A Low-Cost, High-Performance Microcontroller-Based Motor Emulator with Deadbeat Current Control for PHIL Testing of Traction Drive Inverters

Energy Conversion Congress and Expo Europe (ECCE Europe), pp. 1–6

Abstract

This paper presents a novel low-cost, high-performance motor emulator (ME) for testing traction drive inverters. The proposed system employs a simple back-to-back inverter topology, eliminating the need for complex and expensive hardware setups, and implements real-time PMSM emulation with deadbeat current control on an automotive-grade micro-controller rather than on a high-end FPGA or CPU. The main contribution is the demonstration that a widely applicable, high-performance ME can be realized despite hardware cost constraints and limited computational capacity. This is enabled by a novel current control method, a carefully designed software architecture, and efficient utilization of the microcontroller peripherals. The ME has been built and experimentally validated at full power. Both steady-state and transient experimental results confirm its accuracy, stability, and high performance, demonstrating its suitability for control validation, design verification, and end-of-line testing of traction drive inverters.

Authors 7

1. Xuanlin Pan
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

2. Michael Schubert
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

3. Marcel Reisner
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

4. 王文祥
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

5. Niklas Börstinghaus
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

6. Georg Schmidt
   Affiliation as printed

   Leadrive Technology Germany GmbH

7. Rik W. De Doncker Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University