An Optimal Direct Torque Control Strategy for Surface-Mounted Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives

This article investigates an observer-based optimal direct torque control (DTC) strategy for improving the transient and steady-state performance of surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor (SPMSM) drives. Unlike conventional DTC techniques, the proposed method simultaneously controls speed, torque, and flux variables by employing the optimal control theory in the stationary reference frame. This helps achieving a simple structure along with good low-speed operation as the stator flux angle need not be estimated. Further, the feedforward control terms are designed to compensate for system uncertainties. Additionally, an in-depth stability analysis is presented through the Lyapunov theory. Comparative results via a real-time prototype SPMSM test-bed with TI-TMS320F28335 DSP indicate improved performance of the proposed optimal DTC compared to conventional PI DTC, nonlinear optimal DTC, and adaptive DTC, including less computational burden, less torque and flux ripples, more robustness to parameter uncertainty, and improved transient response under very low speed/load step-changes and speed reversal.