Beyond Bits Motor Control Edition

Motor Types and Their Control

Summary of key motor types and control

Overview Motor types that most effectively sensor wiring, sensor power supply
Freescale provides comprehensive meet these requirements include AC and increases reliability. Still, there
motor control solutions for almost all induction motors (ACIM), permanent are applications where higher cost of
electric motor topologies. magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), sensors is not as important as higher
brushless DC motors (BLDC) and position resolution. The most common
Motor Control Application switched reluctance motors (SR). speed/position sensors are:
Requirements The following pages will cover their
• Tachogenerators
• Minimize energy losses main characteristics, types of control,
• Hall sensors
• Prevent environment pollution advantages and typical applications.
• Encoders
• Decrease acoustic noise and
power harmonics
Digital Motor Control • Resolvers
Digital control allows more efficient Applications requiring the motor to
• Increase system performance-
motor control with variable speed and operate with a required speed (pumps,
versus-cost ratio
sensorless control. The term sensorless fans, compressors, etc.) are speed
• Increase productivity, flexibility control means that there is no position/ controlled. In variable frequency drives,
and robustness velocity sensor on the motor shaft, so motor speed is typically proportional
• Increase safety and reliability the rotor position/velocity is calculated to frequency. The actual motor speed
• Reduce system size and weight from measured current and voltage. is maintained by a speed controller
• Growth of digital control and The sensorless control provides a to reference speed command.
reducing usage of analog cost-effective and reliable solution that Speed control offers low dynamic
components and total system cost eliminates the position/velocity sensor, performance. For high dynamic and

Figure 1: Electric Motor Type Classification

Electric Motors

AC DC

Asynchronous Synchronous Variable Reluctance

Induction Sinusoidal Brushless Reluctance SR Stepper

Permanent Magnet

Surface PM

Interior PM

Wound Field
 Beyond Bits Motor Control Edition

stability performance, speed control This requires additional connections Permanent Magnet
with inner current loop (cascade to the motor, which may not be Synchronous Motor
control) is required. The majority of acceptable in some applications.
variable speed drives are controlled by Also, the additional cost of the
cascade control. Most complex drives position sensors and the wiring
(servos, industrial robots, linear motors) may be unacceptable. The physical
require additional position control. connection problem could be solved
Applications requiring the motor by incorporating the driver in the motor
to operate with a specified torque body, however, a significant number
regardless of speed (hand tools, electric of applications do require a sensorless
power steering, traction, vehicles, etc.) solution due to their low-cost nature.
employ torque control. Most BLDC sensorless techniques
are based upon extracting position
Brushless DC Motor
information from the back EMF voltage
of the stator windings while the motor
is spinning. Those techniques could be Similar to BLDC motors, PMSMs
used from 5 percent of nominal speed, have a three-phase stator and a
when back EMF is measurable. BLDC rotor with surface/interior-mounted
back EMF sensorless techniques permanent magnets.
can be used without complex control
A PMSM provides rotation at a fixed
algorithms, due to back EMF voltage
speed in synchronization with the
sensing in unexcited motor phase.
frequency of the power source. PMSMs
Advantages are therefore ideal for high-accuracy
• Heat generated in stator is easy fixed-speed drives. Boasting very high-
to remove power density, very high efficiency and
high response, the motor is suitable for
• High torque per frame size
BLDC motors have a three-phase most sophisticated applications in the
• Reliability due to absence of brushes industrial segment. It also has a high
stator winding and a rotor with
and commutator overload capability. A PMSM is largely
surface-mounted permanent magnets.
A BLDC motor does not have a • Highest efficiency maintenance free, which ensures the
commutator and is more reliable than • Good high-speed performance most efficient operation.
a DC motor. The digital control and • Precise speed monitoring and Synchronous motors operate at
power electronics replace the function regulation possible an improved power factor, thereby
of the commutator and energize the improving the overall system power
proper winding. They are used in home Drawbacks factor and eliminating or reducing utility
appliances (such as refrigerators, • Rotor position sensing required for power factor penalties. An improved
washing machines and dishwashers), commutation power factor also reduces the system’s
pumps, fans and other devices that • Torque ripple voltage drop and the voltage drop at
require high reliability and efficiency. • Position sensor or sensorless the motor terminals.
In the BLDC motor, the rotor position technique is required for motor
Advantages
must be known to energize the phase operation
• Heat generated in stator is easy
pair and control the phase voltage. • Difficult to startup the motor for
to remove
If sensors are used to detect rotor variable load using sensorless
• High torque per frame size
position, then sensed information must technique
• Reliability due to absence of brushes
be transferred to a control unit.
and commutator
• Highest efficiency
• Synchronous operation makes field
orientation easy
 Beyond Bits Motor Control Edition

• Good high-speed performance Advantages tries to minimize the reluctance (air gap
• Precise speed monitoring and • Low cost per horsepower distance) of the magnetic circuit. The
regulation possible (no permanent magnets) magnetic field creates a force on the
• Inherent AC operation (direct rotor so that its poles line up with the
• Smooth torque
connection to AC line) poles of stator phase.
Drawbacks
• Very low maintenance (no brushes) Advantages
• Rotor position sensing required
and rugged construction • Low cost resulting from simple
• Position sensor or sensorless
• Available in wide range of construction
technique is required for
power ratings • High reliability
motor operation
• Low-cost speed control • High fault tolerance
• Difficult to startup the motor using
with tachogenerator
sensorless technique • Heat generated in stator is easy
• Simple control (volt per hertz + PFC to remove
AC Induction Motor can handle 8-bit MCU)
• High-speed operation possible
Drawbacks
Drawbacks
• Inefficient at light loads
• Acoustically noisy
• Rotor temperature change
• High vibration
complicates sensorless control
• Magnetic non-linearities make
• Speed control requires varying
smooth torque control difficult
stator frequency
• Dependent on electronic control
• Position control difficult (field
for operation
orientation required)

Switched
Reluctance Motor

ACIM is the most popular motor for

industrial and consumer applications.
This is due to many factors such
as the lack of commutator/brushes
(high reliability), high efficiency at
high loads and the ability to connect
directly to the AC line. ACIMs have
a classic three-phase stator and
commonly have a “squirrel cage” rotor
in which the conductors are shorted
together at both ends. The operation
principle of ACIM is very similar to a SR motors do not contain magnets
transformer. A rotor current is induced and are constructed such that both
in the rotor circuit from the stator the stator and rotor have salient poles.
windings. This current produces rotor The motor is driven by a sequence of
flux, which interacts with the stator current pulses applied at each phase,
electromagnets to produce torque. which requires control electronics for
operation. The SR motor works on the
principle that the magnetic circuit
 Beyond Bits Motor Control Edition

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