A variable-sampling controller for brushless DC motor drives with low-resolution position sensors

This paper proposes a variable-sampling variable structure controller (VSC) for brushless dc (BLDC) motor drives with low-resolution position sensors (Hall sensors). The variable-sampling characteristics arising from the situation where measurements depend on the path-embedded sensors will result in the uncertainty of the discrete-time models. To circumvent this issue, a modification of the conventional discrete-time VSC control law for BLDC motor drives with Hall sensors is derived to achieve the robustness of speed control. Three measurement error-mitigation methods are also presented to reduce the errors due to low-resolution position feedback. Both simulated and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller and error-mitigation techniques.