Abstract:  An adaptive controller for the interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) was designed to improve the whole performance of an electric vehicle (EV) drive system, with the fact considered that the d-q axis inductances change with the stator currents. The motor parameters were calculated using finite element method (FEM) to realize the minimum loss current control. The controller parameters such as the adaptive law were saved in a 2D-Table for the self-tuning regulator, which assures that the input variables are the measured stator currents. Some parts of the control system were implemented in the field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The results show that the adaptive controllers can satisfactorily suppress the current overshoot and that the system has faster response time since the FPGA also partially replaces the function of the micro-controller.

Key words: electric vehicle (EV), interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), adaptive control, finite element method (FEM)