrary combination. In the drawings, there is schematically shown:.

Throughout <FIG>, alike elements are referred to with the same reference number.

<FIG> depicts an electronic (vehicle) system <NUM> in the form of an electronic power steering (EPS) system <NUM> for a vehicle <NUM> (see <FIG>). The electronic power steering system <NUM> comprises a mechanical system <NUM> and an electric system <NUM>. The mechanical system <NUM> includes a torque sensor <NUM>, a steering wheel <NUM>, a column <NUM>, a pinion <NUM>, a rack <NUM> and wheels <NUM>. The electric system <NUM> includes an electric motor <NUM>, which in this case is a brushless alternating current motor (BLAC motor), a battery <NUM>, an electronic control unit (ECU) <NUM> and at least one sensor, such as the depicted motor position sensor <NUM>, thereby forming the so-called powerpack <NUM>. A gearbox <NUM> of the EPS system <NUM> makes the junction between both systems <NUM>, <NUM>.

When the steering wheel <NUM> is rotated, the requested torque is measured by the torque sensor <NUM>, and the powerpack <NUM> accordingly provides torque in the same direction which helps the driver to steer the vehicle <NUM> (schematically depicted in <FIG> with systems <NUM>, <NUM> inside of the vehicle <NUM>).

The torque provided by the powerpack <NUM> is multiplied by the gearbox <NUM> and is applied on the column <NUM> or the rack <NUM> according to the type of vehicle (truck or small city car). The speed of the steering wheel <NUM> (imposed by the driver) is multiplied by the gearbox <NUM> on the powerpack's motor <NUM>. Therefore, EPS motors <NUM> are used in a big range of speed and of torque as well.

<FIG> depicts the typical shape of the first curve <NUM> representing how much torque (assistance) is available depending on the speed of the steering wheel <NUM>.

Most of the time, the steering wheel <NUM> is rotated quite slowly which makes the EPS system <NUM> operate mostly in the left area <NUM> of <FIG> including the first curve <NUM>. However, during quick maneuvers or during abnormal driving circumstances (such as hitting the side road), the EPS system <NUM> operates in the right area <NUM> of the first curve <NUM>. For safety reasons, the EPS system <NUM> must be able to operate in the motor's complete operating range. For car emission efficiency, the motor <NUM> must be controlled in the most efficient way, no matter the operating area (even though the EPS system <NUM> might not be used in the high-speed area that often). Also, the hardware (electric) part of the ECU <NUM> is designed on the assumption that the EPS system <NUM> is controlled perfectly (another reason to control the motor <NUM> as well as possible).

In the left area <NUM> of <FIG>, the motor <NUM> operates in the so-called "normal operating mode". The power depicted as second curve <NUM> increases linearly, up to a certain speed. From this certain speed in the right area <NUM>, the motor <NUM> operates in the so-called "flux weakening operating mode", which permits to control the motor <NUM> in higher speed, for the same power (against losing torque availability).

In <FIG>, the power stage <NUM>, in this case a <NUM>-phase-inverter, of the ECU <NUM> having six switches <NUM> is shown in more detail. The power stage <NUM> allows to shape the DC voltage from the battery <NUM> into AC sine shapes to apply on each phase of the motor <NUM>. Each phase of the motor <NUM> can be represented as a RL circuit in series with a voltage source E. This voltage source E has a sine shape at constant motor speed, and its amplitude increases with the motor speed.

A first objective of the motor control is to apply the right voltage across each phase of the motor <NUM>, making sure the phase-to-phase voltage of the motor <NUM> does not exceed the voltage of the battery <NUM>. Otherwise, the EPS system <NUM> would not operate in motor mode but rather in generator mode, which would brake the motor <NUM> and violate safety goals.

Since the hardware designers consider perfect motor control and certain current during certain amount of time in order to choose the right components and thermal dissipation parameters, it is required to not exceed the maximum current allowed in each phase, which is the second objective.

A third objective of the motor control is to keep as much assistance availability as possible (i.e., not limit the assistance too much). OEMs expect to have certain amount of assistance in certain circumstances which requires the motor control to be able to provide as much torque as the motor <NUM> can do, otherwise it will result in overdesigning the powerpack <NUM> to be able to comply with the OEM torque-vs-speed requirements.

A fourth objective is to make the control as efficient as possible (i.e., less current for same power provided).

Basically, the motor control is responsible to control the motor <NUM> in the most efficient way while adapting to its environment (battery voltage, hardware maximum current), but also to follow the driver assistance expectations and avoid making the vehicle <NUM> consume more fuel to recharge the battery <NUM> because of the EPS system <NUM> excess current consumption.

As explained earlier, the first objective of the motor control is to apply the right voltage across the motor phases (for the right torque) while avoiding to have phase-to-phase voltage greater than the battery voltage. However, the voltage induced by the rotation of the motor (so-called "Back-EMF"; referred to as E in <FIG>) increases linearly with the motor speed, which makes the phase-to-phase voltage increase.

Therefore, as shown in <FIG>, to avoid an overvoltage, the motor control has the role to induce a phase-shift between the phase current and the phase back-EMF when required (in high speed).

In <FIG>, the control system <NUM> for the powerpack <NUM> is depicted in a simplified way. It may be seen that for a certain torque request and a certain motor speed, a motor control system <NUM> of the control system <NUM> will provide voltage (Vd, Vq) request to have more or less current (for torque T) with more or less phase-shift ϕ (for phase-to-phase limitation). Then the power stage control system <NUM> of the control system <NUM> transforms the voltage request into duty cycles to command the six switches <NUM> correctly.

Now, as shown in <FIG>, the motor control system <NUM> can be represented as a graph with two axes: how much assistance (Y-axis) can be provided in function of the phase-shift (X-axis) induced between the current and the Back-EMF. The assistance is equivalent to how much torque the motor provides [<NUM> : <NUM> %]. The phase-shift ϕ will never exceed <NUM> degrees.

To control the motor <NUM> in a simpler way (less CPU load and better system understanding), the electrical components (voltage, current, phases resistance and inductance) may be represented in a Park plan, which may be obtained after a Clarke and Park transformation. These are constant and rotor angle dependent matrices that are multiplied by the three phase components. They are generally known in the art and to the person skilled in the art. The Park plan permits to represent the three phases sinusoidal current into two constant components Iq and Id. The transition from three-phase (temporal) plan to a Clarke/Park plan permits to represent parameters from stator to rotor point of view.

Using the representation of <FIG> of the system <NUM> showing assistance vs phase-shift as explained before, the component Iq can be associated with how much torque T is provided and the component Id with how much phase-shift is induced.

Coming back to the initial issue of handling the phase-to-phase voltage equal or lower than the battery voltage, there also comes the necessity to limit the current flow to what has been expected by the hardware design. The current that flows through each phase of the motor <NUM> has an amplitude | I | that is equal to the root square of Id<NUM> + Iq<NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. This is the reason why when applying some phase-shift, the maximum torque/assistance that can be provided is reduced (with this quarter circle shape).

The motor <NUM> can operate anywhere in the area of the graph of <FIG>. But if the motor <NUM> operates outside of it, the current will be higher than what the hardware has been designed for, and this might risk reducing the life of the ECU <NUM>, cause the ECU <NUM> to dysfunction or even endanger the driver.

Therefore, operating in this area fulfills the second criteria of the motor control's objectives, which is the hardware limitation.

Once again, when increasing the motor speed ωe, the Back-EMF's "E" amplitude increases, which increases the phase voltage, which increases the phase-to-phase voltage. Now, increasing the current to Back-EMF phase-shift reduces the phase voltage which reduces the phase-to-phase voltage. By combining both effects, a proper motor control can be created.

Looking at the operating area, depending on the motor speed ωe as depicted in <FIG>, it can be seen that the operating area shrinks when the motor <NUM> runs faster. That is explained by the fact that when the speed is so high that the phase-to-phase voltage is greater than the battery voltage, there is no choice but to apply a phase-shift to avoid going in generator mode (phase-to-phase voltage greater than battery voltage).

Now, from a strategic point of view, it would be possible to provide <NUM> % of the assistance by applying <NUM> ° of phase-shift when the driver needs the most assistance, and to increase the phase-shift along with reducing the torque T applied when the driver does not need much assistance. This is depicted on the right graph of <FIG> and would make the motor operate <NUM> % of the time at maximum current consumption, which would be the least efficient option in terms of motor control.

However, if we were closer to the operation according to the graph on the left of <FIG> and provide the point where I = sqrt(Id<NUM> + Iq<NUM>) is the minimum, that would be the most efficient way to control the motor <NUM>.

Therefore, by not only operating in the area of the graphs of <FIG> for the different speeds, but by operating on the thick lines added to <FIG> and represented in <FIG>, which is the limit where the phase-to-phase peak voltage is equal to the battery voltage, the motor control would fulfill its third and fourth objective, which are to be able to provide as much assistance as possible when needed and be as efficient as possible in terms of current consumption for the same result/assistance.

Now, adding a last difficulty in the motor control: Batteries <NUM> are never charged at the same level throughout the life of the vehicle <NUM>. Sometimes, the headlamps are on, as well as the radio and other electrical modules which reduce the battery voltage. Other times, the battery <NUM> is completely charged and the motor <NUM> together with the alternator recharge the battery <NUM> which makes its voltage very high. The weather also affects the temperature of the battery <NUM>, which also affects its voltage. All of this has to be considered.

<FIG> gives a closer look to the effect of the battery voltage on the operating area of the motor control (for the same speed, here at medium speed). It can be seen that the operating area shrinks when the battery voltage decreases, which gives completely new optimal operating points.

<FIG> now gives a detailed schematic illustration of a motor control system <NUM>, which may be used in the control system <NUM> of <FIG>. It can be seen that the operating point controller (OPC) <NUM> in fact depends on three inputs: the torque T request (for the assistance), the rotor speed ωe and the battery voltage measured (for the right phase-shift). The OPC <NUM> provides requests of current ID, IQ to be applied through each phase, and a regulator/control loop <NUM> will compare it to the measured current and give voltage requests in the output (for the power stage control <NUM>, see <FIG>).

Focusing on the OPC <NUM>, the equations for "perfect" motor control require four dimensional/parameters (current, voltage, speed, torque) equations. Now taking into consideration the automotive industry application, the central processing unit (CPU) of the ECU <NUM>, which contains all the numeric motor systems, does not have much memory and does not have a very high operating frequency (much less than a computer processor). Therefore, it is required to simplify algorithms and to find balance between memory and CPU load.

According to the invention, the OPC <NUM> is now designed for only one reference battery voltage (e.g., <NUM> V since it is the typical battery voltage when it is charged) to make the OPC <NUM> a <NUM>-dimensional equations algorithm instead of a <NUM>-dimensional one.

In addition to that, a calibrator <NUM> is added upstream of the OPC <NUM> to adjust its input speed in function of the real motor control inputs, so that it will shift the operating points when the battery voltage is higher or lower than the reference one.

To have an example, it is referred to <FIG>. It is assumed that speed is constant (in the medium range in the example of <FIG>). The operating area for several battery voltages is represented. It can be seen that it shrinks when the voltage is lower (as already mentioned before).

But the most important part is that the optimal operating points are completely different (thick lines as before). Representing them on the same figure (as above), the objective of the calibrator <NUM> is to make the operating point B closer to the operating point A and C when the battery voltage is respectively higher or lower than the reference battery (<NUM> V in this example) because the OPC <NUM> was designed for only this reference B.

It can be said that <FIG> corresponds to the OPC <NUM> operating area for the reference voltage <NUM> V. When the voltage is higher, the calibrator <NUM> has to make the OPC's <NUM> input speed lower so that its operating area will increase and the point B will be closer to A (which is the optimum). Same principle applies for lower battery voltage.

The OPC's <NUM> input speed ωe* is calculated by the calibrator <NUM> by making a ratio between the reference voltage Uref and the battery voltage Ubat and doing a linearization in function of the actual speed and this ratio.

The typical equations to control a motor <NUM> are the following ones:.

The state of the art is to make a Clarke/Park transformation of the electrical circuit of the motor phases to represent it in a two-component d and q plan. Adding all the voltage and current limitations, in addition to the torque/currents relation, these equations are obtained.

The calibrator <NUM> principle proposed herein consists in modifying these equations by making a variable change of the speed ωe (replaced by the more complex equation for ωe*) and by fixing the battery voltage to a constant Uref. Accordingly, make a variable change of ωe and set Ubat to a reference voltage Uref:.

Other motor control methods consist in neglecting the phases resistance and controlling the motor in flux instead of voltages.

It is proposed to make a variable change of ωe and set Ubat to the reference voltage Uref:.

Claim 1:
Motor control system (<NUM>) for determining an operating point for controlling an electric motor (<NUM>) in an electric system (<NUM>) comprising a battery (<NUM>) and an electronic control unit (<NUM>), characterized in that the motor control system (<NUM>) comprises:
- a calibrator (<NUM>) having an input for receiving a battery voltage (Ubat) of the battery (<NUM>), a motor speed (ωe) and a requested torque (T) of the electric motor (<NUM>), the calibrator (<NUM>) being configured to calculate a modified speed (ωe*) based on the received battery voltage (Ubat), the motor speed (ωe) and the requested torque (T), and
- an operating point controller (<NUM>) having an input for receiving a fixed battery voltage reference (Uref), the modified speed (ωe*) and the requested torque (T), the operating point controller (<NUM>) being configured for determining the operating point for controlling the electric motor (<NUM>) based on the received fixed battery voltage reference (Uref), the modified speed (ωe*) and the requested torque (T).