Research Article
RobustEstimation-BasedControlStrategiesforInductionMotors
FlorinStˆ ıng˘ a,
1
Marius Marian,
2
andDanSelis ¸teanu
1
1
Department of Automatic Control and Electronics, University of Craiova, A.I. Cuza No. 13, Craiova, RO 200585, Romania
2
DepartmentofComputersandInformationTechnology,UniversityofCraiova,A.I.CuzaNo.13,Craiova,RO200585,Romania
Correspondence should be addressed to Dan Selis ¸teanu; dansel@automation.ucv.ro
Received 18 January 2020; Accepted 26 June 2020; Published 29 July 2020
Academic Editor: Chongyang Liu
Copyright©2020FlorinStˆ ıng˘ aetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
is work proposes a realistic solution to the control problem of sensorless induction motors. Due to some important aspects
related to their construction and reliability, the induction motors are extensively used in many modern industrial applications.
Considering that the system is facing the lack of hardware sensors, the proposed complex control strategies are based on the
estimation of unavailable system variables and parameters. In order to control the rotor speed, two robust control strategies are
proposed: a modified super-twisting adaptive technique and a model predictive technique. e tests performed under several
practicalassumptionsshowthattheclosedloopbehaviourofthesystemisadequate,andtheoutputvariablefollowstheimposed
time varying reference, despite the considered uncertainties and disturbances acting on the process.
1.Introduction
Nowadays, induction motors are facing an interesting
challenge from the perspective of modelling and sensorless
control. is is mainly caused by some particular, inherited
operating conditions. In the last decades, due to the envi-
ronmental rules imposed by the international institutions,
the induction motors have been proposed to be a reliable
solution for the usual drive systems.
Regardingthecontroldesignofthesesystems,besidethe
classicalscalarcontrolandvectorcontrolstrategies[1–3],in
thelastyearsmodernapproacheshavebeenproposed,such
as input-output linearization and nonlinear/sliding mode/
nonlinear predictive control strategies [4–6].
Two specific problems are found in practice: first, the
modelsareuncertain[7,8]and,second,reliablephysicalsensors
for the real-time measurements of process states [9] are un-
available. e developed control strategies use the “software
sensors” paradigm, as an achievable combination between
software estimators/observers and hardware sensors [10–13].
e present work approaches a linked observ-
er—estimator used to estimate the unmeasurable state and
those parameters that are uncertain or unknown. e
proposed reduced-order state observer is designed by using
an appropriate linear transformation and provides the
reconstruction of rotor fluxes. In what concern the esti-
mation of unknown process parameters (e.g., the stator
resistance) and of the load torque, acting as an external
disturbance on the rotor, a parameter estimator and a
disturbance observer were developed. e parameter esti-
mator is derived from a typical one used in biotechnology
applications[14,15].edisturbancesobserverprovidesan
estimation result which can be used within a robust ob-
server-based control method [16, 17].
Usingtheestimatesprovidedbytheproposedobservers,
two control strategies were proposed: a modified super-
twisting algorithm (STA) and a robust model predictive
control (RMPC), designed such that the output (i.e., rotor
speed) follows a chosen time-varying reference.
e main objective of the super-twisting algorithm
proposed by Levant in his work [18] is to reduce the
chattering effect occurring in classical sliding mode control.
Moreover, the algorithm must ensure the convergence and
also resolve, in finite time, the tracking problem. In the
recent studies, some practical and theoretical modified
approaches of the original algorithm were proposed:
adaptive gains super-twisting algorithm (AGSTA) used to
provide some compensation of the smooth, bounded un-
certainties and disturbances of the linear time invariant
systems [19], multivariable super-twisting sliding mode
Hindawi
Complexity
Volume 2020, Article ID 9235701, 14 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/9235701