A Novel Online Current- and Voltage-Sensor Offset Adaption Scheme Utilizing the Effect of Inverter Voltage Distortion

Abstract

Electrical drive systems without dedicated speed transducer require precise information about the terminal phase voltage to achieve an acceptable low-speed performance. Recently, voltage-sensing techniques have gained in importance as they improve stability at low-speeds compared to the conventional estimation based on reference values. However, the additional sensors increase the sensitivity to sensor offset drift, which can cause self-sensing control algorithms to fail at very low speeds. In this article, a novel offset adaption method is introduced that compensates sensor offsets during operation while being fully decoupled from the control algorithm. Using a pair of phase current and voltage sensors per phase, the dead-time-related inverter voltage-distortion curve is monitored continuously. Its point-symmetrical nature is utilized for the sensor offset detection. This way, both sensor offsets can be calibrated continuously during operation and for each phase individually. This article gives a step-by-step description of the calibration algorithm and addresses implementation aspects to ensure deterministic calibration dynamics. The method is evaluated through measurements performed on a test bench for an electric-vehicle traction drive.