Techniques for redundancy and fault tolerance in high demand machine safety applications

A method for providing self sensing feedback to satisfy a safety certification in a motion control system, comprising:

• measuring an electrical parameter of an electromechanical actuator with a self-sensing feedback mechanism;
• estimating a position and/or velocity of the electromechanical actuator based at least in part on the electrical parameter and known saliencies associated with the electromechanical actuator;
• utilizing the position and/or velocity to control the electromechanical actuator in a fault event with respect to a primary position/velocity sensor on the electromechanical actuator;
• achieving at least one safety certification for the electromechanical actuator by utilizing the self-sensing feedback mechanism as a redundant sensor required by the safety certification.

A system for providing self-sensing determination of position information for satisfying a safety certification in a motion controller, comprising:

• means for injecting a high-frequency signal into a motor;
• means for measuring an electrical parameter according to the signal;
• means for determining a position of the motor based on the electrical parameter and at least one saliency of the motor such that the position determining means is a redundant position sensor required by at least one safety certification;
• and
• means for controlling the motor upon failure of a primary position/velocity measuring component.

A method for providing fault tolerance in a motion control system, comprising:

• receiving a primary feedback channel failure event for an electromechanical actuator;
• initializing a secondary feedback channel of the electromechanical actuator;
• measuring an electrical parameter of the electromechanical actuator;
• determining a position from the electrical parameter and at least one known saliency of the electromechanical actuator;
• transmitting the position across the secondary feedback channel;
• and
• achieving a safety certification by implementing the secondary feedback channel.