Dual-motor Electric Drive Tracked Vehicles (DDTVs) have attracted increasing attention due to their high transmission efficiency and economical fuel consumption. A test bench for the development and validation of new DDTV technologies is necessary and urgent. How to load the vehicle on a DDTV test bench exactly the same as on a real road is a crucial issue when designing the bench. This paper proposes a novel dynamic load emulation method to address this problem. The method adopts dual dynamometers to simulate both the road load and the inertia load that are imposed on the dual independent drive systems. The vehicle’s total inertia equivalent to the drive wheels is calculated with separate consideration of vehicle body, tracks and road wheels to obtain a more accurate inertia load. A speed tracking control strategy with feedforward compensation is implemented to control the dual dynamometers, so as to make the real-time dynamic load emulation possible. Additionally, a MATLAB/Simulink model of the test bench is built based on a dynamics analysis of the platform. Experiments are finally carried out on this test bench under different test conditions. The outcomes show that the proposed load emulation method is effective, and has good robustness and adaptability to complex driving conditions. Besides, the accuracy of the established test bench model is also demonstrated by comparing the results obtained from the simulation model and experiments.

Design and Modeling of a Test Bench for Dual-Motor Electric Drive Tracked Vehicles Based on a Dynamic Load Emulation Method.

Dynamic emulation of mechanical loads belongs to advanced dynamometer control strategies. The main goal of this paper is to analyse and implement a control algorithm for dynamic emulation into an industrial converter by using a standard industrial programming tool. The reference torque of a load machine is calculated through the previously developed closed-loop control algorithm using PI estimator. Proposed torque control structure is analysed and experimentally verified with a linear and a nonlinear model of a mechanical load to be emulated. Presented implementation enables the user the emulation of various mechanical loads with the industrial drive used as a dynamometer. This approach can be used for the advanced testing of motion control techniques in case where the mechanical load is not physically available. Only the equations describing its dynamic are needed.

Industrial controller-based dynamometer with dynamic emulation of mechanical loads

The paper presents an approach to the dynamic emulation of mechanical loads. The main goal was to implement known control algorithm to the industrial converter SINAMICS S120 with the control unit CU320 using Drive Control Chart programming tool. The reference torque of a load machine is calculated through the closed-loop control algorithm using PI estimator. Proposed implementation enables the user the emulation of various mechanical loads with the industrial drive dynamometer, although only variation of the inertia and the viscous friction is reported here.

Dynamic emulation of mechanical loads — Analysis and implementation into industrial drive

This paper presents a new control algorithm development approach for induction machines by using model-based design and a systematically built model architecture implemented in MATLAB/Simulink. The model architecture follows a three-layer structure, and it is developed according to the principle of functional decomposition and the needs of reusability and expandability. The first model layer consists of elementary model and algorithm components, the second contains a machine simulation model and a field-oriented control (FOC) algorithm, built upon the first layer’s components, and the third realises the executable models by connecting the models and algorithms defined in the second layer. Furthermore, rapid control prototyping (RCP) is discussed as an experimental validation method, and an experimental setup with RCP is also introduced. The application of the presented methods is demonstrated by simulations as well as by experiments, and by using a control algorithm based on FOC as an example.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00202-020-00935-6.pdf

Model-based control algorithm development of induction machines by using a well-defined model architecture and rapid control prototyping

This paper analyses a torque control structure for load machine used as a dynamometer. Typical area of the use is a mimicking of a mechanical load behaviour in case the mechanical load is not available. Instead of that, the mechanical load is emulated by the load machine with specific torque control. This approach belongs to dynamic emulation of mechanical load methods. Reference torque calculation with particular components for compensation of mechanical dynamics and disturbance torque in the test bench is presented.

Design and analysis of torque control for load drive with dynamic emulation

The paper discusses advanced control of a dynamometer performing dynamic emulation of mechanical loads. Assumed is certain class of nonlinear load with backlash. Paper presents and describes the basic control structure, which can be used for validation of speed algorithms and its practical implementation with rapid control prototyping. Validation of experimental results against the simulations has been performed with experimental test bench containing permanent magnet DC machines and DC-DC converters with high sampling times in current control loops.

Emil Kusnir

Papers

Dynamic Emulation of Mechanical Loads with Backlash Based on Rapid Control Prototyping