Deere + Company

Chris J Tremel

Long Wu

Zimin W Vilar

Robert B Shaw

Tianjun Fu

Kent D Wanner

Alan K Gilman

Jason Dickherber

Brij N Singh

Eric Vilar

Matthias Lang

Jacob Pence

Christopher Reek

Brij Nandan Singh

There is provided a system including a dual rotor electrical machine. The dual rotor electrical machine comprises a stator, an inner rotor including a first number of permanent magnet pole pairs, and a modulator including a second number of modulating segments. The system includes a controller configured to execute non-transitory machine readable instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the system to determine a virtual position of an electromagnetic field of the stator based on a weighted sum of an angular position of the inner rotor and an angular position of the modulator, wherein weights in the weighted sum are based on the first number and the second number.

Method and apparatus for operating a dual rotor electrical machine

A controller including a memory having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and a processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to: estimate a synthesized grid voltage vector angle at a terminal of an alternating current (AC) grid based on at least an adjusted angle, to generate Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals to control power switches of the AFE inverter based on at least the synthesized grid voltage vector angle, and to control the AFE inverter to exchange power between the AC grid and a load based on the PWM signals.

Voltage sensor-less position detection in an active front end

A controller may include a memory having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and a processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to generate Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals to control power switches of an Active Front End (AFE) inverter based on at least a synthesized grid voltage vector angle at a terminal of an alternating current (AC) grid without using physical voltage sensors at the terminal of the AC grid, and control the AFE inverter to supply power to a load based on the PWM signals.

A fault detection system is disclosed for predicting bearing failure in a system with a bearing-supported shaft. A position sensor may sense a position of the shaft as the shaft rotates. A controller may receive, from the position sensor, position data indicating a plurality of sensed positions of the shaft. The controller may determine a position or velocity profile for the shaft based upon the received position data and may determine a frequency profile based upon the position or velocity profile. The controller may identify a characteristic of the frequency profile, and identify an expected bearing failure based upon the identified characteristic.

Fault detection for bearings

Provided is a method and controller for controlling a vehicle dc bus voltage. The method includes generating a parameter. The parameter is based on a reference dc bus voltage squared. The method includes controlling the vehicle dc bus voltage based on the parameter and a detected dc bus voltage. The method may also include generating another parameter based on a power demand associated with at least one of a motoring mode operation and a generating mode operation of a traction motor associated with the vehicle. The power demand is indicated in a message received via a dedicated high speed data bus. The method includes controlling the vehicle dc bus voltage based on the another parameter.

DC bus voltage control

In one example embodiment, a device for controlling an alternating current (AC) machine is disclosed. The device includes a processor configured to determine a plurality of instantaneous voltages corresponding to a plurality of phase voltages of an inverter, the inverter driving the AC machine. The processor is further configured to determine an actual line-to-line voltage of the inverter based on the plurality of instantaneous voltages. The processor is further configured to determine a terminal voltage feedback for controlling the AC machine, based on the determined actual line-to-line voltage and a terminal voltage threshold.

Method and apparatus for controlling an alternating current machine

For each phase of a controller, semiconductor switches comprise a high side switch and a low side switch. A direct current voltage bus provides electrical energy to the semiconductor switches. A measuring circuit is adapted to measure the collector-emitter voltage or drain-source voltage for each semiconductor switch of the controller. A data processor determines that a short circuit in a particular semiconductor switch is present if the measured collector-emitter voltage or measured source-drain voltage for the particular semiconductor switch is lower than a minimum threshold and if an observed current associated with the particular semiconductor switch has an opposite polarity from a normal operational polarity. A driver simultaneously activates counterpart switches of like direct current input polarity that are coupled to other phase windings of the electric motor, other than the particular semiconductor switch, to protect the electric motor from potential damage associated with asymmetric current flow.

Method and controller for an electric motor with fault detection

A drive system has a switched reluctance motor (SR motor) and a control system configured to determine an estimated total torque of SR motor as a function of the phase voltages and phase currents of the phases of the SR motor.

Switched reluctance motor torque estimation

Example embodiments disclose a drive system including a machine including a plurality of phases and configured to generate power based on a plurality of phase currents, each respectively associated with the plurality of phases and a direct current (DC) bus, operatively connected to the machine. The DC bus includes a high-side line, a low-side line, and an inverter including a plurality of switching systems, operatively connected between the high-side line and the low-side line, the plurality of switching systems, each configured to output a respective one of the plurality of phase currents. The drive system also includes a controller, operatively connected to the DC bus and the machine, the controller configured to determine if a failure exists in the drive system based on the plurality of phase currents and a DC bus voltage, the DC bus voltage being a voltage across the high-side line and the low-side line.

Machine systems including pre-power diagnostics

A method calibrates a current sensing instant to latch a current value from a set of current signals. A current command including a magnitude at a Gamma angle is provided to control a motor when the motor is operating in a motoring mode at a shaft speed. A matching current command including a same magnitude at a same Gamma angle is provided to control the motor when the motor is operating in a braking mode at a same shaft speed. A first actual averaging rms current magnitude of three phase currents of the motor is monitored when the motor is controlled by the current command and operating in the motoring mode. A second actual averaging rms current magnitude of the three phase currents of the motor is monitored when the motor is controlled by the matching current command and operating in the braking mode. A current sensing instant is adjusted until an observed first actual averaging rms current magnitude in the motoring mode equals an observed second actual averaging rms current magnitude in the braking mode.

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West Fargo, ND, United States of America

Chris J Tremel