Automatically determining control parameters for a voltage regulator of a synchronous machine

A method for determining control parameters for a voltage regulator of a synchronous machine, the synchronous machine comprising a stator with stator windings connected with stator terminals to an electrical grid, and a rotor with rotor windings rotatably mounted in the stator, wherein the voltage regulator is adapted for outputting an excitation signal to adjust a current in the rotor windings for controlling the synchronous machine, the method comprising:

• receiving a first time series of values of the excitation signal and a second time series of measurement values of the terminal voltage in the stator terminals, wherein the first time series and the second time series are acquired over a time interval;
• determining coefficients of a system transfer function of the synchronous machine, wherein the system transfer function is a rational function, wherein the coefficients of the system transfer function are determined recursively with a regression analysis with instrumental variables based on the first time series as system input and the second time series as system output;
• and
• determining the control parameters for the voltage regulator from the coefficients of the system transfer function by comparing a closed loop transfer function formed of a controller transfer function of the voltage regulator and the system transfer function with a desired closed loop transfer function.