Online compensation of current sensor gain-faults for safety-relevant IPM-drives

Detection and compensation of current sensor gain-faults regardless of the operating-point is a crucial aspect for safety-relevant servo-drives. This paper presents and investigates a new direct phase-gain re-balancing methodology, especially suited for interior permanent magnet machine (IPM) drives mostly operating at low speed-ranges including standstill. The proposed model-based approach utilizes high-frequency signal-injection (HFI) to facilitate fast and persistent sensor monitoring for any operating state of the drive. No additional sensing hardware is required. Extraction of the HFI-phase-current response enables detection and immediate compensation of sensor gain-faults. Implementation aspects of the proposed concept are discussed thoroughly. Experimental results are presented to prove and investigate robustness, reliability and fault-tolerant performance.