Current Tracking Adaptive Control of Brushless DC Motors

ABSTRACT In this article, the practical problem of current tracking for Brushless Direct Current motors is approached. The main feature of the contribution lies in the fact that uncertainty in the parameters of the motor's model is considered. This lack of knowledge is compensated by proposing an adaptive control scheme that directly deals with the uncertainty in the electrical parameters without requiring any knowledge, neither of the mechanical parameters nor the load torque, as long as this external disturbance remains bounded. The strength of the proposed control scheme appears from the passivity‐based decomposition of the motor's model allowing robust control of the electrical subsystem without requiring mechanical information, providing the rotor speed remains bounded. Moreover, achievement of the control objective does not rely on estimated parameter convergence to the real values. The stability properties of the proposed scheme are mathematically proved using classical results from the passivity and the adaptive control theories, which makes it attractive from a practical perspective. Moreover, it exhibits a simple structure and is easy to tune. The usefulness of the contribution is validated in an experimental setting using the BLY344S‐240V‐3000 motor manufactured by Anaheim Automation.