PWM based control electronics of a PMBLDC motor for hip yaw joint of a space rover application

Space rovers demands for the choice of a drive system with high performance characteristics like low inertia, high power to weight ratio, capacity to develop high acceleration, wide velocity range and high positioning accuracy. This paper focuses on the development of controller for a precision actuator as per the requirements of space environment. The design uses slotless, coreless PMBLDC motor with non axial winding topology that not only gives high torque to weight ratio and less cogging torque but also limit weight to a few hundred grams. A mathematical modeling of PMBLDC motor is included in this paper. A Triangle Pulse Width Modulation technique for Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor drives, with a view to attain high positioning accuracy is proposed. MATLAB/Simulink results verify that PWM control strategy with position and velocity control functionality allows sophisticated positioning applications.