BLDC Motor Drives: A Single Hall Sensor Method and a 160° Commutation Strategy

The application of Hall-based BLDC motors ranges from automotive accessory components such as oil and water pumps to high speed compressors. This paper proposes a new twelve-step unsymmetrical 160° commutation strategy using a single Hall-effect sensor method for brushless DC (BLDC) motor drives. The signal from the Hall-effect sensor is used to generate a number of pseudo Hall signals via a proposed speed-position estimator. The pseudo signals are then employed to control switching logic of a voltage source inverter (VSI). The effectiveness of the single Hall sensor method is examined on the unconventional 160° strategy, and on conventional 120°, 150° and 180° strategies with promising results. The paper presents a detailed comparison of the twelve-step unsymmetrical 160° commutation strategy with six-step voltage space vector that is used in conventional 120° and 180° strategies, and twelve-step symmetrical voltage space vector that is used in 150° strategy. Simulation results are validated via experimental measurements on a laboratory set-up using a real time dSPACE control environment, a representative BLDC motor prototype, a VSI and associated control components.