BLDC Motor Drives: A Single Hall Sensor Method and a 160° Commutation Strategy

The application of Hall-based BLDC motors ranges from automotive accessory components such as oil and water pumps to high speed compressors. This paper proposes a new twelve-step unsymmetrical 160 degrees commutation strategy using a single Hall-effect sensor method for brushless DC (BLDC) motor drives. The signal from the Hall-effect sensor is used to generate a number of pseudo Hall signals via a proposed speed-position estimator. The pseudo signals are then employed to control switching logic of a voltage source inverter (VSI). The effectiveness of the single Hall sensor method is examined on the unconventional 160 degrees strategy, and on conventional 120 degrees, 150 degrees and 180 degrees strategies with promising results. The paper presents a detailed comparison of the twelve-step unsymmetrical 160 degrees commutation strategy with six-step voltage space vector that is used in conventional 120 degrees and 180 degrees strategies, and twelve-step symmetrical voltage space vector that is used in 150 degrees strategy. Simulation results are validated via experimental measurements on a laboratory set-up using a real time dSPACE control environment, a representative BLDC motor prototype, a VSI and associated control components.