Future trends in total digital control of variable speed drives for industrial applications

The essential rudiments of digital control hardware and software as well as the potential extension of this technology to a dedicated CAD/CAE (computer-aided design/engineering) environment for design of motor drive systems are discussed. These systems, which are intensely application-dependent, have been traditionally designed and manufactured using combinations of logic controllers, computers, power circuits, and analog control boards connected together to achieve the final goal. The proposed CAD environment strives to consolidate the drive systems design requirements in such a way as to allow implementation of these designs within a framework of a standard library of hardware and software. The end result is a production environment where all designs are optimally manufacturable.<>