PROHELION PHLN74 WaveSculptor Config Software User Manual
- June 9, 2024
- PROHELION
Table of Contents
PROHELION PHLN74 WaveSculptor Config Software User Manual
©2021 Prohelion Pty Ltd
Brisbane, Australia
http://www.prohelion.com
WAVESCULPTOR CONFIGURATION SOFTWARE
The WaveSculptor configuration software is provided to allow WaveSculptor owners to configure and test their motor controller.
OBSERVATION
Figure 1: Main Screen
This main screen shown in Figure 1, displays the status of WaveSculptor along with all available measurements. Communications between the configuration software and WaveSculptor is achieved via the Prohelion CAN-Ethernet bridge.
A Prohelion CAN-Ethernet bridge must be present on the same CAN bus as the WaveSculptor and on the same LAN as the PC running the configuration software. Before using the configuration software, you must first configure the CAN- Ethernet bridge as described in the CAN-Ethernet Bridge User’s Manual (PHLN82.002).
Once the CAN-Ethernet Bridge is configured and the WaveSculptor CAN bus is powered up, all WaveSculptors present on the CAN bus will be listed. The list shows each devices CAN base ID, the type of WaveSculptor and the serial number. If there is more than one WaveSculptor present, select the one you wish to utilise.
No configuration information stored in the WaveSculptor is downloaded to the PC when it becomes selected in the list box allowing for simple and immediate telemetry monitoring functionality. The required configuration segments are downloaded on demand the first time when one of the tools in the menu are selected. The configuration download and upload progress is displayed in a separate pop-up window which also allows for the current transfer to be cancelled.
A CAN BUS traffic monitor is situated at the bottom of the screen which indicates the total traffic loading on the selected bridged network.
2.1 ERRORS
Controller errors are presented in the text box labelled Errors. Different
types of errors can occur.
These errors usually would only occur one at a time, however it is possible to
have multiple errors displayed at once.
Note: Devices that identify as V3 for their hardware version have an extended
set of error flags.
The possible error messages are listed below:
HWOC : Hardware Over current; A hardware comparator is used to generate
this signal and if the current exceeds the hardware over current trip point
for even an instant this error will occur.
The hardware comparators monitor currents in both phase C and phase B.
SWOC : Software Overcurrent; This error occurs if the firmware on the controller samples a DC bus, phase C or phase B current that is above the limit set in the calibration section of the configuration file.
HWOV : Hardware Over Voltage; A hardware comparator is used to generate this signal and if the bus voltage exceeds the hardware trip point for even an instant this error will occur.
SWOV : Software Over Voltage; This occurs if the bus voltage exceeds the over voltage limit set in the calibration section of the configuration file. This is to protect the semiconductors against over voltage during regeneration.
HALL : Hall Sequence Error; This occurs if a hall transition is invalid. The hall sequence is recorded during the PhasorSense routine and this same sequence must be followed by the motor hall effect sensors at all times.
WD: Watch Dog; This is a warning message more than an error, as the controller will still function with this error. An independent hardware watchdog needs to be updated at least 4 times per second by the firmware in the controller. If it is not updated the controller will reset (something that the driver of the vehicle would feel as a short loss of power). This error will stay set until the controller is next reset or power cycled.
CFG : Configuration File Error; An error occurred while reading the configuration file, and will be flagged during the boot-up sequence of the WaveSculptor. If all or some of the configuration values cannot be read from the configuration file, default values will be used instead of the stored values. This error does not disable the controller, it will continue to operate in the best manner possible using the default configuration values. This does mean that the controller may not operate as expected. Unless the error is with one of the more critical configuration constants it may be difficult to even notice the difference in operation.
UV15V : Under Voltage15V; The internal 15V rail has dropped below 12V.
DESAT : Desaturation; On a WaveSculptor200 this could indicate an overcurrent desaturation of the IGBT switches or an under voltage of the IGBT driver IC. On a WaveSculptor22 this means an under voltage of the MOSFET driver IC.
MOT : Motor interface board missing; The WaveSculptor has not received any communication from the motor interface board within the last second.
OVSPD : The motor speed has exceeded the configured maximum by 15%. This error will automatically clear once the motor speed reduces to 95% of maximum.
OCpX : (V3 Only) Hardware Over current; This is the same as HWOC , except that it specifically identifies the phase that detected the fault. ‘X’ can either be B or C, for Phase B or Phase C respectively.
GhX / GlX: (V3 Only) Desaturation: This is the same as DESAT , except that it specifically identifies the phase that detected the fault and whether it was the high (‘h’) or low (‘l’) side gate. ‘X’ can either be A, B or C, for Phase A, Phase B or Phase C respectively.
2.2 LIMITING SETPOINT
The WaveSculptor runs six concurrent control loops, with the primary control loop regulating the motor current. There are also control loops regulating the velocity, bus current, maximum and minimum bus voltage and heatsink temperature. At any one time only one of these control loops is limiting the motor vehicles torque. The possible limiting setpoints are listed below:
PWM : Not enough bus voltage to be able to produce more current and hence
more torque.
Iq : The motor current setpoint is being regulated in the motor. (Normal
operation).
vel : The vehicle velocity setpoint has been reached. (Normal operation)
Idc : The bus current setpoint is limiting further increase in motor
torque.
VdcMax : Motor regeneration torque is limited by the maximum bus voltage
setpoint.
VdcMin : Motor drive torque is limited by the minimum bus voltage
setpoint.
temp : The maximum heatsink setpoint has been reached and is limiting the
motor torque.
2.3 MEASUREMENTS
All measurements are broadcast from the WaveSculptor at periodic intervals, unless disabled in the configuration file. For more details, please refer to the CAN bus comms Appendix in the WaveSculptor User’s Manual
Table 1: WaveSculptor Measurements
Please note that a mouse click on any of the measurement text boxes of Figure 1 will request the measurement from the DSP (using a CAN remote request). Hence, the measurements can still be read even if its periodic send flags are disabled in the configuration file.
2.4 TRAFFIC MONITOR
The CAN BUS traffic monitor situated at the bottom of the main screen is a useful indicator of the total traffic loading that is occurring on the selected bridge network. The traffic should be kept as low as possible in order to ensure smooth operation and communication between devices, especially when transferring configuration files or flashing devices. The colour indicator to the side of the load percentage changes relative to the level of loading giving a good quick indication of the network health.
Table 2: CAN BUS traffic monitor status colours
CONTROL
The purpose of the control dialog box is to provide a basic driver controls interface, allowing the system to be tested. It is not meant to be used to actually drive a vehicle on the road. Figure 2 shows a screen shot of the interface.
Figure 2: Control interface
In order to control the motor, three setpoint sliders are provided with text
boxes to the right of
the sliders displaying the selected setpoint. Fine movement of these sliders
can be achieved
using the keyboard as shown in Table 3.
The Motor Current slider of Figure 2 controls the motor current setpoint, and ranges from 0 to 100% of the maximum current setpoint in the configuration file. Fine control of the motor current setpoint is available using the U, D and Zero buttons to the far right.
The Velocity slider of Figure 2 controls the vehicle velocity setpoint. The setpoint is in RPM and is displayed in the text box to right of the slider. If this slider is pulled below the actual vehicle speed the controller will regenerate in an attempt to slow the vehicle. If the slider is pulled above the actual vehicle speed the controller will drive with more current in an attempt to increase vehicle speed. The rate at which the vehicle will slow or speed up will be limited by the motor current or other setpoints. DO NOT REGEN , if you are using a power supply to feed the WaveSculptor bus, this may damage the supply. Avoid regen by always setting the motor current to zero before changing the velocity.
The Bus Current slider of Figure 2 controls the DC bus current setpoint, and ranges from 0 to 100% of the maximum current setpoint in the configuration file.
The keyboard can also be used to move the sliders, with the key mapping in the table below:
Table 3: Controls screen keyboard interface
CONFIGURATION
The configuration screen shown in Figure 3 provides four main functions: Load and save to PC or WaveSculptor. The load and save functions are under the File menu, provide a means of storing the configuration file on the PC for backup purposes. You should backup your configuration files just as you would any other file. If the configuration file on the WaveSculptor is somehow corrupted you will be able to restore to a known good version with a backup. If using the latest release of the software and firmware, configuration files are interchangeable between WaveSculptors, BUT the existing configuration must be first downloaded in order to integrate the configuration constants with the file.
The transfer functions move the information from all configuration tabs to and from the WaveSculptor. The upload and download progress is reflected in a separate popup-window as mentioned in the Observation section.
The configuration screen consists of three tabs. The first contains general controller information that the user is free to adjust, the second contains calibration data set in the factory and the third tab contains motor information, also adjustable by the user.
4.1 GENERAL CONFIGURATION
Figure 3 shows the general controller information tab.
Figure 3: WaveSculptor General Configuration Tab
Table 4 gives a description of the different configuration values and the impact they have on the WaveSculptor operation.
Table 4: Description of values of the general configuration screen
4.2 CALIBRATION CONFIGURATION
This dialog tab is read-only in the release version of the software. It contains all the scale, offset and thermistor data for all the WaveSculptor sensors. There should be no need for the end user to access variables in this dialog box.
Figure 4: WaveSculptor Calibration Configuration Tab
4.3 MOTOR CONFIGURATION
Configuration values for up to 10 different motors can be configured on this tab, shown in Figure 4. This allows complete testing and setup for all motors that you expect to use in the vehicle, while still in the workshop.
Figure 5: WaveSculptor Motor Configuration Tab
A description of each motor configuration value along with its effect on the system, is given in Table 4.
Table 5: Description of values on the motor configuration screen
SET UP A MOTOR
The following is list of instructions for setting up a generic motor.
- Set the tyre diameter to match your vehicle.
- Chose a motor slot (tab) to configure.
- Change the active motor to match the motor slot (tab) you are configuring.
- Give the motor a meaningful text description
- Enter the number of pole pairs
- Adjust Motor ramp and cut-out temperature for your motor.
- Leave the engage and disengage frequency alone
- Set the ignore hall box
- If using an encoder set the encoder count correctly (When using a resolver ensure the encoder count is at the default value of “1024”)
- If you wish to use a motor temperature sensor, configure these constants. Otherwise, make sure to connect a dummy resistor in place of the required thermistor or PT100.
- Upload to WaveSculptor
- Download from the WaveSculptor to confirm the upload
- Run paramExtract
- Select motor type
- Follow the instructions in the appropriate section (15-16) for your motor
- Upload to WaveSculptor
- Download from the WaveSculptor to confirm the upload
- Save the configuration file locally as a backup
5.1 BLDC MOTOR
The following is a list of instructions particular to setting up a BLDC motor.
- Run phasorsense
5.2 IPM MOTOR
The following is a list of instructions particular to setting up an IPM motor.
- Run phasorsense
- Upload configuration
- Set Rotor L to the Lq inductance of the motor. Lq is expected to be 2 – 4 times the value of Ld (the Line Inductance calculated by ParamExtract).
If you can stiffly lock the rotor then ParamExtract can be used to find this inductance. After running ParamExtract and saving the calculated inductance as the Line Inductance, move the rotor 360 / (4 * nrPolePairs) degrees in either direction. In an IPM motor this will align phase CB with its highest inductance position. Run ParamExtract again, this will be the Lq inductance. Note this inductance, don’t save it. Go back to the motor configuration screen and enter this inductance in the Rotor L field.
If you can’t lock the rotor, set Rotor L to 2.35 * Line Inductance. Try driving the motor & assess the torque output for a given current limit → adjust the Rotor L field → try driving the motor & assess the torque output for a given current limit → repeat until you find best performing Rotor L value.
5.3 INDUCTION MOTOR
The following is a list of instructions particular to setting up an induction motor.
- Run ImExtract
- Check that the rotor R is correct – should be between 10 and 300 mR
- Check that rotor L is correct – should be between 5000 and 20000 uH
- Set Min Id – default to 5A
- Set Max Id – start at 20A. Try driving the motor & assess the torque output for a given current limit → adjust the Max Id field → try driving the motor & assess the torque output for a given current limit → repeat until you find best performing Max Id value.
This process is best performed on a motor dynomometer.
CONFIGURATION TOOLS
The wsConfig program has three configuration tools that are very important to setting up the WaveSculptor motor controller to drive your motor. These tools are PhasorSense, ParamExtract and ImExtract.
The next three section describe how to use these three tools.
6.1 PHASORSENSE
PhasorSense is designed to find phase and hall sequence, along with the relation between them. Plots of both the three phase voltages and the motor hall effect position logic are displayed. This should assist finding any errors with motor/controller set up.
Figure 6: PhasorSense Acquisition Screen
To start a PhasorSense Acquisition press the Phase Acquire button in the bottom right corner of the window. You then have 10 seconds to spin the motor with an electrical motor frequency of more than 12Hz. Even on a fairly low pole count motor of 4 pole pairs this is only 180RPM, which is achievable by hand. The high-voltage DC bus does not have to be connected for this test. The WaveSculptor uses hall edges to decide if the speed is sufficient, so if the halls are not connected to the controller a “Failed to obtain sufficient speed” message will be given.
If the acquisition is successful, results similar to the ones shown in Figure 6 should be displayed and you will be presented with a message box asking if you want to save the PhasorSense results. If you a happy with the results of the acquisition save the results to your chosen motor slot, otherwise cancel the save, fix the test rig and try again.
NOTE : When an Encoder or Resolver motor interface board is connected the hall input should appear as a single “saw-tooth” pattern ranging from 0 to 1 inclusive (If full 0 to 1 range isn’t being seen, then verify that the Encoder count in the active motor configuration is correct).
6.2 PARAMEXTRACT
ParamExtract is designed to find the motor stator resistance and inductance.
Figure 7: ParamExtract Acquisition Screen
This acquisition process requires the bus voltage and motor to be connected to the WaveSculptor. For best results the bus voltage should be no larger than needed to overcome the line resistance (a 60V bus voltage is usually plenty). The higher the PWM required to source 20A out of phase CB of the WaveSculptor the more accurate the calculation of line resistance and inductance.
The motor may rotate briefly during this test, as such KEEP AWAY FROM THE MOTOR while running this test. It should also be disconnected from the drive wheel of the car, or the wheel should be raised up from the ground before performing this test.
The ExtractParams button starts the acquisition process.
The algorithm linearly ramps the current in phase CB from 0A to 20A then switches off, noting the slope of the ramp and time constant of the decay. This process should take no more than a few seconds, after which the results will be presented on screen as shown in Figure 7.
A message box will appear asking if you wish to save the results.
NOTE : If the motor moved during the test, don’t save the results. Repeatedly run the test until there is no noticeable movement during the test. This is because motor movement creates a voltage, which influences the reading. If the acquisition was good, the blue dashed best-fit curve should lie neatly on top of the acquired curve. Once a good fit is achieved without motor movement, allow the software to save the results to the motor slot you are configuring.
6.3 IMEXTRACT
ImExtract is designed to find the rotor resistance and inductance in induction motors.
Figure 8: ImExtract Acquisition Screen
This acquisition process requires the bus voltage and motor to be connected to the WaveSculptor (a 60V bus voltage is usually plenty).
An induction motor should not move during this test, however, it is still recommended to KEEP AWAY FROM THE MOTOR while running this test.
The Extract button starts the acquisition process, which can last for 30 seconds. The results will be presented on the screen as shown in Figure 8. The blue best-fit curve should lie neatly on top of the acquired red curve. If the two curves are well matched, save the acquired rotor constants to the configuration file. If the test failed or the two curves are poorly matched, check the test rig and try again.
DATALOGGING
A system for logging data is provided under Log on the main menu. It has three options Start, Stop and Update. The Start command will start a new file name “[date] [time]” in the current operating directory. Pressing this button while a file is already open will close the open file and start a new log file. Clicking Stop will close the file and stop logging. The Update sub-menu allows three different logging speeds, 200ms, 1s and 10s. The update rate can be changed at any time.
The format of the log file is a comma delimited text file with one header row and six decimal points of accuracy on each measurement. All of the telemetry data received and drive commands sent are logged in the file. Refer to the PHLN74.021 Users Manual for information on decoding the limiter and error bit fields (displayed in Hex)
REVISION RECORD
