Disturbance Observer Based Predictive Current Control of Six-Phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines for the Mitigation of Steady-State Errors and Current Harmonics

Multiphase machines, associated with state-of-the-art control strategies like finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) are suitable for applications where reliability and disturbance-free operation are key factors. Although FCS-MPC provides good transient performance and straightforward design, the performance of the drive system is affected by model inaccuracies due to parameter mismatch and unmodeled dynamics, such as deadtime effects in the power converters and back-electromotive force harmonics. In this context, this article proposes a novel and robust disturbance observer based predictive current control strategy for six-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine drives that minimizes the steady-state errors due to parameter mismatch errors, while simultaneously reducing the amplitude of the fifth- and seventh-order current harmonics due to unmodeled dynamics, which are non-negligible in six-phase machines. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the very good performance of the proposed strategy even when considering significant errors in the system parameters and different values of the deadtime in the power converters.