Woodward, Inc.

Hr Textron, Inc.

Woodward Hrt, Inc.

Wooward Hrt, Inc.

Estella Chung

Raymond Liu

William K Morita, Jr

Joon H Lee

A motor system includes a motor including two Hall sensors configured to output binary values, and a controller configured to control the motor. The two Hall sensors are placed 120 or 60 electrical degrees apart. The controller is operable to monitor output signals of the two Hall sensors and to determine a third Hall sensor output binary value. The controller is operable to fulfill the commanded requirements to operate in a servo system, by controlling commutation of a drive current into the motor, and by keeping track of the motor rotor position based on the third generated signal and the outputs of the two Hall sensors.

Controlling a motor with two or more hall sensors

A motor system includes a motor including two linear Hall sensors configured to output analog signals, and a controller configured to control the motor. The controller is operable to monitor the analog signals output from the two linear Hall sensors, determine a plurality of auxiliary signals based on the analog signals, and determine a motor position based on the plurality of auxiliary signals.

Brushless motors with linear hall sensors

Controlling a motor with two or more Hall sensors

A system has a sensor assembly mounted adjacent to a moving magnetic member such as a motor rotor to sense its position. The sensor assembly includes Hall-effect sensors each having a binary output, configured such that distinct positions of the moving magnetic member correspond to distinct digital patterns of the outputs of the Hall-effect sensors. Encoding circuitry is coupled to the outputs of the Hall-effect sensors to generate a multi-valued analog output, distinct values of the multi-valued analog output representing corresponding distinct digital patterns of the outputs of the Hall-effect sensors. The encoding circuitry may employ a ladder network with weighted-value resistors contributing different components of an analog current sensed by the controller. The sensed current can be converted to digital position information using suitable analog-to-digital conversion circuitry. The multi-valued analog output can be conveyed on a single wire in contrast to the prior art which requires one wire per Hall-effect sensor.

Motor system employing analog encoded hall effect sensor position information for reduced wiring

A device has built-in inductive load testing capabilities. The device includes a device housing, an inductive load disposed within the device housing; and test circuitry disposed within the device housing. The test circuitry is constructed and arranged to effectuate application of a modulated test signal to the inductive load, and obtain a result signal in response to the application of the modulated test signal to the inductive load. The test circuitry is further constructed and arranged to generate an output signal indicating that the inductive load is in one of (i) a shorted inductive load state, (ii) a normal inductive load state, and (iii) an abnormally high inductive load state, based on the result signal. Such test circuitry is well-suited for testing a variety of devices having inductors/coils which are susceptible to defects (e.g., a solenoid, a motor winding, various actuator components, etc.).

Testing an inductive load of a device using a modulated signal

A technique can recover from motor stalls caused by misalignment of motor position sensors such as Hall-effect sensors. In a normal operating mode, a motor controller provides motor drive current to the motor windings based on the sensor signals according to a normal commutation sequence, and monitors for occurrence of a motor stall condition. Upon detecting the motor stall condition, the motor controller first momentarily drives the windings according to one of an advanced commutation state and a delayed commutation state each adjacent to the given commutation state in the normal commutation sequence, and determines whether the motor stall condition persists. If the stall condition persists, then the motor controller next momentarily drives the windings according to the other of the advanced commutation state and the delayed commutation state. By this action, the controller attempts operation at both preceding and succeeding portions of the torque characteristic, such that operation with increased torque is ensured even though the direction of the sensor misalignment is unknown.

Motor controller with hall sensor misalignment compensation

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for error-compensated counting of Hall states for motor position feedback and/or commutation. An indicated Hall state is detected by digital Hall state sensors and a duration of the Hall state is compared to a specified time period. When the duration exceeds the specified time period, the indicated Hall state is compared to one or more valid Hall states and a position counter is changed for valid states. When the indicated Hall state is invalid, the position counter is not changed. The Hall state sensors may be connected to logic means and may detect the position of a rotor of a permanent magnet motor relative to a stator. When noise induces a change in an indicated Hall state, corresponding noise-induced effects on the position counter may be may be removed through error-compensated counting.

Growing community of inventors

West Hills, CA, United States of America

Estella Chung