Model Predictive Torque Control Analysis for Small Agricultural Machinery Traction

Abstract

This paper briefly discusses the use of induction motors in traction and then, shows direct control techniques suitable for electrical traction applications, comparing the classical DTC and the emerging predictive strategies PTC, PTC-DSVM and MPTC through experiments in a test bench composed of an induction motor attached to a brake. The dynamic and steady- state response to torque, flux and speed, as well as the THD of stator currents, the computational burden and the impact of the parametric mismatches in stator resistance are analysed. Results show that PTC has the best performance, DSVM can be used to improve computational burden and MPTC is inefficient in the usage of DC bus voltage. Also, the fixed frequency does not directly translate to better THD. The variation of stator resistance shows low impact on the performance of the controllers, showing robustness relative to this parameter.