Fuzzy Back-EMF Observer for Improving Performance of

Sensorless Brushless DC Motor Drive

Byoung-Gun Park, Tae-Sung Kim, Ji-Su Ryu, and Dong-Seok Hyun, Fellow, IEEE
Department of Electrical Engineering, Hanyang University
17, Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu
Seoul, 133-791
Korea
Therefore, the correct back-EMF estimation achieves the
position and speed estimation of the BLDC motor is more
robust against other parameter deviations. The robustness of
the proposed algorithm is proved through simulations
compared with other sensorless drive methods.

AbstractIn this paper, a novel sensorless brushless DC (BLDC)

motor drive using the fuzzy back-EMF observer is proposed to
improve the performance of conventional sensorless drive
methods. Most existing sensorless methods of the BLDC motor
have low performance at transients or low speed range and
occasionally require additional circuit.
To cope with this problem, the estimation of a back-EMF using
the fuzzy logic is suitable for high performance because the
back-EMF of the BLDC motor has a trapezoidal shape. The
proposed algorithm using fuzzy back-EMF observer can achieve
robust control for the change of an external condition and
continuously estimate speed of the rotor at transients as well as
steady state. The robustness of the proposed algorithm is proved
through the simulation and is compared with other sensorless
drive methods.

II. BLDC MOTOR DRIVE SYSTEM

Generally, the BLDC motor drive system can be modeled as
an electrical equivalent circuit that consists of a resistance, an
inductance and back-EMF per a phase. The electrical
equivalent circuit and drive performance of this system is
shown in Fig 1.

I. INTRODUCTION

S1

The brushless DC (BLDC) motor has been used in many

applications such as appliance, computer, automatic office
machine, robots for automation of manufactory, drives of
many electronics and minuteness machine. The BLDC motor
has advantages of the DC motor such as simple control, high
torque, high efficiency and compactness. Also, brush
maintenance is no longer required, and many problems
resulting from mechanical wear of brushes and commutators
are improved by changing the position of rotor and stator in
DC motor. To alternate the function of brushes and
commutators, the BLDC motor requires an inverter and a
position sensor that detects rotor position for proper
commutation of current [1]. However, the problems for the
cost and reliability of rotor position sensors have motivated
research in the area of position sensorless BLDC motor drives.
In recent years, many sensorless drive methods have been
proposed for improving the performance of BLDC motors
without a position sensor [2]-[5]. However, most existing
sensorless drive methods of the BLDC motor have low
performance in transient state or low speed range and
occasionally require additional circuits.
This paper presents the fuzzy back-EMF observer based on
fuzzy function approximation and a novel sensorless control
algorithm using this observer. Because fuzzy logic [6] can
estimate a variable shape function such as back-EMF of the
BLDC motor, both changed and constant back-EMF are
excellently estimated by the fuzzy back-EMF observer.
0-7803-9547-6/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE.

vdc

va

S3

S5

ia
ib

vb

Ra

La

Rb

Lb

Rc

Lc

vc

S4

S6

S2

ea
eb

ec

(a)

(b)
Fig. 1. General performance of BLDC motor system. (a) The electrical
equivalent circuit. (b) Waveforms of back EMF, phase current, and
developing torque.

674

Assuming that self and mutual inductances are constant, the that represents the back-EMF disturbance model using fuzzy
voltage equation of three phases is given by
logic approach. The structure of the proposed fuzzy back-EMF
observer is shown in Fig. 3.
va Ra 0 0 ia La 0 0 ia ea
v = 0 R 0 i + 0 L 0 d i + e
(1)
b
b
1
dt b b
b
b
2Ls s + 2Rs
vc 0 0 Rc ic 0 0 Lc ic ec
The torque equation is given by

e a i a + e b ib + e c i c

Te =

1
2Ls s + 2Rs

(2)

i
ab

2 Ls

where va, vb, and vc are phase voltages. Ra, Rb, and Rc are phase
resistances. ia, ib, and ic are phase currents. La, Lb, and Lc are
phase inductances. ea, eb, and ec are phase backEMFs. m is
rotor speed.

e ab

Fig. 3. Block diagram of the proposed fuzzy back-EMF observer.

III. PROPOSED SENSORLESS CONTROL METHOD

Since the neutral point of the BLDC motor is unknown when

manufactured,
this observer is considered by the following
A. The Proposed Sensorless Control Algorithm
e-to
lin
-line
equation:
The overall structure of the proposed sensorless drive system
is given in Fig. 2.
diab
2 Rs
1
1
iab
eab +
vab
=
(3)

dt

Vdc

ia
Sa , Sb, Sc : gating signal

Is

PI

Vdc
Sa
Sb
Sc

2
P

ia
ib
ic

1
s

Mode
Generate
commutation
signals

CF1 CF2 CF3

Calculate
commutation
function

dx
= Ax + Bu + Fw
dt
y = Cx

Caculate
speed

Fig. 2. The overall structure of the proposed fault tolerant drive system.

2 Ls

(4)
(5)

Where
1
1
2Rs
A =
, B = 2Ls , F = 2Ls , C = [1], x = [iab], y = [iab], u = [vab], w = [eab]

2Ls

eab ebc eca

eab
ebc
eca

2 Ls

The equation (6), (7) is represented by system state equation.

ic

Calculate
line - to - line
currents
iab ibc ica

Fuzzy
back- EMF
observer

Calculate
line - to - line
voltages

Hysteresis
current
controller

ib

2 Ls

Back-EMF is regarded as disturbance in (4). This disturbance

is difficult to presuppose.
Generally, a disturbance model can represent most
disturbance models by increasing the degree of polynomial
differential equation. However, this disturbance model can not
exactly represent the back-EMF of trapezoidal shape, so a fuzzy
function approximator that can estimate voluntary non-linear
function is applied to the back-EMF disturbance model in this
paper. The inputs of the fuzzy function approximator are the
line-to-line current error of the BLDC motor and the differential
value of the error. These inputs are given by

The hysteresis current controller is used for each phase

current control. The line-to-line voltage is calculated based on
the DC-link voltage and switching status of the inverter. In a
typical sensorless drive system of the BLDC motor, the forced
alignment of the rotor is the way setting an initial position. This
method is also used in the proposed sensorless drive algorithm.
(6)
err( iab ) = iab i ab
The fuzzy back-EMF observer provides an estimated value of
the back-EMF. The speed, the rotor position and the
cerr (iab ) = err (iab )( n 1) err (iab ) n
(7)
commutation function are calculated by the estimated
back-EMF. The commutation signal generation block generates
The fuzzy function approximation includes three stages:
commutation signals based on calculated values of the position fuzzification, inference mechanism and defuzzification.
and the commutation function.
1) Fuzzification: Fuzzification permits to convert inputs into
fuzzy
variables by using membership functions. Each input and
B. Fuzzy Back-EMF Observer
The fuzzy back-EMF observer consists of two parts. One is output has seven sets associated with seven linguistic labels:
the current observer based on a system state equation of the Negative Large (NL), Negative Medium (NM), Negative Small
BLDC motor and the other is the fuzzy function approximator (NS), Zero (ZE), Positive Small (PS), Positive Medium (PM),
675

Positive Large (PL) (Fig. 4). All fuzzy sets are defined on the defuzzified output is given by
same discourse universe [-1,1].
N

eab =

( err iab )

eabiout ( eabi )

i =1
N

(9)

out ( eabi )

i =1

If the defuzzified output at time k is eab ( k ) , the overall

crisp output of the observer will be

( cerr iab )

eab( k ) = eab( k 1 ) + eab( k )

(10)

C. Commutation Function
In this paper, the commutation function is defined by the
estimated back-EMF using the proposed fuzzy back-EMF
observer. Fig. 5 shows the commutation function.

( e )
ab

150
eab/ebc

100

Fig. 4. Membership function.

ebc /eca

50

2) Inference mechanism: In this step, the value of the fuzzy

output is determined using a rule base. A typical rule is
described as:

0
-50

IF (condition 1) AND (condition 2) THEN (conclusion)

-100

The approximation law of the fuzzy function approximator

contains 49 rules. The inference method which has been chosen
is the Max-Min method [7] which was proposed by Mamdani.

DOF 1 = NL(err ) NL (cerr ) = NL (eab)

DOF 2 = NL(err ) NM (cerr ) = NL (eab)

eca/eab

-150

50

100

150
200
Electrical Angle

250

300

350

Fig. 5. Commutation function.

Although similar commutation function was already

proposed [8], the proposed commutation function in this paper
M
is easy to decide the threshold of commutation function because
it has a negative value before commutation. Also, since this
DOF 49 = PL(err ) PL(cerr ) = PL(eab)
commutation function is consisted of the estimated back-EMF,
Table I shows the rule-base. The database contains it is robust for noise.
The commutation functions are as follows:
descriptions of the input and output variables.
(8)

ebc
eca
eab
Mode 2 and 5: CF ( ) 3 =
ebc
eca
Mode 3 and 6: CF ( )1 =
eab

Mode 1 and 4: CF ( ) 2 =

TABLE I
FUZZY RULE-BASE
e( iab )
ce( iab )

(11)
(12)
(13)

D. The Estimation of Speed and Position

There is following relation between the dimension and speed
of back-EMF in BLDC motor.

E = Ke e

(14)

3) Defuzzification: The output of the inference mechanism is where E is back-EMF dimension, K is back-EMF constant, and
e
fuzzy output variable. The fuzzy function approximator must
e is electrical angular velocity.
convert its internal fuzzy output variables into crisp values so
The speed can be also estimated by using back-EMF that the
that the actual system can use these variables. One of the most
common ways is the Center of Area (COA) method [7]. The state observer offers as follows:
676

E
Ke
2
e
m=

P
e=

(15)

50

(16)

e^ab

-50

where
m is estimated mechanical angular velocity. P is the
number of poles.
The rotor position is obtained by integrating speed.

= e dt + 0

eab

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

(a)

(17)

50
eab

where 0 is initial position of rotor.

^e
ab

-50

IV. SIMULATION RESULT

0.03

Simulations are performed to prove robustness of the

proposed algorithm compared with observers using the
back-EMF disturbance model consisted of polynomial
differential equations. The specification of the BLDC motor is
as Table II.

0.032

0.034

0.036

0.038

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.038

0.04

(b)
3000
2000

m
^

TABLE II

1000

RATINGS AND PARAMETERS OF BLDC MOTOR

Rated Voltage

160 (V)

Rated Torque

Te

0.662 (Nm)

Rated Speed

Nr

3500 (rpm)

Resistance

Rs

0.75 ()

Inductance

Ls

0.0031 (H)

0.02

0.04

(c)
1.5
1
CS

0.5

Fig. 6 is results of the back-EMF disturbance model using the

first order differential equation. An estimation of constant
back-EMF shows satisfied results as Fig. 6(a), (b). But in the
case of the back-EMF changes, the estimated value shows a
delay. As a result, transient state of the rotor speed and a
commutation signal has a delay as in Fig. 6(c), (d).
Fig. 7 is results of the back-EMF disturbance model using the
second order differential equation. Contrary to the first order
differential model, an estimation of a changing back-EMF
shows good performance. But in the case of constant back-EMF
shows good estimation results as in Fig. 7(a), (b). As a result, the
rotor speed on steady state has ripple as Fig. 7(c). But a
commutation signal is high performance because an estimation
of changed back-EMF is superior as Fig. 7(d).
Fig. 8 is results of the proposed fuzzy-back EMF observer to
solve problems of the polynomial differential disturbance model.
Because fuzzy logic can estimate a variable shape function as
back-EMF of the BLDC motor, both constant and varying
back-EMF are excellently estimated by the fuzzy back-EMF
observer as fig. 8(a), (b). As a result, the performance of both
the rotor speed on entire states and the commutation signal is
much superior compared with observers using the back-EMF
disturbance model consisted of polynomial differential
equations.

0
0.03

0.032

0.034

^
CS

0.036

Time [sec]

(d)
Fig. 6. Simulation results of the observer using first order disturbance model.
(a) Rotor speed. (b) Line-to-line back-EMF. (c) Extended line-to-line
back-EMF. (d) Commutation signal.

V. CONCLUSION
Conventional sensorless methods of the BLDC motor have
low performance in transient state or low speed range and
occasionally require additional circuit.
To cope with this problem, this paper proposed a fuzzy
back-EMF observer using the commutation function by closed
loop continuously estimates a back-EMF of trapezoidal shape.
Also, the proposed algorithm using this fuzzy back-EMF
observer can achieve robust control for the change of an
external condition and continuously estimate a speed of the
rotor at transients as well as steady state.
As a result, the proposed sensorless drive method without
additional circuit has higher performance than conventional
sensorless methods. In addition, this proposed sensorless
method can be easily applied to industry applications requiring
low-cost and reliable style drive of BLDC motor. The technical
validity of the proposed algorithm has been shown through
computer simulation using the Matlab.

677

50

50

eab

eab

-50

-50

e^ab

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

(a)
50

0.02

0.04

eab

-50

e^ab

0.032

3000

0.034

0.036

0.038

0.04

0.036

0.038

0.04

0.032

0.034

(b)

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.038

0.04

2000

1000

0.02

e^ab

3000

2000

1000

0.04

0.06

(c)

0.08

0.1

1.5

0.02

0.04

(c)

1.5

1
CS

0.5
0
0.03

0.1

eab

0.03

0.08

-50

(b)

0.06

(a)

50

0.03

e^ab

0.032

0.034

^
CS

0.036

CS

0.5

0.038

0
0.03

0.04

0.032

0.034

^
CS

0.036

Time [sec]

Time [sec]

(d)

(d)

Fig. 7. Simulation results of the observer using second order disturbance

model. (a) Rotor speed. (b) Line-to-line back-EMF. (c) Extended line-to-line
back-EMF. (d) Commutation signal.

Fig. 8. Simulation results of the proposed Fuzzy back-EMF observer. (a)

Rotor speed. (b) Line-to-line back-EMF. (c) Extended line-to-line back-EMF.
(d) Commutation signal.

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[7]

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