Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

William Reynolds

Michael W Degner

Jonathan Andrew Butcher

Susan Rebecca Cikanek

Bader M Badreddine

John Proietty

Rimma Isayeva

Chang-jiang Wang

Jami J Miller

Jiyao Wang

Silong Li

Hongjie Wu

Xuemei Sun

Matthew Allan Herrmann

Daniel R Parks

Hongrae Kim

Scott Xiong Yu

A vehicle includes a multi-core processor having first, second, and cores and having first and second analog-to-digital converters (ADC) associated with the first and second cores, respectively. The first and second ADC are configured to convert analog phase currents to first and second digital phase current values, respectively. The multi-core processor is configured to generate first and second rotor-angle data from digital signals representing a position of the electric machine. The processor is programmed to, via the first core, estimate a first output torque of the electric machine based on the first rotor-angle data and the first digital phase current values, via the second core, estimate a second output torque based on the second rotor-angle data and the second digital phase current values, and, via the third core, command de-activation of the electric machine in response to a difference between the first and second output torques exceeding a threshold.

Systems and methods to determine and validate torque of an electric machine

A vehicle includes a traction battery, an inverter, and a controller. The inverter includes a plurality of pairs of switches. Each of the pairs includes an upper switch that is directly electrically connected with a positive terminal of the traction battery and a lower switch that is directly electrically connected with a negative terminal of the traction battery. The controller, responsive to presence of a fault condition and during each of consecutive switching periods, deactivates all of the switches for a predetermined portion of the switching period, activates only the upper switches for another predetermined portion of the switching period, deactivates all of the switches for yet another predetermined portion of the switching period, and activates only the lower switches for still yet another predetermined portion of the switching period.

Alternating passive rectification and 3-phase-short control for motor fault protection

A vehicle includes a controller configured to deactivate an inverter driving the rotor. The deactivation being responsive to respective speeds for a rotor derived from respective samples from each of a monitoring core and a current control core over a same temporal window being different by a threshold amount. The cores each generate a different number of the samples due to having different chronometric periods and the temporal window being greater than the chronometric periods.

Rotor position measurement and control

A vehicle is provided including an electric machine and at least one controller. The controller, or controllers, are configured to, in response to a reset of the at least one controller while a speed of the vehicle is greater than a threshold value, provide a current command to the electric machine in accordance with calibration values calculated prior to the reset such that inoperability of the electric machine due to the reset is less than one second.

Control strategy for an electric machine in a vehicle

An embedded controller in a vehicle electronics subsystem includes a signal processing circuit used to communicate with an electric machine. The signal processing circuit may be configured to receive an input signal from the electric machine and provide digital output signals to the embedded controller. The digital output signals may include Hall position and rotor position signals. Once the digital output signals are processed by a processor embedded within the controller, the processor may issue a control command to the electric machine. The processor may have memory containing software to make the processor execute the computation of the control command of the electric machine in accordance with a torque command.

Electric motor position signal synchronized operation

A method for controlling an electric motor includes receiving a first control command that is indicative of a desired motor control. A current operating condition for the motor is determined. It is then determined whether the first control command meets at least one predetermined criterion at the current operating condition. A second control command that is different from the first control command is generated when the first control command meets the at least one predetermined criterion. Generating the second control command includes determining a current value of a motor parameter, changing the parameter value, and using the changed parameter value to generate the second control command. The second control command is then used to control the motor.

System and method for controlling an electric motor

A vehicle includes at least one electric machine and an inverter for selectively transmitting power to the electric machine. The inverter includes a power module. At least one controller controls the electric machine and the inverter. The controller at least temporarily disables the inverter during a power cycle such that power to the electric machine is inhibited. In response to the disabling of the inverter, the controller resets the duty cycle commands for the power module, and re-enables the inverter during the same power cycle.

Vehicle electric machine control strategy

A discontinuous pulse width modulation technique is used in a controller to control an inverter that converts DC battery power to AC power to operate an electric motor, e.g., in a hybrid electric vehicle. The discontinuous pulse width modulation technique uses only one of the two zero state voltage vectors in its calculations whereas traditional pulse width modulation uses both zero state voltage vectors. The use of a single zero state voltage vector can result in one of a group of switches in the inverter remaining in a constant state during a complete duty cycle while still providing the commanded voltage vector to the electrical motor. As a result losses due to switching can be reduced.

Discontinuous pulse width modulation

In at least one embodiment, a vehicle is provided including a variable voltage controller (VVC), an electric motor configured to provide an assistive torque to an engine, and a single controller configured to read a plurality of analog signals indicative of operating conditions of the vehicle. The controller may also perform, during each of a repeating sequence of time periods, analog to digital (ATD) conversions on the analog signals, and further provide command signals to the electric motor and the VVC based on the ATD conversions and readings.

Hybrid electric vehicle powertrain and control system

An optimized pseudo-random period pattern can reduce audible noise in a system that includes an inverter circuit configured to provide power to an electric machine. A system can include a PWM optimization module (POM) comprising the PPP. A carrier period for a carrier signal used to provide PWM inverter drive signals can be selected in accordance with the PPP. The PPP can be expressed as an array of 200-400 elements, each element a period belonging to a finite set of 2 or more predetermined periods. A period can be selected by index from the array, and the index incremented to progress through the PPP, which can be repeated upon its completion. The PPP can be optimized to reduce audible noise while mitigating inverter losses. Modeling techniques can determine the number of array elements, the number of possible periods, and the period values that optimize the PPP.

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Tecumseh, Canada

William Reynolds