Field Oriented Control of BLDC Motors for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV)

This paper delves into the domain of Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) Motors that have become significantly popular in modern day applications like automotive, aerospace, robotics (unmanned vehicles) etc. because of the edge they have over their brushed counterpart. Unlike brushed DC motors, which use brush and commutator segments for commutation, BLDC motors use electronic commutation which eliminates wear and tear of mechanical parts, frictional loss etc. This paper discusses mathematical modelling of a BLDC motor, presents the insights about design and implementation of Field Oriented Control (FOC), initial calculation of Proportional Integral Differential (PID) gains and final implementation of FOC algorithm for BLDC Motors of UUV. This technique is far superior than other traditional methods, like Trapezoidal control and sinusoidal control, and implements independent control of torque and flux with the help of various transforms. It is a very useful and precise technique which results in a superior dynamic response, less torque ripple and high efficiency. The key objective is to dispense a holistic approach for designing PID controller for a BLDC motor. The performance of the controller was tested for no load and load condition. The final results demonstrated the anticipated superior dynamic response.