Sensor device for determining the position of the rotor of an electrical machine and control device for an electric motor

1. A sensor device configured to determine a first position ϕ 1 of a rotor of an electrical machine, wherein the electrical machine comprises the rotor and a stator with stator coils, wherein the rotor is a permanent magnet with a predetermined number n rot1 >1 of pole pairs or a passive rotor, wherein the magnetic field generated by the rotor and/or by the permanent magnet rotating with the rotor has a multiple character and the first position ϕ 1 is therefore an incremental position, wherein the sensor device has a predetermined number r of magnetic sensors, which detect the magnetic field generated by the rotor and/or by the permanent magnet rotating with the rotor, and an electronic circuit, wherein the electronic circuit is configured to determine the first position ϕ 1 of the rotor with only the four following steps of:

first, detecting and digitizing the sensor signals a 1 to a r and forming a signal vector {right arrow over (a)}=(a 1 , . . . , a r ),

second, after the first step, forming a measurement vector {right arrow over (q)} according to a predetermined linear function g such that {right arrow over (q)}=g({right arrow over (a)}), wherein the measurement vector {right arrow over (q)} comprises a number, n, of components, with 2≤n≤r,

third, after the second step, calculating a vector {right arrow over (p)}=M rot1 ·{right arrow over (q)}, wherein {right arrow over (p)} is a 2-component vector with the components p 1 and p 2 and M rot1 is a 2×n matrix, and

fourth, after the third step, determining the first position ϕ 1 of the rotor such that ϕ 1 =a tan 2(p 2 , p 1 ).

2. The sensor device according to claim 1 , further configured

to calculate a vector {right arrow over (x)}=M rot2 ·{right arrow over (q)}, wherein {right arrow over (x)} is a 2-component vector with the components x 1 and x 2 and M rot2 is a 2×n matrix, and

to determine a second position ϕ 2 of the rotor to ϕ 2 =a tan 2(x 2 , x 1 ), wherein the second position ϕ 2 is an absolute position.

3. The sensor device according to claim 2 , wherein the sensor device is further configured to recalculate the second position ϕ 2 from the positions ϕ 1 and ϕ 2 to obtain the absolute position ϕ 2 with a higher accuracy.

4. The sensor device according to claim 2 , wherein the function g({right arrow over (a)}) is one of the following functions:

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= {right arrow over (a)},   1)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= {right arrow over (a)}−{right arrow over (a)} 0 ,  2)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= P·{right arrow over (a)} , or  3)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= P ·( {right arrow over (a)}−{right arrow over (a)} 0 ),  4)

wherein {right arrow over (a)} 0 designates an offset vector and P a projection matrix.

5. The sensor device according to claim 4 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

second position ϕ 2 of the rotor of the electric motor determined by the sensor device is fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the second position ϕ 2 for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.

6. The sensor device according to claim 2 , further configured to determine a position ψ of the stator rotational field of the electrical machine, for which it is configured

to calculate a vector {right arrow over (y)}=M stat ·{right arrow over (q)}, wherein {right arrow over (y)} is a 2-component vector with the components y 1 and y 2 and M stat is a 2×n matrix, and

to determine the position ψ of the stator rotational field to ψ=a tan 2(y 2 , y 1 ).

7. The sensor device according to claim 6 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

the second position ϕ 2 of the rotor and the position ψ of the stator rotational field of the electric motor determined by the sensor device are fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the positions ϕ 2 and ψ for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.

8. The sensor device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

the second position ϕ 2 of the rotor of the electric motor determined by the sensor device is fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the second position ϕ 2 for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.

9. The sensor device according to claim 1 , wherein the function g({right arrow over (a)}) is one of the following functions:

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= {right arrow over (a)},   1)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= {right arrow over (a)}−{right arrow over (a)} 0 ,  2)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= P·{right arrow over (a)} , or  3)

g ( {right arrow over (a)} )= P ·( {right arrow over (a)}−{right arrow over (a)} 0 ),  4)

wherein {right arrow over (a)} 0 designates an offset vector and P a projection matrix.

10. The sensor device according to claim 9 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

the first position ϕ 1 of the rotor of the electric motor determined by the sensor device is fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the first position ϕ 1 for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.

11. The sensor device according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical machine is a synchronous motor, asynchronous motor, alternating current motor, stepping motor or electric generator.

12. The sensor device according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical machine is a flat motor.

13. The sensor device according to claim 1 , wherein the magnetic sensors are Hall sensors or magnetoresistive sensors and arranged on a common substrate.

14. The sensor device according to claim 1 , further configured to determine a position ψ of the stator rotational field of the electrical machine, for which it is configured

to calculate a vector {right arrow over (y)}=M stat ·{right arrow over (q)}, wherein {right arrow over (y)} is a 2-component vector with the components y 1 and y 2 and M stat is a 2×n matrix, and

to determine the position ψ of the stator rotational field to ψ=a tan 2(y 2 , y 1 ).

15. The sensor device according to claim 14 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

the first position ϕ 1 of the rotor and the position ψ of the stator rotational field of the electric motor determined by the sensor device are fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the positions 1 i and W for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.

16. The sensor device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a control device for an electric motor which comprises a rotor and a stator, wherein the control device comprises,

a motor controller, and

a drive unit, wherein

the first position ϕ 1 of the rotor of the electric motor determined by the sensor device is fed to the motor controller,

the motor controller is configured to generate control signals dependent on the first position ϕ 1 for the drive unit, and

the drive unit is configured to generate currents for the stator coils of the electric motor.