Efficient Input-Output Feedback Linearizing Control of BLDC Drives

Electrically driven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are gaining popularity due to use in industrial, military, and civil applications. The UAVs have to execute complicated maneuvers in the air requires accurate control of the BLDC motor propeller systems. In this study, we propose easy to implement field-oriented adaptive input-output feedback linearizing control (AIOFL) for controlling propellers as per demand of flight controller. This study aims to compare the proposed field-oriented AIOFL with usual six step control architecture with a focus on the typical back-electromotive force (back-EMF) shapes featured in the propeller motor. The proposed control architecture that does not only regulate speed and torque of the propeller with acceptable torque ripple but it also estimates the rotor magnetic flux and the stator resistance of the BLDC motor to know about stator/rotor condition monitoring, motor fault detection, and temperature rise. To ensure reliable operation in all operational conditions, closed loop stability of proposed speed controller is analyzed based on the Lyapunov method. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is utilized to accurately tune the PI controller since the trial-and-error technique used to choose the PI controller gains resulted in the low stability and poor transient response of the controller. Finally, comprehensive numerical and experimental tests are performed and compared with conventional field-oriented control to evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control system.