FPGA based real-time simulation of a Switched Reluctance machine drive unit

This paper presents an overview and the results of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based real-time simulation of a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) drive system, designed for light EV applications. The analysis is ran on a Kintex-7 FPGA using an R series board from National Instruments. The real time simulation model is designed in LabVIEW FPGA and uploaded on the R series board to perform accurate and high speed simulations of the machine. The advanced SRM hybrid model includes look-up tables and mathematical equations, describing the real model with high fidelity. The results of the analysis are validated by results based on offline simulation which proves the benefits of such real-time simulations and also validates the performances of the machine.