Granted Patent B2

US 12,580,503 · App. 18/592,660 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Inventors: Walter Wesley Pennington, III (Menlo Park, CA); Matthew J. Rubin (Indianapolis, IN); Gregory Gordon Stevenson (San Carlos, CA); Michael Parker Owen (St. Augustine, FL); Ethan Bagget Swint (Redwood City, CA); Matthias Preindl (New York, NY)

Assignee: Tau Motors, Inc.

H02P6/08H02K1/14H02K1/24H02K11/042H02P6/00H02P6/10H02P6/28H02P6/32

Abstract

Claims (64)

1 . A method of controlling an electric machine, the method comprising:

energizing stator windings of a stator of the electric machine by a stator current;

producing a stator magnetic field within the stator by the energized stator windings;

producing a corresponding rotor magnetic field within a ferromagnetic material within a rotor of the electric machine by the stator magnetic field, the rotor defining multiple rotor poles and comprising rotor windings associated with each of the rotor poles;

generating a force tangential to the rotor by a shift in the stator magnetic field;

moving the rotor by the generated force tangential to the rotor, wherein the stator magnetic field and the rotor maintain synchronicity with one another during operation of the electric machine;

reducing a decay of energization of flux in an air gap between the stator and the rotor by a rectifier included in the rotor windings;

resisting a decay of a magnetic flux within the rotor by current within the rotor windings in response to the shift in the stator magnetic field; and

achieving a target operational output of the electric machine.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electric machine comprises a rectification system comprising a respective rectifier arranged across each of the rotor poles, and

wherein the rectification system is configured to control against an alternating current being induced in the rotor poles as the corresponding rotor magnetic field is energized by the stator magnetic field.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing the decay of energization of flux in the air gap between the stator and the rotor by the rectifier comprises:

reducing the decay of energization of flux in the air gap by the rectifier to reduce torque ripple during the operation of the electric machine.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein resistance in flux decay is asymmetric due to an inclusion of the rectifier, and

wherein a first change of flux is resisted by inducing a first current in a first direction within the rotor windings until the first current decreases to zero, and a second change in flux is enabled to induce a second current in a second direction within the rotor windings.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting adjustments to at least one of a current angle or a current magnitude to control rotor torque ripple while achieving the target operational output of the electric machine.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the stator current through the stator at a current angle,

wherein the current angle is ahead of a rotor pole in a direction of movement or measured relative to a closet one of the rotor poles.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting a current angle of the stator current relative to a rotor pole responsive to a change of one or more operating conditions based on the target operational output of the electric machine.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the current angle comprises adjusting the current angle on only one axis of the electric machine, and

wherein the one axis comprises one of a D-axis or a Q-axis of the electric machine.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

determining a target rotor motion corresponding to the target operational output of the electric machine;

modulating current on the D-axis to control rotor torque ripple while the rotor is performing the target rotor motion; and

achieving the target operational output of the electric machine.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting a current magnitude of the stator current, independently from a current angle of the stator current, responsive to a change of one or more operating conditions based on the target operational output of the electric machine.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a target rotor motion corresponding to the target operational output of the electric machine.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

calculating a vector control modulation applied to the stator that elicits the target rotor motion; and

adjusting a current angle of the stator current based on the vector control modulation to cause the rotor to perform the target rotor motion and achieve the target operational output of the electric machine.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

modulating at least one of a magnitude or a frequency of the stator current based on the vector control modulation.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

adjusting at least one of a frequency or an amplitude of the stator current to cause the rotor to perform the target rotor motion; and

achieving the target operational output of the electric machine or controlling rotor torque ripple when the rotor is performing the target rotor motion and achieving the target operational output of the electric machine.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing a current angle of the stator current along a winding of the stator ahead of a pole of a rotor to deliver an increased torque to achieve the target operational output of the electric machine; and

increasing a magnitude of the stator current while simultaneously increasing the current angle of the stator current to control rotor torque ripple.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing a current angle of the stator to deliver a decreased torque with an increased speed of the rotor to achieve the target operational output of the electric machine.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

causing a current angle of the stator to be negative to deliver a braking function of the rotor to achieve the target operational output of the electric machine.

18 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that a current operation output of the electrical machine is different from the target operational output of the electric machine, iteratively adjusting at least one of a current magnitude of the stator current or a current angle of the stator current until an operation output of the electric machine is identical to the target operational output of the electric machine.

19 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that a current operation output of the electrical machine is identical to the target operational output of the electric machine, operating the electric machine using one or more most-recently adjusted parameters of the stator current,

wherein the one or more most-recently adjusted parameters of the stator current comprise at least one of an adjusted current angle or an adjusted current amplitude.

20 . An electric machine comprising:

a stator defining multiple stator poles with associated stator windings configured to receive a stator current;

a rotor defining multiple fixed rotor poles with associated rotor windings, wherein the rotor defines a field energizable by magnetic fields produced by the stator windings, responsive to the stator windings receiving the stator current, to produce a relative motion between the rotor and the stator, wherein the rotor is maintained in synchronicity with the magnetic fields produced by the stator during operation of the electric machine; and

a controller configured to:

energize the stator windings of the stator by the stator current;

produce a stator magnetic field within the stator by the energized stator windings;

produce a corresponding rotor magnetic field within a ferromagnetic material within the rotor by the stator magnetic field;

generate a force tangential to the rotor by a shift in the stator magnetic field;

move the rotor by the generated force tangential to the rotor;

reduce a decay of energization of flux in an air gap between the stator and the rotor by a rectifier included in the rotor windings;

resist a decay of a magnetic flux within the rotor by current within the rotor windings in response to the shift in the stator magnetic field; and

achieve a target operational output of the electric machine.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (78)