| Sensorless speed detection of an induction motor is an attractive area for researchers to enhance the reliability of the system and to reduce the cost of the components. This paper presents a simple method of estimating a rotational speed by utilizing an artificial neural network (ANN) that would be fed by a set of stator current frequencies that contain some saliency harmonics. This approach allows operators to detect the speed in induction motors such an approach also provides reliability, low cost, and simplicity. First, the proposed method is based on converting the stator current signals to the frequency domain and then applying a tracking algorithm to the stator current spectrum in order to detect frequency peaks. Secondly, the ANN has to be trained by the detected peaks; the training data must be from very precise data to provide an accurate rotor speed. Moreover, the desired output of the training is the speed, which is measured by a tachometer simultaneously with the stator current signal. The databases were collected at many different speeds from two different types of AC induction motors, wound rotor and squirrel cage. They were trained and tested, so when the difference between the desired speed value and the ANN output value reached the wanted accuracy, the system does not need to use the tachometer anymore. Eventually, the experimental results show that in an optimal ANN design, the speed of the wound rotor induction motor was estimated accurately, where the testing average error was 1 RPM. The proposed method has not succeeded to predict the rotor speed of the squirrel cage induction motor precisely, where the smallest testingaverage error that was achieved was 5 RPM. |
