Patent ID: 8212505

Claim:
A method for operating an automotive electric motor comprising first and second components, the method comprising: selecting one or more desired frequencies of vibration for the electric motor; generating synchronous reference frame current commands; generating, at a waveform generator, synchronous reference frame vibration current commands; modulating the synchronous reference frame vibration current commands based upon input signals received from an acoustic sound sequencer storing sets of characteristics corresponding to the one or more frequencies of vibration; summing the synchronous reference frame current commands and the modulated synchronous reference frame vibration current commands along the q-axis of a d-q coordinate system of the synchronous reference frame to generate modified synchronous reference frame current commands that are characterized by a combined current vector that has an amplitude in the synchronous reference frame that varies in accordance with the desired frequencies of the synchronous reference frame vibration current commands; and generating three-phase stationary reference frame currents based on the modified synchronous reference frame current commands, wherein the three-phase stationary reference frame currents are modulated at the desired frequencies as the amplitude of the combined current vector varies and flow through at least one of the first and second components such that the second component moves relative to the first component such that the motor vibrates at the desired frequencies.