This thesis concerns the matrix converter as an alternative power converter for induction motor drives. The matrix converter is direct AC/AC converter with no DC-link. The lack of reactive components in the DC-link is one of the salient advantages of the matrix converter. Furthermore, the matrix converter features full four-quadrant operation and sinusoidal input currents. The output voltage is limited to 87% of the input voltage. The matrix converter needs nine bidirectional switches to connect two three-phase voltage systems in all possible combinations. Most scientific work about matrix converters has so far regarded the modulation and control of the converter. As for an induction motor drive, indirect space vector modulation strategies for the matrix converter are reviewed.
To control the motor drives using matrix converter, direct torque control scheme using space vector modulation method (DTC-SVM) which enables to minimize torque ripple and obtain unity input power factor, while maintaining constant switching frequency is used. However, speed control performance is still influenced by the unmodeled uncertainties of the plant such as parameter variations and external load disturbances. Intensive research of the design of a robust stable speed controller against inherent uncertainties in the induction motor model has been performed [6-8]. Among them, a soft computing approach using a recurrent fuzzy neural network (RFNN) is proposed. However, a complicated RFNN structure and too many updated parameters as well as unknown design constants can lead to a computational burden and infeasible real time implementation techniques. Recently, many kinds of soft computing methods such as adaptive fuzzy logic, fuzzy neural networks, and recurrent fuzzy neural network have been developed in the field of AC machine control. The radial-basis function network (RBFN) is widely used as an universal approximator in the area of nonlinear mapping due to its performance despite a simple structure. The RBFN is architecture of the instar-outstar model and constructed with input, output and hidden layers of normalized Gaussian activation functions. The RBFN has been introduced as a possible solution to the real multivariate interpolation problem, because it can be used for universal approximator like fuzzy and neural systems. However, there must be a reconstruction error if the structure of the RBFN (the number of activation functions in the hidden layer) is not infinitely rich, and these errors are introduced into the closed-loop system and make the convergence time slow, and that, in the worst case, it can deteriorate the stability. To compensate for the reconstruction error, the method of using additional sliding-mode like compensating input term is widely used, and its gain is computed with the information of the bounding constant of the system uncertainty, which is difficult to obtain.
In this thesis, a speed controller using the RBFN observer is proposed. The lumped uncertainties of the induction motor system including parameter variations, external load disturbances and unmodeled dynamics are approximated by the RBFN, and an additional robust control term is introduced to compensate for the reconstruction error instead of the rich number of rules and additional updated parameters. Control input and adaptive laws for the weights in the RBFN and the bounding constant are established so that the whole closed-loop system is stable in the sense of Lyapunov. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control system.