Electric motor simulator and method for testing motor driver devices
First Claim
1. An apparatus to electrically simulate, in real-time, a plurality of different electro-mechanical motor systems for testing a motor driver for the motor systems, the motor driver being controlled by a processor, the apparatus comprising:
- at least one electrical load fixture adapted to be coupled to the motor driver, said at least one load fixture being electronically controlled by the motor driver to provide a plurality of different electrical loads;
said at least one load fixture comprising at least one current detector, each of said at least one current detector being arranged to detect current of a respective drive phase of the motor driver when said at least one load fixture is providing a specific electrical load upon control by the motor driver; and
a digital signal processing unit that processes current readings from said at least one current detector to generate motor characteristic signals indicative of characteristics of the simulated motor system in the presence of the same current readings when said at least one load fixture is providing the specific load,said digital signal processing unit including at least one mathematical algorithm configurable by the processor to simulate different motor systems by receiving control commands or signals from the processor, generating the motor characteristic signals based on the at least one mathematical algorithm after having been configured by said digital signal processing unit to simulate a particular motor system based on the received control commands and signals, and providing the generated motor characteristic signals as feedback signals to the processor representative of the operation of the simulated motor system upon control by the motor driver without construction of the simulated motor system,the processor controlling the motor driver and said digital signal processing unit based on the feedback signals.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus to exercise electrical motor drivers by electrically simulating a geared electric or electrical motor by providing an electronic load for the power signals that are applied to it. Current levels in the load are monitored in real-time using gate array logic and digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to determine torque, acceleration, velocity and/or position data of the motor and gear train. Motor and gear train positional signals are generated and fed back to the motor driver device to close the servo loop. Control algorithms within the gate array and DSP accurately simulate the motor inertia and act to simulate a physical motor under varying load conditions. A control interface modifies critical motor parameters such as inertia, losses, gear ratio, and loading.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An apparatus to electrically simulate, in real-time, a plurality of different electro-mechanical motor systems for testing a motor driver for the motor systems, the motor driver being controlled by a processor, the apparatus comprising:
-
at least one electrical load fixture adapted to be coupled to the motor driver, said at least one load fixture being electronically controlled by the motor driver to provide a plurality of different electrical loads; said at least one load fixture comprising at least one current detector, each of said at least one current detector being arranged to detect current of a respective drive phase of the motor driver when said at least one load fixture is providing a specific electrical load upon control by the motor driver; and a digital signal processing unit that processes current readings from said at least one current detector to generate motor characteristic signals indicative of characteristics of the simulated motor system in the presence of the same current readings when said at least one load fixture is providing the specific load, said digital signal processing unit including at least one mathematical algorithm configurable by the processor to simulate different motor systems by receiving control commands or signals from the processor, generating the motor characteristic signals based on the at least one mathematical algorithm after having been configured by said digital signal processing unit to simulate a particular motor system based on the received control commands and signals, and providing the generated motor characteristic signals as feedback signals to the processor representative of the operation of the simulated motor system upon control by the motor driver without construction of the simulated motor system, the processor controlling the motor driver and said digital signal processing unit based on the feedback signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for simulating, in real-time, a plurality of different electro-mechanical motor systems for testing a motor driver for the motor systems, the motor driver being controlled by a processor, the method comprising:
-
coupling at least one electrical load fixture to the motor driver to be electronically controlled thereby to provide a plurality of different electrical loads; providing the at least one load fixture with at least one current detector, each current detector being arranged to detect current of a respective drive phase of the motor driver when the at least one load fixture is providing a specific electrical load upon control by the motor driver; configuring at least one mathematical algorithm in a digital signal processing unit by means of the processor to simulate the motor system by receiving control commands or signals from the processor;
directing current readings from the at least one current detector to the digital signal processing unit which generate motor characteristic signals indicative of characteristics of the simulated motor system in the presence of the same current readings when said at least one load fixture is providing the specific load, the motor characteristic signals being generated based on the at least one mathematical algorithm after having been configured by the processor to simulate a particular motor system based on the received control commands and signals without construction of the simulated motor system; anddirecting the motor characteristic signals as feedback signals to the processor representative of the operation of the simulated motor system upon control by the motor driver to ascertain the functionality of the motor driver such that the processor controls the motor driver and the digital signal processing unit based on the feedback signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification