Evaluating transient performance of servo mechanisms by analysing stator current of PMSM

Smooth running and rapid response are the desired performance goals for the transient motions of servo mechanisms. Because of the uncertain and unobservable transient behaviour of servo mechanisms, it is difficult to evaluate their transient performance. Under the effects of electromechanical coupling, the stator current signals of a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) potentially contain the performance information regarding servo mechanisms in use. In this paper, a novel method based on analysing the stator current of the PMSM is proposed for quantifying the transient performance. First, a vector control model is constructed to simulate the stator current behaviour in the transient processes of consecutive speed changes, consecutive load changes, and intermittent start-stops. It is discovered that the amplitude and frequency of the stator current are modulated by the transient load torque and motor speed, respectively. The stator currents under different performance conditions are also simulated and compared. Then, the stator current is processed using a local means decomposition (LMD) algorithm to extract the instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous frequency. The sample entropy of the instantaneous amplitude, which reflects the complexity of the load torque variation, is calculated as a performance indicator of smooth running. The peak-to-peak value of the instantaneous frequency, which defines the range of the motor speed variation, is set as a performance indicator of rapid response. The proposed method is applied to both simulated data in an intermittent start-stops process and experimental data measured for a batch of servo turrets for turning lathes. The results show that the performance evaluations agree with the actual performance.