Research ArticleModeling and simulation of soft sensor design for real-time speed and position estimation of PMSM

•The design of a speed soft sensor for permanent magnet synchronous motor is presented.•The rotor speed and position can be estimated in a wide speed range even at low speed and standstill.•We have introduced two soft sensors operating in two different ranges of speed.•To ensure that the soft model-based sensor works properly, a simple identification process is presented.

This paper deals with the design of a speed soft sensor for permanent magnet synchronous motor. At high speed, model-based soft sensor is used and it gives excellent results. However, it fails to deliver satisfactory performance at zero or very low speed. High-frequency soft sensor is used at low speed. We suggest to use a model-based soft sensor together with the high-frequency soft sensor to overcome the limitations of the first one at low speed range.