Power up

Make sure that 230V electronics supply is present. After power up, the electronics needs about 2 minutes for boot process. Afterwards HV DC voltage may be applied.

Assembly, installation and initial commissioning

• Assembly installation and initial commissioning implemented by manufacturer.

About the operating instructions

These instructions will ensure the safe and efficient handling of IRS EME (active motor emulator).

The instruction is part of the test system and must always be kept accessible in the immediate vicinity of the system. The personnel must read this instruction carefully before starting any work. Basic condition for safe operation is the compliance with all specified safety and operating instructions in this manual.

In addition, the local accident prevention regulation and general safety regulation for the use of the device are valid.

Illustrations in this manual, the instructions in the appendix for the installed components apply.

Following the instructions given in this manual helps to avoid dangers and to increase the reliability and lifetime of the device.

We accept no liability for consequential damage and accept no responsibility for damage to property or injury to persons caused by improper operation or failure to observe the safety instructions. Such cases void the guarantee.

If you have any questions that are not answered by this instruction, please contact:

IRS Systementwicklung GmbH

Pfaffenthanner Weg 5 D-93179 Brennberg +49 (0) 94 84 / 95 00 – 0

Explanation of symbols

Safety instructions

Limitation of Liability

All information and instructions in this manual have been compiled in accordance with applicable standards and regulations, the prior art as well as our many years of knowledge and experience.

The manufacturer assumes no liability for damages resulting from:

• Ignoring the instructions

• Improper use

• Use of untrained personnel

• Unauthorized modifications

The actual scope of delivery can vary for special designs, utilization of additional order options or because the latest technical changes from the explanations and representations described here.

Valid are in the delivery contract agreed obligations, the terms and conditions as well as the manufacturers delivery terms and at the time valid legal regulations.

We reserve the right to make technical changes in the context of improving the usage properties and further development.

Spare parts

Obtain spare parts from authorized dealers or directly from the manufacturer of each component.

Servicing

For technical information contact our customer service.

In addition, our employees are always interested in new information’s and experiences arising from the application and for the improvement of our products.

Electric Motor Emulator for inverter testing with active load

Disassembly and disposal

After you stop using disassemble and perform an environmentally responsible manner.

Safety

Dismantling

Disposal

The appliance is not intended for private use. It is manufactured and supplied for the commercial sector and should be disposed of properly by the end user.

System errors

Following chapter mentions possible causes for system errors and its troubleshooting.

Software errors

Please contact manufacturer for any software errors which can’t be solved after understanding these explanations in the functional description.

Inverter test setup

Following block diagram gives an overview of a typical inverter test setup from the point of view of a single device under test (DUT):

The central item in the picture is the inverter, the device under test (DUT), which is electrically connected to:

• Power supplies, communication interfaces, miscellaneous sensors

• The HV battery

• the electrical motor via typically 3 motor phases

• and its position sensor

• For inverters for power ranges of several kilowatts water cooling is usually applied.

The yellow marked parts are covered by the IRS EME active motor load:

• synchronous motor

• position sensor

• and partially the HV battery in combination with a standard DC power supply.

Test approaches for motor load

Classic mechanical coupled motors, passive load, high-end motor emulator

To simulate the motor, there are generally different approaches commonly used:

• Simulation of a simple passive load

• Operation of a real motor, mechanically coupled with another motor-inverter-combination

• High-end motor simulators

The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of these setups:

IRS EME Active motor load as intermediate solution

IRS EME active motor load is a solution which combines advantages of full-size high end motor simulators with the advantages of the passive coil, by keeping the concept simple, reliable and at a low cost.

To simulate a real load condition the induced voltage of the electrical motor needs to be generated, according to the equivalent circuit of a motor:

Voltage sources for high power are often also switched power supplies, while a good energy feedback is necessary to achieve a compact and cost-efficient setup.

IRS EME basic principle of operation.

Following picture shows the basic setup of the IRS electrical motor emulator for a three-phase-inverter as device under test (DUT):

The concept is based on the idea to directly couple two inverters and run against each other - both three phases and the DC-Link are directly coupled. As battery simulator a standard power supply may be used. With appropriate control of the motor simulator, the phase current flows from DUT to simulator via the phase coils and back to the DUT via the DC-Link, and vice versa.

Thus, the DC-Link of the DUT is stressed with a realistic current, but since the energy is flowing between the two inverters, the battery simulation needs only to provide the energy for the losses of the entire system. This is one of the most important benefits: a relatively small power supply without energy feedback to the grid can be used. With a power supply of only 20kW,

• 250kW can be simulated at 500V DC voltage,

• 350kW can be simulated at 850V DC.

The standard emulator variant is capable of handling voltages up to 1000V, resulting in even higher power ranges which can be simulated. In most setups, three basic setpoints define the operation:

• EME generates the induced voltage of the motor

• DUT is in current control mode, defining the applied torque to the motor.

• EME defines the speed via the position sensor signal

In this document, we mostly refer to the voltage range up to 1000V, since this is covered by the standard IRS EME. In the meantime, different downsized variants are available which will be illustrated in later chapters. But the basic principle is the same for all IRS EME variants.

The following general safety precautions must be observed during all phases of operation of this instrument. Failure to comply with these precautions or with specific warnings or instructions elsewhere in this manual violates safety standards of design, manufacture, and intended use of the instrument. IRS Systementwicklung GmbH assumes no liability for the customer’s failure to comply with these requirements.

Responsibility of the operator

The device is used in the industrial sector. Therefore, the operator is subject to the legal responsibilities for workplace safety.

In addition to safety instructions in this manual, the operator must comply with general safety, accident prevention and environmental protection requirements. These are especially:

Safety note for transport

In the following sections, the maintenance is described, which is required for optimal and trouble-free operation. If you have questions about maintenance work and intervals contact the manufacturer. Connections for higher currents must be checked for clean contacting and mechanical strength (tensile test).

Type label

General data

Connection overview

The following figure illustrates the connections which need to be established from and to EME. These are:

• connections to the allover test system (left side in the picture).

• connections to the inverter under test (right side).

Water cooling

The active motor simulation is using water cooling.

An inlet temperature of about 15°C is recommended (10…25°C). Keep cooling water clean, filters are recommended to avoid remnants in the heat exchanger which reduce the cooling capacity.

A flow limiter should be added to define the water flow. Flow rate is depending on average and peak power. Typical values are 5…30l/min. please monitor the EME temperatures as shown in chapter 4.4.2.1.

Make sure that cooling water is only applied when necessary to reduce the amount of condensing water.

Test system connections

For proper operation the active motor load requires connections to the overall test system. The figure in chapter 6 illustrates the test system connections on the left side, while red marked wires contain hazardous voltages. The blue marked lines correspond to the cooling tubes.

Connections are designed with modular Harting connectors as far as possible to make sure that no wrong connections can be established. Furthermore, the same connectors may be used for different international standards. Connector counterparts are delivered together with the system.

All connections are available at the top of the cabinet.

Safety + electronics supply

HV-DC from Power Supply

The following Harting HAN-connector is applied for connection to the HVDC power supply.

Pinout is as follows:

• Pin1 HVDC+

• Pin2 HVDC-

Both male and female connectors are protected against direct contact. This is necessary because the active load buffer capacitors may be charged even when disconnected.

The connector is rated for Thus, use power supply below this rating.

Safety and electronics supply

The following Harting HAN-connector is applied for connection to the electronics supply and the safety interface. The pinout is as follows:

On the right side the functionality of the safety interface is illustrated, both for switches and the analog output for DUT voltage measurement.

Ethernet communication

Use the Ethernet cable with RJ45 connector for communication with a Windows-PC.

CAN communication

Currently not applied in software.

DUT connection

After the tester internal connections are ready, the wiring to the DUT needs to be established. The figure in chapter 6 illustrates the DUT connections on the right side, while red marked wires contain hazardous voltages. The blue marked lines correspond to the cooling tubes.

Position Sensor Simulation

SIN/COS Simulation

Please refer to chapter 4.2.1 for functional description

Resolver Simulation

Please refer to chapter 4.2.2 for functional description

DUT connection of the 3 motor phases, HV-DC and optional exciter

Motor phases, HV-DC supply and exciter wires are connected according to the picture below. Preferred, the cables are marked with the following labels to make sure not to mix them up:

• U V W

• DC+ DC-

Always apply shielding clamps and strain reliefs similar to the following picture:

Since there are several wires for three DUTs, it is be a good choice also to mark the wires with DUT1, DUT2, DUT3.

Additional to the EMC-shielding clamp, a strain relief has to be mounted in the lower part of the shielding rail. The same procedure with shielding clamps and strain relief holds for the Exciter connections.

EMC issues

Since the DUT inverter may be a source of electrical noise, measures need to be taken to reduce emissions from the DUT. Most emissions are radiated over the motor phase cables. Thus, special care needs to be taken about:

• Proper Shielding of motor phase, HV-DC-, and Exciter-cables

• Proper grounding of the DUT and test system.

• Positioning of power and signal cables

When operating the system, it is crucial that all power cables are properly shielded on BOTH ends. I.e.

• At the emulator connection

• At the DUT-housing

Use shielding clamps at the emulator connections:

Make sure that all power cable shields are properly connected to the DUT housing by metal bushings:

To make sure, that the DUT housing as a proper ground connection, establish an additional ground wire to a good potential earth Ground.

And keep as much distance as possible between signal cables and power wires to reduce cross interference. If there is not enough space, avoid routing them in parallel, prefer orthogonal orientation.

EME Overview

Every single EME covers a 3-phase system. Two identical EME may be optionally combined to simulate a 6-phase motor, where one system acts as master and one as slave.

Power stage

Every IRS EME active motor load contains a 3-phase two-level inverter, while different technologies are applied:

• VARIS - versions: IGBT (Standard device)

• SiC - version SiC-MOSFET (In development)

Different variants are available to cover different types of inverters:

HV-Versions, IGBT-based

Maximum current is depending on the applied DC voltage and switching frequency. The following diagram illustrates the dependency for example VARIS III:

Position Sensor

SIN/COS generator

By default, IRS EME comes with an 8 channel SIN/COS signal generator to simulate AMR/GMR position sensors.

The following pictures illustrate the typical signal levels, depending on the current position in degree. For aclear view, only 4 signals are shown in a single picture. The first one shows non-inverted SIN and COS for GMR and AMR (please note that some inverters use only the GMR-signals):

GMR-signals synchronous to mechanical speed:

AMR-signals synchronous to DOUBLE mechanical speed:

Resolver simulation

Optionally, an additional module may be plugged in to simulate resolver position sensors.

All inputs and outputs are isolated by transformers, as it is the case in real resolver sensors:

• Excitation signal + and - input: generated by the DUT (typ. 10kHz)

• SIN + and SIN – output: modulated by resolver simulator is feedback to the DUT

• COS + and COS – output: modulated by resolver simulator is feedback to the DUT

EME Components and default Device IP Addresses

There are basically two components of measurement equipment, which need to be address via Ethernet. These are:

• EME control board

• EME switch and cooling controller

Basically, any IP-address may be configured, but after delivery the following default IP addresses are configured:

In case, EME is applied in a system with several DUTs, the numbers in the IP-Address are incremented for every test station.

Measurements

Voltages, currents, and timing

The following measurements are conducted by the active motor load EME:

All yellow marked measurements are conducted by the EME controller board, and can be read out by the LabVIEW library via Ethernet. These signals are sampled at a sample-rate of 100kS/s:

• • 3x phase current measurement (+-1000A)

  • 1x HV DC voltage measurement (0…1000V)

  • 1x HV current measurement to DUT (+-600A)

The voltage measurement after the DC-Main relay is usually evaluated both by safety circuit to detect if there is a hazardous voltage on the DUT and optional additional measurement equipment. EME includes a voltage transducer with an adjustable output signal, marked in green. By default, 4…20mA are output representing the HV voltage at the DUT of 0…1000V.

Finally, motor phases U, V, W PWM timing is monitored with a resolution of 50ns.

EME internal temperatures

The following internal temperatures are monitored with a sample rate of approximately 5 S/s.

The temperatures must remain below the following maximum values:

EME cooling and switching controller

The following measurements and controls are conducted by the EME switch and cool unit.

Depending on T_VARIS and T_Exciter the cooling pump is automatically activated and controlled

EME communication

Ethernet

Gigabit-Ethernet is the main communication interface which is accessible via the provided LabVIEW library.

CAN

Physically available, but currently not implemented in software.

Synchronisation

When EME is operated normally, it synchronizes its output stage to the switching parameters of the DUT. The following chapter describes this synchronization mechanism.

Auto-Synchronization!

Safety interface

Standard interface with external safety controller

The following figure illustrates the safety interface:

An external safety controller MUST implement the following functionalities:

• It MUST shut down external -Supply immediately in case of

  • EME Door Open

  • EME Discharge Overtemperature

  • EME Discharge Active

The following table illustrates the different situations, where the discharge control signal is inverted:

Common safety controllers operate on 24VDC. External Discharge Control signal should be controlled by 24VDC. See the following chapters about electrical parameters and connector pin-out.

Furthermore, a voltage converter is integrated which can be used by the safety controller to monitor the DUT voltage, and lock doors if voltages >50V are applied.

By default, the voltage converter outputs 4…20mA, which represents 0…1000V at the output to the DUT.

Isolation Monitor

An Isolation monitor (e.g. Bender ISO-685) is necessary to monitor the isolation of HV+ and HV- against earth ground, because usually for inverter testing an IT-system is implemented.

In default configuration the HV supply and isolation monitor are not integrated into the emulator. But in case the HV supply is integrated into the emulator cabinet, isolation monitoring is part of the IRS system and must be checked by an integrated safety controller.

Integrated safety controller

It is possible to integrate a safety controller depending on customers requirements. This is usually applied, when HV supply is integrated into the emulator cabinet. There are different options for safety controllers:

• PILZ PNOZ Multi II

• Siemens ET200 safety modules with external CPU

• Wieland safety controller.

• …

Different options may be individually discussed and integrated. Examples can be found in the following pictures:

Example: PILZ or Wieland safety

If any of the safety events occurs, the HV supply is immediately shut down safely and the “Reset” button on the left side will flash in blue color. A single event is stored until the user acknowledges this event by pressing the “Reset button”. The system will remain in safe state until the “Reset” button is pressed by the user.

When the safety event is not present anymore the HV supply is enabled again after acknowledging by the “Reset”-Button.

On the indicators on the safety controller the user may read the current status of the safety controller, while the inputs mean the following:

A signal lamp may be mounted on the emulator cabinet to indicate the following situations:

• Green: no failure, no HV voltage -> it is safe to handle DUT

• Red: no failure, HV voltage > 20V -> do NOT touch DUT

• Orange: failure (e.g. emergency stop, isolation failure, door open, …)

An overall safety controller may be used to lock doors in case of applied voltage. These functionality may be integrated by IRS, if required.

Example: Siemens ET200 safety

Integrated ET200

With ET200, an external Siemens PLC CPU must be used to implement the safety program. IRS provides an example code that can be used for integration in the PLC CPU.

Integrated HV supply

Please note that with this version the integrator of the PLC software is responsible for the safety of the system. I.e. safe shutdown in any error situation must be handled by the integrator.

After connecting all system components and the DUTs, and after power up, the motor emulator may be operated by software either manually by a remote panel but for most test systems by an automation software.

Software packages

The Emulator comes by default with a LabVIEW library “IRS.EME.TS.API” including dependencies for integration in user specific automation software.

Alternatively, the user may use low-level TCP-IP communication with a command-response structure, based on JSON command description (see “EME Example Communication.txt”).

A test panel is provided to control EME manually. It contains most control functions of the LabVIEW library. Thus, in the following software functions are explained based on the test panel because of good illustration. The explanations for the test panel may be transferred to operation with automation software.

Manual control via EME test panel

The „EME_RemotePanel“ software may be used to control EME manually. It may be opened in parallel to the automation software.

The panel includes up to 8 functional sub-panels and controls to handle the IP-connection.

• System: general status (software version, temperatures, CPU-load)

• Config: general configuration (motor and sensor parameters)

• Control: operation parameter (“induced voltage”, speed,…)

• Function: operation parameter for fixed position

The respective functional sub-panel may be selected in the control “Testpanels”.

Connection handling

The following controls and buttons are used for connection handling

• IP-Address: identifies a specific EME in the network

• Scan: searches for visible EME in the network

• Connect: establishes communication with one EME

• Disconnect: stops communication with one EME

orange items show errors

There may be several EME in one ethernet network. The respective EME is addressed by his IP-Address. You may either enter the known IP address directly in the yellow marked field:

Alternatively, you may search for existing EME in the network. By pressing the following two yellow marked buttons:

After pressing the “Connect” button all other functions in the sub-tabs are available.

After pressing “Disconnect” no operation is possible.

In the Log window the communication status is listed:

• Connect event

• Disconnect event

• Errors (marked in orange with error description)

The log window may be cleared with the button “Clear Log”.

After pressing the “STOP” button, the test panel will close.

System

In the system status overview the following parameters are shown:

• General information:

  • Software versions of

    • EME-API (LabVIEW-library on PC)

    • RT-Software (real-time firmware on EME)

Config

In the Config sub-panel, generic motor and position sensor parameters may be set. The order of configuration is not relevant. Settings in this window may be changed at any time while EME is not activated.

The configuration parameters on the left side describe the motor parameters and are as follows:

• Set Role

  • “Single” for normal Emulator operation -> valid for most application

  • “Inverter Single” for Inverter operation -> typical use-case for sensor calibration

  • …Master/Slave… Master- and Slave-Configurations are only used for 6-phase-systems. Please contact IRS for simulation of 6-phase motors.

The configuration parameters on the right side describe the position sensor parameters and are as follows:

• Set xMR Parameter

  • Offset: DC voltage of SIN/COS sensor signals (typical 2,5V)

  • Amplitude: amplitude of SIN/COS sensor signals (typ. 2V)

• Set xMR Multiplier

Control

In the “Control” sub-panel, EME may be activated and the operation points may be set.

• Set Interlock On/Off

  • Prepare EME for activation

  • When set, some general parameters like “Role” may not and can’t be changed!

• Set Inverter On/Off

• Set Speed:

  • Defines both

    • position sensor signal frequency

      • is generated independently from EME activity

Functions

Sub-panel “Functions” contains the following two functionalities:

• AutoSync Enable

  • Set to True to enable easy synchronization.

  • Explanation for this function see chapter 4.6.

• Set Stop Rotation

Streaming

By using the “Streaming” sub-panel waveforms may be captured from EME. Waveform streaming is started after:

• Start Stream

  • button is pressed -> window appears to adjust streaming sampling rate

  • 100kS/s is the maximum sampling rate,

  • 10kS/s is mostly sufficient and leads to higher performance on the PC.

• When stream is active, different waveforms may be selected:

• With the LabVIEW API the user may additionally:

  • Continuously stream data to file (TDMS format)

  • Get characteristic values from stream (RMS phase currents, DC-voltage,…)

  • See “Eme_STREAMING_MemoryStream_GetChannel_TS.vi”

• The waveforms have the following meaning:

  • I_PS

    • DC current from HV power supply

  • I_DUT

Errors

“Errors” sub-panel indicates errors, which may occur:

With the button “Reset Errors” errors flags may be reset as soon as the error is not present anymore. The error flags indicate:

• Safety:

  • Period out of range:

    • There was no PWM-signal from DUT

    • either on specific phase U,V,W or on any phase

ICTRL

The sub-panel „ICTRL” may be used for inverter operation. It contains settings for using EME in current controlled mode.

The following parameters need to be set for inverter operation:

• Set ICTRL Frequency switching frequency in Hz

• Set PWM Type

  • SPWM sinusoidal modulation

  • SVPWM standard space-vector-PWM

Furthermore, the same buttons and controls as in “Control” sub-panel are visible for easy operation (Set Interlock On/Off, Set Inverter On/Off, Set Speed, Reset Errors).

Automated operation

In the following chapter typical programming flows are described for normal Emulator and Inverter operation.

Inverter operation

The following figure illustrates a typical programming flow for inverter operation, especially as it is used for current sensor calibration of the DUT.

The following steps and parameters show a typical setting for inverter operation, especially for current sensor calibration, where DC currents are applied on the motor phases.

In the table,

• Absolutely necessary commands/parameters are marked in yellow and blue for environment

• recommended parameters are marked in green, they are set by default.

• while others are not relevant.

The order in the table should be regarded as order of commands, which should be sent one after another to EME.

Italic steps are environment settings. Bold written command name can be found in the JSON communication description file:

Setup

Setup environment

EME configuration commands:

Activate Environment

Activate EME

From now on, EME output is active and may be operated at different setpoints.

Operate

The following steps may be executed at any time during operation.

Operate rotation and apply current:

Operate at fixed position (necessary for current sensor calibration) while applying current:

Reading measurement values from streaming data is available with LabVIEW library.

Cleanup

Deactivate EME

Cleanup Environment

Normal Motor Emulator operation

The following figure illustrates a typical programming flow for emulator operation. After configuration of EME and DUT, the synchronization of EME to DUT must happen. Afterwards the user may run a current profile, while EME parameters may be kept constant of may be changed at any time.

The following steps and parameters show a typical setting for normal emulator operation. In the table,

• Absolutely necessary commands/parameters are marked in yellow and blue for environment

• recommended parameters are marked in green, they are set by default.

• while others are not relevant.

The order in the table should be regarded as order of commands, which should be sent one after another to EME.

Italic steps are environment settings. Bold written command name can be found in the JSON communication description file:

Setup

Setup environment

EME configuration commands:

EME configuration commands depending on position sensor, either SIN/COS, resolver or sensorless.

In case of Resolver:

In case of SIN/COS:

Activate Environment

Activate EME

From now on, EME output is active and may be operated at different setpoints.

Operate

The following steps may be executed at any time during operation.

Operate rotation and apply current:

Reading measurement values from streaming data is available with LabVIEW library.

Cleanup

Deactivate EME

Cleanup Environment