This year, the Semikron Danfoss Innovation Award was given to the research team consisting of Dr.-Ing. Niklas Himker, Dr.-Ing. Georg Lindemann, Viktor Willich, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Mertens from the Institute for Drive Systems and Power Electronics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The team was recognised for its innovative work on 'Self-Sensing Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines: Enabling Widespread Use in Commercial Applications'.
The operation of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) requires precise information about the angular position of the rotor. In conventional drive systems, this rotor position is measured by a rotor position sensor and made available to the control system. In sensor-less control, however, the rotor position is estimated using an algorithm, which eliminates the need for a mechanical sensor. This reduces the cost, size, and failure probability of the drive system. However, currently available methods that function up to a standstill do not yet provide sufficient accuracy of the rotor position, especially during dynamic system states.
The IAL research team has taken up this challenge to make sensor-less control down to standstill a viable option for dynamic electric drive applications. By using a slim numerical optimisation method instead of a conventional phase control loop, the accuracy has been significantly improved, especially during fast load changes, while at the same time enabling automatic commissioning of the system. In addition, the computing effort was drastically reduced, eliminating the need for special digital hardware and enabling implementation on standard control hardware. These innovations now also enable highly dynamic sensorless control across the entire speed range, including standstill, which is necessary for traction applications. These innovations have the potential to extend self-sensing control to many applications of PMSM drives that require high control dynamics as well as fast automatic commissioning and seek increased power density and reliability.
The Semikron Danfoss Innovation Award has been presented since 2012 (formerly as the Semikron Innovation Award) in collaboration with the ECPE (European Center for Power Electronics e.V.) at a ceremony during a major conference, this year at the SiC & GaN User Forum in Paris.
