Design and Implementation of Microcontroller Based Three Phase Induction Motor Experimental Set

Electrical engineering students face multiple challenges during studying electrical machines drives and control. One of the most common difficulties is to find an experimental kit that has the flexibility to implement any desired approach related to control algorithms, and switching functions. This paper proposes an educational, open-source, and fast experimental setup to provide the students with the ability to perform open and closed-loop speed control of three-phase AC machines. The proposed setup consists of a STM32H735G microcontroller, three-phase inverter, measurement board, speed sensor, and induction motor (IM). Although various speed control applications can be conducted by this set, this paper focuses on the $v/f$ method as a case study. The experimental setup provides the ability to perform open and closed-loop control, real-time monitoring, graphical user interface (GUI), variable frequency, variable modulation index, variable proportional gain, and variable integral gain. Moreover, this solution can be used in a wide range of experimental setups including AC drives, DC drives, inverters, and rectifiers.

I. Introduction

Engineering courses consist of theoretical and experimental parts. The theoretical part aims to enhance the learner's ability to analyze and solve complex problems using mathematical relations and logic. While, the experimental part intends to apply mathematical operations and logic in practice. Hardware experiments have a great effect on the understanding of theoretical science [1]. Such experiments boost the ability of students to understand the physics beyond the theory. Moreover, learning through trial and error, leads to noticeably improved performance in total learning, which can be applied through experimental learning [2]. Therefore, it is essential to design an experimental set that includes experiments with microcontrollers and software tools since computer-aided teaching tools have been an integral aspect of the experimental learning [3].