A position-and-velocity sensorless control for brushless DC motors using an adaptive sliding mode observer

The sliding mode observer is robust to measurement noises. Since the switching signals of the sliding mode observer contain the induced voltages of the motors, it is possible to obtain the position and velocity of the motors directly from the switching signals. Although the estimated position can be used for locating the position of the rotor, the estimated velocity is heavily contaminated by noises from the switching signals. This direct method nullifies the merit of the sliding mode observer. Thus, the authors also present an adaptive scheme for robust estimation of the velocity of brushless DC motors. Stability of the adaptive scheme is assured, and estimation errors due to parameter deviations are analyzed. A method of parameter adjustment is described