VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

JNANA SANGAMA, BELAGAVI, KARNATAKA, INDIA-590018

A technical seminar on

"A Position Sensorless Control for a Linear

Stepper Motor Based on a Sliding Mode
Observer"
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING IN
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

Submitted by
Mohammad Adil Ansari 1BY16EE034

Under the Guidance of Mr.

Kattimani H.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, BMSIT&M

2019-2020
Source: International Review on Modelling and Simulations (IRE.MO.S.), Vol. 4, N.
3, June 2011

Authors: A. Mbarek, K. Ben Saad, M. Benrejeb, Research Unit LARA (Laboratoirc de

Recherche en Automatique), National Engineering School of Tunis, ENIT, BP
37, 1002 Tunis Belvedere, Tunisia.

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 BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND
MANAGEMENT

VISION
To emerge as one of the finest technical institutions of higher learning, to
develop engineering professionals who are technically competent, ethical and
environment friendly for betterment of the society.

MISSION
Accomplish stimulating learning environment through high quality academic
instruction, innovation and industry-institute interface.

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 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONICS

VISION OF THE PROGRAM

To emerge as one of the finest Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Departments facilitating the development of competent professionals,
contributing to the betterment of society.

MISSION OF THE PROGRAM

Create a motivating environment for learning Electrical Sciences through
teaching, research, effective use of state-of-the-art facilities and outreach
activities.

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PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES (PEOs)
After the successful completion of the program of Electrical & Electronics Engineering:

The graduate will,

PEO1. Have successful professional careers in Electrical Sciences and Information

Technology enabled areas and be able to pursue higher education.

PEO2. Demonstrate the ability to work in multidisciplinary terms and engage in lifelong
learning

PEO3. Exhibit concern for environment and sustainable development.

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES (POs)

After the successful completion of EEE programme, the graduate will be able to,

PO1. Engineering knowledge

Apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering fundamentals, and an

Engineering specialization to the solution of complex engineering problems.

PO2. Problem analysis

Identify, formulate, review research literature, and analyse complex engineering problems
reaching substantiated conclusions using first principles of mathematics, natural sciences,
and engineering sciences.

PO3. Design /development of solutions

Design solutions for complex engineering problems and design system components or
processes that meet the specified needs with appropriate consideration for the public health
and safety, and the cultural, societal, and environmental considerations.

PO4. Conduct investigations of complex problems

Use research-based knowledge and research methods including design of experiments, analysis
and interpretation of data, and synthesis of the information to provide valid conclusions.

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PO5. Modern tool usage

Create, select, and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and modern engineering and IT
tools including prediction and modelling to complex engineering activities with an
understanding of the limitations.

PO6. The engineer and society

Apply reasoning informed by the contextual knowledge to assess societal, health, safety, legal
and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities relevant to the professional engineering
practice.

PO7. Environment and sustainability

Understand the impact of the professional engineering solutions in societal and environmental
contexts, and demonstrate the knowledge of, and need for sustainable development.

PO8. Ethics

Apply ethical principles and commit to professional ethics and responsibilities and norms of
the engineering practice.

PO9. Individual and team work

Function effectively as an individual, and as a member or leader in diverse teams, and in

multidisciplinary settings.

PO10. Communication

Communicate effectively on complex engineering activities with the engineering community

and with society at large, such as, being able to comprehend and write effective reports and
design documentation, make effective presentations, and give and receive clear instructions.

PO11. Project management and finance

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the engineering and management principles

and apply these to one’s own work, as a member and leader in a team, to manage projects
and in multidisciplinary environments.

PO12. Life-long learning

Recognize the need for, and have the preparation and ability to engage in independent and
life- long learning in the broadest context of technological change.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 23

1. Introduction

2. Problem Statement

i. Control Solution
ii. Mechanical Solution

3. Proposed Solution

i. Linear Stepper Motor

ii. Linear Tubular Switched Reluctance Motor

iii. Proposed Sliding Mode Observer (SMO)

iv. Proposed Position Sensorless Controller

4. Comparative Study

5. Conclusion
6. References

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 1. Introduction

A stepper motor is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full

rotation into a number of equal steps. It is an electromagnetic actuator that converts digital pulse
into incremental linear or rotary movements [1]. It was mainly designed and used for
positioning tasks in open-loop control motion without position sensors. However, the step
position response of a stepping motor generally presents oscillations. For applications that need
a high precision positioning, such response can be a significant drawback [2].

There are several solutions allowing the elimination of the stepping motor oscillations which can
be classified into
1. Mechanical Solution: Change motor inductance, rotor inertia or the motor air gap, otherwise
implement R winding, T connection
2. Control solutions: Using different operation speed, micro-stepping, current change, implement
mechanical damper and changing load inertia

As the mechanical solutions are expensive and cumbersome, closed loop control solutions are
more and more used. Generally, closed loop controls require position sensors which reduce
system reliability and increase the driving machine size and costs.

Consequently, in the past few years several studies have been interested in the sensorless
control. There are different methods of sensorless control approach, using for example a state
observer or methods based on estimating the back EMF voltages [3], [4], [5].

In this paper, the author has proposed the design of a sliding mode observer for a linear tubular
switched stepping motor. As it is a linear actuator the studied motor generates directly a linear
incremental movement. So, the proposed sliding mode observer estimates the motor position
and speed by measuring the statoric currents and voltages.

As the main goal is to smooth the studied stepping motor position evolution, a PID controller
and a Fuzzy Logic Controller are also proposed in this paper and both associated to the
proposed observer to avoid the use of a position sensor.

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This paper is organized as into four sections. In section II, the studied linear tubular switched
reluctance stepping motor structure and mathematical model are presented. In section III the
adaptive sliding mode observer allowing the estimation of the plunger position and speed is
described. The proposed position sensorless PID control and FLC, based on the proposed sliding
mode observer, are presented and tested in section IV.

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 2. Problem Statement

The open-loop half step position response of a linear variable reluctance stepping motor
generally presents some disturbance such as oscillations and a long settlingThese
time, figure 1.
characteristics influence the normal working of this kind of motors.

Moreover, at some speeds, the magnitude of the oscillatory response increases with time. As a
result, the motor can loose synchronismginducin
dynamic instability and erratic working, figure
2.

There are several solutions that allow the elimination of the oscillations of the stepping motor.
These solutions can be classified into mechanical solutions and control
solutions. The control solutions, which are more flexible than the mechanical ones, are
classified into open
-loop and closed
-loop control solutions.

The aim of the authors is the smooth the studied stepping motor position evolution.

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Stepper motors have discreet positions that the rotor can move to. Due to rotor inertia, when a
stepper motor makes a step, it will overshoot its target slightly and oscillate before it gets the
target point. When motor moves continuously, the oscillation of the rotor will come with a
frequency. Once the frequency matches motor natural frequency, oscillation will become
resonance and causes noise. When resonance overpowers the magnetic field between stators and
rotors, motor will likely to lose synchronization. Motor resonance frequency can be models by
the following equation:
𝑘
∝√
𝜔 𝐽

Where K is torque stiffness, and J is inertia. By adjusting the parameter, the motor vibration can
be reduced.

Control Solution:
1. Operating at different speeds
2. Micro-stepping
3. Current change
4. Implement mechanical damper
5. Change load inertia

Mechanical Solution:
1. Change motor inductance
2. Change rotor inertia
3. Change motor air gap

2.1 Control Solution

1. Operating at different speeds
Resonance usually happens at certain motor operation speed. When the operation speed
matches resonance speed vibration will occur, as a result motor performance will be
affected. The easiest way to avoid resonance could be simply changing operation speed,
so the motor will not hit its resonance point.
2. Micro-stepping
The coil in stepper motor will be energized in discretely, so rotor of the motor will tend
to overshoot its position due to a rapid flux change. Micro-stepping can move the stator
flux more smoothly by reducing excitation energy to the coils. This results in less
vibration and less noise, and resonance will be eliminated. Micro-stepping is not only a
good way to reduce resonance, it can also be used to increase stepper motor positon
accuracy.
3. Current Change
Motor will produce less torque with lower current input. As a result, less energy will be
produced to move the rotor. Many low speed applications will run smoother. But,
reducing current input to the motor will result in reduce of torque output. This method
will work when the motor has enough torque margin.
4. Implement Mechanical Damper
Mechanical damper on the shaft of the motor can add extra inertia on the shaft, and help
to absorb the vibration and provides a stable damping effect. A flange mount can also
absorb vibration.

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 5. Change load inerti a
Inertia is the resistance of an object to accelerate or decelerate. If the motor has load on
it, similar to mechanical damper, rotor inertia will be much greater and the oscillations
will be reduced substantially.

2.2Mechanical Solution
1. Change motor induc tance
When motor is running, resonance will induce AC current into motor winding, and AC
current will interfere with the DC current going through the winding. By increasing
inductance, motor winding would be able to counteract the resonance, or ance
shift reson
down in frequency.
2. Change rotor inertia
The motor resonance can be determined by the relationshipmentionedabove. The
resonance range may change due to the damping effect of the load’s inertia. By
Adjusting rotor inertia by changes materials, dimensi
ons, or designs, we can shift the
resonance point to reduce vibration.
3. Change motor air gap
The air gap between rotor and stator tooth is related to the amount torque that the motor
can generate. By changing the air gap distance, we can adjust the tiffness
torqueofs the
motor. As a result, we can shift resonance point to avoid vibration.

2.3 Merits and Demerits of the solutions

To eliminate all these problems, the authors propose a sensorless

approach. To implement this,
3 major parts are modeled.
1. Linear Tubular Switched Reluctance Stepping Motor (LTSRSM)
2. An adoptive sliding mode observer
3. A PID and Fuzzy Logic Controller

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 3. ProposedSolution

The block diagram of proposed

the solution is given below. The various components
that are modeled by the author are also listed

3.1Linear Stepper Motor

Linearstepper motor is a variation of the rotary design, cut radially and laid out flat.

Linearstepping motors constitute excellent solutions for positioning applications that require
fast acceleration and high
-speed translations with low mass loads. In addition, they are
characterized by a mechanical simplicity and a precise
-loopopen
operation 3].
[2,

Similar to their rotary counterparts in operation and performance, a linear stepper motor is
typically run as open
-loop systems and are capable of providing high resolution at high speeds
and accelerations.

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The linear stepping motor is not subject to the same linear velocity and acceleration limitations
inherent in systems converting rotary to linear motion. In fact, the linear stepping motor is an
alternative to conventional rotary to linear conversion devices, such as leadscrews which
impose to rotary stepping motors velocity and acceleration limitations. Using linear stepping
motors, the force generated by the moving part is directly applied to the load [3-4].

The stator as well as the plunger are regularly toothed.

Electromagnetic principle: Same as a rotary variable reluctance stepping machine.

When a current passes through one phase winding, the plunger tooth aligns with the stator
tooth, by producing a force that tends to move the plunger to a minimum reluctance position.

The basic principle of the mechanical solution is to introduce additional viscous friction to
allow the elimination of the linear stepping motor oscillations. However, this solution gives
the motor some speed and acceleration limitations. In addition, it reduces the nominal force
value of the linear stepping motor [1].

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3.2Linear Tubular Switched Reluctance Stepping Motor (LTSRSM)

Static
Moving element element
calledforceror called

The studied LTSRSM contains

• Four electrically identical phases (A, B, C and D)

• Air gap– 0.2 mm

• Elementary step
– 2.54mm

• Total course length

- 100mm

The motor's moving element is called forcer or plunger, and the stationary one .is called stator

The stator as well as the plunger

is regularly toothed. A linear switched reluctance stepping
motor operates on the same electromagnetic principles as a rotary variable reluctance stepping
machine.

Four motor phases are supposed to be electrically identical and magnetically independent

The proper winding inductances depend on the plunger position

The mutual inductances are neglected because of the

-magnetic
non separation between the
windings

The machine is considered

to benon saturated
.

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3.3 Proposed Sliding Mode Observer (SMO)
A position and velocity observer based on sliding mode.observer
Motor directly generates
a linear incremental movement
. SMO estimates the motor position and speed by measuring
the statoric currents and voltages
. SMO is robust and adaptable to changes
.

The sliding mode observer is characterized by its robustness against the disturbance and
motor parameters variation.

The performances of the proposed sliding mode observer are tested for one step position
evolution by application of the nominale.voltag

The results present the estimated and the real evolution of the speed and the position
respectively. From the
results,representing the error between the estimated and the real
speed and position,
it canbe deduced that the estimated parameters are in conformity
with
the real ones.

The sliding mode observergeneralized

is and applied for a four steps motor operation. In
the reported observation errors, the estimated and the real evolution of the position and the
speed of the studied motor
can be deduced,
which sho
w good results.

In order to prove the robustness of the proposed observer, the case of one step position
evolution and by application of the half of the nominalisvoltage
tested.

Theobtained results
show good performances.

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3.4Proposed Position Sensorless Controller
3.4.1 PID Controller

The classical PID controllers were widely applied to several nonlinear used in many
control applications because of its simplicity and effectiveness.

The four motor phases are supposed to be electrically identical and magnetically
independent. So, for the study,
the authorsonly consider
ed the phases A and B.

The PV is subtracted from the SP to create the Error. The error is simply multiplied by
one, two or all of the calculated P, I and D actions depending which ones are turned on.
Then the resulting “error x control actions” are added together and sent to the
controller output.
[9]

These 3 modes are used in different combinations:

• P – Which is sometimes
used

• PI – Which is most often used

• PID– Which is Sometimes used

• PD– Mostly used for servomotors

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3.4.2 PIDControllerSimulation Results
The sensorless
PID controller is tested for one step position evolution.

Application of the proposed controller has reduced the oscillations for one step
position and the overshoot

Overshoot of 52%, observed for an-loop

openoperation, is reduced to 12.5%.

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3.4.3 Fuzzy Logic Controller

Fuzzy logic system is aathematical

m system that analyzes analog input values in terms of
logical variables that take on continuous values between 0 and 1, in contrast to classical or
digital logic, which operates on discrete
ues val
of either 1 or. [6]
0

A disadvantage of this technique is that there is not a general method for establishing the
membership function, base
-rule and for tuning the other controller parameters.

It is based only on experiences and linguistic definitions of the

behavior
system
.

The proposed fuzzy controller

in the paperis a Sugeno typefuzzy logic controller. It only
takesfirstorderfunctions
.

The w
t o successive phases (i) and (i+1) are simultaneously
excited.

Phase (i+1), produces a positive force allowing to pull the plunger to its equilibrium position.

Phase (i), corresponding to the braking winding, produces a negative force which drags the
plunger in the negative direction.

Braking winding is used

to absorb the kinetic energy developed when the pull winding is
excited.[8]

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The input linguistic variables are represented by triangular and trapezoidal membership
functions
.

They are labeled as: NB, Negative Big, NS, Negative Small,PS,
Z, Zero,
Positive Small, and
PB, Positive Big respectively.

Four singletons are used for output signal which

Z:Zero
are , P:Positive
, M:Middle
andB:Big[7]

They weresed
u by the authors
to establish inference rules

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3.4.4 Fuzzy Logic
Controller Simulation Results

The simulation results obtained by application of the proposed FLC are below
presented
for
.
one step position evolution

The fuzzy logic controllerllows

a the plunger to attend the desired reference position and
speed in ashort time

It can be otice
n d in Fig. (d), that the plunger moves without oscillations

Elimination of the oscillation is a result of the current evolution of the phase A, Fig. (a) which
allowed the braking of the rotor

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 4. Comparative Study

In order to verify the robustness of the proposed sensorless controllers, the case of the
variation of the plunger weight is considered by the authors. The figure above presents the
position evolution by application of the proposed sensorless FLC and
ensorless
the s PID
controller both for the case of the variation of the plunger weight.

It was found that the sensorless FLC can handle the sudden change in the parameters without
overshoot and undershoot and steady state error, whereas the sensorless
roller
PIDis cont
very
sensitive for these variations.

Therefore, it was concluded that the FLC is more robust than the conventional PID controller.

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 5. Conclusion

The paper presented two control strategies designed to smooth a linear stepping motor position
evolution. The first control was a classical PID and the second one was a fuzzy logic control.
These two control strategies were associated to a sliding mode observer allowing the
estimation of the plunger position and avoiding the use of position sensor which is very
expensive and cumbersome.

The simulation results showed the efficiency and the robustness of the sliding mode observer
even when it is associated with the two proposed control strategies. The comparison between
the two proposed position sensorless control strategies showed that FLC is more robust than
the PID controller.

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 References

[1] P. Acamley, Stepping motors: A guide to theory and practice, 41h Edition, lEEE Control
Engineering, series-63, London, 2002.
[2] T. R. Fredriksen, Applications of the closed-loop stepping motor, IEEE Transaction on
Automatic Control, Vol. AC-13, N° 5, pp.464-474, Oct 1968.
[3] A. Mbarek, K. Ben Saad and M. Benrejeb, Position sensorless Fuzzy logic control based
on a nonlinear observer for a permanent magnet stepping motor, International Review of
Automatic Control (IREACO), Vol. 2, No. 5, September 2008.
[4] R. Kim, S. K. Sul, M.H. Park, Speed sensorless vector control of induction motor using
extended Kalman filter, IEEE Transind., Appl. 1994, pp. 1225-1233.
[5] J.J.E. Slotine, J.K. Hedrick, E.A. Misawa, A sliding mode observer for nonlinear
system, J. Dynamic System Measurement and Control, pp. 421-434, 1987.
[6] L.A. Zadeh, Fuzzy Sets, Information and control, No 8, pp.338- 353, 1965.
[7] C.C. Lee, Fuzzy logic in control systems: fuzzy logic controller, part I, IEEE
Transaction on systems, man, and Cybernetics, Vol.20, N°2, march/apri11990.
[8] C.C. Lee, Fuzzy logic in control systems: fuzzy logic controller, part II, IEEE
Transaction on systems, man, and Cybernetics, Vol.20, N° 2, march/apri11990.
[9] K. Ang, G. Chong and Y. Li, PID control system analysis, design, and technology, IEEE
Trans. Control System Technology, Vol. 13, pp. 559-576, Jul. 2005.
[10] M. Zaouia, N. Benamrouche, M. Rachek, Electromagnetic-mechnical coupled
model of tubular linear stepping motors, International Review of Modelling and
Simulations (IREMOS), Vol. 3, N. 6, December 2010, pp. 1202-1208.

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