Improved Performance for PMSM Sensorless Control Based on Robust-Type Controller, ESO-Type Observer, Multiple Neural Networks, and RL-TD3 Agent

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2023-06, Vol.23 (13), p.5799
• Main Authors: Nicola, Marcel, Nicola, Claudiu-Ionel, Ionete, Cosmin, Șendrescu, Dorin, Roman, Monica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Control systems; Controllers; extended state observer; Flow control; Fractal geometry; Magnets, Permanent; Matlab; Neural networks; Numerical analysis; Permanent magnets; PMSM; reinforcement learning; Robust control; Rotor speed; Sensors; Synchronous motors; Torque
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23135799

This paper summarizes a robust controller based on the fact that, in the operation of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), a number of disturbance factors naturally occur, among which both changes in internal parameters (e.g., stator resistance and combined inertia of rotor and load ) and changes in load torque can be mentioned. In this way, the performance of the control system can be maintained over a relatively wide range of variation in the types of parameters mentioned above. It also presents the synthesis of robust control, the implementation in MATLAB/Simulink, and an improved version using a reinforcement learning twin-delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (RL-TD3) agent, working in tandem with the robust controller to achieve superior performance of the PMSM sensored control system. The comparison of the proposed control systems, in the case of sensored control versus the classical field oriented control (FOC) structure, based on classical PI-type controllers, is made both in terms of the usual response time and error speed ripple, but also in terms of the fractal dimension (DF) of the rotor speed signal, by verifying the hypothesis that the use of a more efficient control system results in a higher DF of the controlled variable. Starting from a basic structure of an ESO-type observer which, by its structure, allows the estimation of both the PMSM rotor speed and a term incorporating the disturbances on the system (from which, in this case, an estimate of the PMSM load torque can be extracted), four variants of observers are proposed, obtained by combining the use of a multiple neural network (NN) load torque observer and an RL-TD3 agent. The numerical simulations performed in MATLAB/Simulink validate the superior performance obtained by using properly trained RL-TD3 agents, both in the case of sensored and sensorless control.