Acoustic noise reduction for switched reluctance machines

A system comprising:

• a switched reluctance machine comprising:
• a shaft;
• a rotor mounted to the shaft, the rotor having a plurality of salient rotor poles;
• a stator having a plurality of salient stator poles protruding from the stator towards the rotor poles;
• and
• a plurality of electrical coils wound about the stator poles, the plurality of electrical coils including a plurality of separate phase coils defining a plurality of phases of the switched reluctance machine;
• a power source;
• a power converter coupled to the power source and to the switched reluctance machine;
• and
• a controller;
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• determine a plurality of potential phase current waveforms for a corresponding phase coil of the switched reluctance machine;
• for each potential phase current waveform, determine a cumulative sound pressure level of the switched reluctance machine, the cumulative sound pressure level determined based on a plurality of harmonic sound pressure levels expected to result from the potential phase current waveform;
• identify a desired phase current waveform as the potential phase current waveform associated with an optimal cumulative sound pressure level;
• and
• apply the desired phase current waveform to the corresponding phase coil of the switched reluctance machine using the power converter.