A Novel Model Based Development of a Motor Emulator for Rapid Testing of Electric Drives

There has been a growing penetration of Variable Speed Drives (VSD) for motor applications in all areas. However, the development of more advanced testing infrastructure has been slow to come and many complex applications of VSDs are difficult to test in the laboratories. Conventional test methods such as dynamometers are expensive, time consuming to build, and offer limited operational profile/dynamic capabilities that do not always represent the true application. This paper is concerned with the development of a solid-state Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) based motor load emulation platform that fully replaces electromechanical test systems. The PHIL system is designed using a back-to-back converter that is interfaced with the Device Under Test (DUT) through a link impedance. A novel development process is proposed based on the V-cycle method for firmware development. This helps achieve a tight integration of algorithm verification along with the development process. Real-time simulation of a 22 kW interior permanent magnet motor emulator has been provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system.