Zynq-7000 Based Testbed for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

Abstract

When researching permanent magnet synchronous motors, it is beneficial to have full access and control of the whole motor controller. This thesis proposes a testbed where any part controlling the motor(s) is interchangeable, yielding complete control to the researcher to implement and test a variety of controllers on like-for-like parts. The proposed system is built around the Zynq-7000 System-on-Chip from AMD Xilinx, with the benefit of a configurable FPGA architecture and the computing and communication capabilities of a microprocessor. Around this, there is a mechanical setup that allows the use of various different motors and an interchangeable load. The setup is replicatable such that up to three motors can be tested against each other in parallel on the same computing platform.