System And Method For Isolation Of Load Dynamics In Motor Drive Tuning

A motor drive for controlling a motor operatively connected to the motor drive, the motor drive comprising:

• a DC bus having a positive rail and a negative rail, wherein the DC bus is operable to receive a DC voltage between the positive rail and the negative rail;
• an inverter section having a plurality of switching elements, wherein each switching element is controlled by a gating signal and wherein the inverter section is operable to receive the DC voltage from the DC bus and provide an AC voltage at an output of the motor drive;
• a memory device operable to store a plurality of instructions and a plurality of configuration parameters, wherein the configuration parameters include a motor inertia value corresponding to an unloaded state of the motor;
• an input configured to receive a feedback signal corresponding to an angular position of the motor connected to the motor drive;
• a controller operable to execute the plurality of instructions to:
• determine a bandwidth for a load observer wherein the bandwidth is greater than or equal to an expected torque response bandwidth generated from a load operatively connected to the motor,
• receive the feedback signal from the input,
• receive a command signal, wherein the command is selected from one of a position command, a speed command, and a torque command,
• generate a reference signal corresponding to a desired operation of the motor with a control loop as a function of the feedback signal and of the command signal,
• generate an estimated response signal corresponding to the load present on the motor with the load observer as a function of the feedback signal and of a modified reference signal,
• combine the reference signal and the estimated response signal at a summing junction to generate the modified reference signal;
• and
• a gate driver module operable to generate the gating signal for each of the plurality of switching elements in the inverter section as a function of the modified reference signal.