3040
8, AUGUST 2009
An FPGA-Based Novel Digital PWM Control
Scheme for BLDC Motor Drives
Anand Sathyan, Student Member, IEEE, Nikola Milivojevic, Student Member, IEEE,
Young-Joo Lee, Student Member, IEEE, Mahesh Krishnamurthy, Member, IEEE, and
Ali Emadi, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—Development of advanced motor drives has yielded
increases in efficiency and reliability. Residential and commercial
appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioning systems use
conventional motor drive technology. The machines found in these
applications are characterized by low efficiency and high main-
tenance. A brushless dc (BLDC) motor drive is characterized by
higher efficiency, lower maintenance, and higher cost. In a market
driven by profit margins, the appliance industry is reluctant to
replace the conventional motor drives with the advanced motor
drives (BLDC) due to their higher cost. Therefore, it is necessary
to have a low-cost but effective BLDC motor controller. This paper
lays the groundwork for the development of a new low-cost IC
for control of BLDC motors. A simple novel digital pulsewidth-
modulation control has been implemented for a trapezoidal BLDC
motor drive system. Due to the simplistic nature of this control,
it has the potential to be implemented in a low-cost application-
specific integrated circuit. The novel controller is modeled and
verified using simulations. Experimental verification is carried
out using field-programmable gate arrays to validate the claims
presented.
Index Terms—Brushless dc (BLDC) motor drives, converters,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), inverters, motion con-
trol, pulsewidth modulation (PWM).
I. I NTRODUCTION
A N ELECTRIC motor is defined as a transducer that con-
verts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Electrical
motors are an integral part of industrial plants with no less than
5 billion motors built worldwide every year. Residential and
commercial applications mostly use conventional motor drive
technologies. Typically, machines found in these appliances are
single-phase induction motors or brushed dc machines which
are characterized by low efficiency and high maintenance,
respectively [1], [2]. Single-phase induction motors are less
efficient because of the ohmic loss in the rotor and due to
the phase angle displacement between the stator current and
back electromotive force (EMF). In the case of dc machines,
they require more maintenance due to the presence of brushes.
Manuscript received November 17, 2008; revised April 23, 2009. First
published May 15, 2009; current version published July 24, 2009.
A. Sathyan was with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer-
ing, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60616 USA. He is now with
Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, MI 48234 USA.
N. Milivojevic, Y.-J. Lee, M. Krishnamurthy, and A. Emadi are with the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Tech-
nology, Chicago, IL 60616 USA (e-mail: kmahesh@ece.iit.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2009.2022067
0278-0046/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 56, NO.
Replacing these inefficient motors with more efficient brushless
dc (BLDC) motors will result in substantial energy savings.
A permanent-magnet synchronous machine has several ad-
vantages over other machine types. Most notably (compared
to other dc motors), they require lower maintenance due to
the elimination of the mechanical commutator. They also have
high power density. Compared to induction machines, they have
lower inertia, allowing for faster dynamic response to reference
commands. In addition, they are more efficient due to the
permanent magnets, which results in significantly lower rotor
losses. The major disadvantage with permanent-magnet motors
is their higher cost and relatively greater degree of complexity
introduced by the power electronic converter used to drive them
[2], [3].
Hysteresis current control and pulsewidth modulation
(PWM) control coupled with continuous control theory have
produced the most widely used BLDC motor control techniques
[4]. Hysteresis current control is essential toward achieving
adequate servo performance, namely, instantaneous torque con-
trol, yielding faster speed response compared to PWM control.
For most applications, proportional-integral (PI) current and
speed compensators are sufficient to establish a well-regulated
speed/torque controller. In other cases, state feedback control is
needed to achieve a more precise control of the BLDC motor.
Classic control theory and linear system theory are well un-
derstood but are highly complex and require extensive control
systems knowledge to develop a well-designed controller [5].
Discrete control theory allows for such controllers to be dig-
itally implemented with microcontrollers, microprocessors, or
digital signal processors (DSPs). Digitizing analog controllers
serves to add complexity to the overall design procedure [6],
[7]. Moreover, digital implementation of a continuous control
technique does not produce a digital controller. Instead, what
results is a digitally implemented control technique, which
typically results in high controller cost.
In this paper, a novel digital PWM controller has been
proposed for a BLDC motor. This controller treats the BLDC
motor as a digital system. The BLDC system is only allowed to
operate at a low duty (DL ) or a high duty (DH ). Speed regula-
tion is achieved by alternating between low duty and high duty,
which makes the concept of the controller extremely simple for
design and implementation. In addition, this technique utilizes
only one current sensor in the dc link. This helps reduce the
cost and complexity of motor control hardware and, in turn, can
boost the demand of BLDC motors for commercial mass pro-
duction applications. For the controller presented in this paper,
SATHYAN et al.: FPGA-BASED NOVEL DIGITAL PWM CONTROL SCHEME FOR BLDC MOTOR DRIVES
Fig. 1. Typical inverter drive system for a BLDC motor.
Fig. 2. Back EMF and phase current variation with rotor electrical angle.
characteristic equations of a BLDC machine have been used to
derive the design procedure, which involves simple first-order
nonhomogenous differential equations. During steady-state op-
eration, the design procedure is reduced to a few simple alge-
braic equations. Computer simulations and experimental results
are presented for proof of concept.
II. B RUSHLESS DC M OTOR D RIVE S TRATEGIES
For a three-phase BLDC application, the most common
topology used is a three-phase buck-derived converter or a
three-phase inverter bridge [8], [9]. The typical inverter drive
system for a BLDC motor is shown in Fig. 1.
As shown in Fig. 1, the output stage consists of a three-
phase inverter composed of switches that could be MOSFETs
or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). If IGBTs are
used, antiparallel diodes need to be connected across them for
carrying reverse currents, while MOSFETs use body diodes.
MOSFETs give lower turn-off switching loss and usually lower
diode forward drop, but that advantage may be offset by higher
ON -state voltage drop and turn-on switching/diode reverse re-
covery loss than IGBTs. Typical waveforms for a three-phase
BLDC motor with trapezoidal flux distribution are shown in
Fig. 2 [10]. Approximately, the back EMF induced per phase of
3041
Fig. 3. Sensor versus drive timing.
the motor winding is constant for 120◦ , before and after which
it changes linearly with rotor angle.
In order to get constant output power and, consequently, con-
stant output torque, current is driven through a motor winding
during the flat portion of the back-EMF waveform. Only two
switches are turned on at a time, one in a high side and the other
in a low side. Thus, for a star-connected motor winding, two
phases are connected in series across the dc bus, while the third
winding is open. The switches in Fig. 1 are operated such that
each phase carries current only during the 120◦ period when
the back EMF is constant. Thus, there is a commutation event
between phases for every 60◦ electrical, as shown in Fig. 2.
Effectively, it means that there is a current transition every
60◦ . Appropriate commutation therefore requires knowledge of
rotor position, which can be directly detected using position
sensors or estimated in sensorless manner by monitoring back
EMF in the open phase [11].
Unlike a brushed dc motor, the commutation of a BLDC
motor is controlled electronically [12]. To rotate the BLDC
motor, the stator windings should be energized in a sequence.
It is important to know the rotor position in order to follow
the proper energizing sequence. For the present system, rotor
position is sensed using Hall effect sensors embedded into the
stator. By reading the Hall effect sensors, a 3-b code can be
obtained, with values ranging from one to six. Each code value
represents a sector in which the rotor is presently located. Each
code value therefore gives us information on which windings
need to be excited to turn the rotor [13], [14]. State “0” and “7”
are considered invalid states for Hall effect sensors. A timing
diagram showing the relationship between the sensor outputs
and the required motor drive voltages is shown in Fig. 3.
The numbers at the top of Fig. 3 correspond to the current
phases shown in Fig. 4. It is apparent from Fig. 3 that the
three sensor outputs overlap in such a way as to create six
unique 3-b codes corresponding to each of the drive phases. The
numbers shown around the periphery of the motor diagram in
Fig. 4 represent the sensor position code. The north pole of the
3042
Fig. 4. BLDC motor showing the commutation sequence.
TABLE I
CLOCKWISE SENSOR AND DRIVE BITS BY PHASE ORDER
rotor points to the code that is output at that rotor position. The
numbers are the sensor logic levels where the most significant
bit is sensor C and the least significant bit is sensor A [15]. The
input sensor state and the corresponding drive state required for
commutation can be put in the form of a state table as shown in
Table I.
III. D IGITAL PWM C ONTROL OF BLDC D RIVES
Speed control in a BLDC involves changing the applied volt-
age across the motor phases [16], [17]. This can be done using
a sensored method based on the concept of pulse amplitude
modulation, PWM, or hysteresis control [18], [19]. Another
method involves control using sensorless techniques. In the last
two decades, many sensorless drive solutions have been offered
to eliminate the costly and fragile position sensor for BLDC
motors with trapezoidal back EMFs [20], [21].
A common control algorithm for a permanent-magnet BLDC
motor is PWM current control. It is based on the assumption of
linear relationship between the phase current and the torque,
similar to that in a brushed dc motor. Therefore, by adjusting
phase current, the electromagnetic torque can be controlled
to meet the requirement. The general structure of a current
controller for a BLDC motor is shown in Fig. 5. Instantaneous
current in the motor is regulated in each phase by a hysteresis
regulator, which maintains the current within adjustable limits.
The rotor position information is sensed to enable commutation
logic, which has six outputs to control the upper and lower
phase leg power switches [22]. The current reference is de-
termined by a PI regulator, which maintains the rotor average
speed constant.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 56, NO. 8, AUGUST 2009
Fig. 5. Conventional PWM current control.
Fig. 6. Flowchart describing the novel digital control.
This paper presents the design, simulation, and experimen-
tal verification of a novel constant-frequency digital PWM
controller which has been designed for a BLDC motor drive
system. In essence, the controller treats the BLDC motor as
a digital system. The concept of this digital controller is very
simple. Speed regulation is achieved by using two levels of
duty cycles—a high duty (DH ) and a low duty (DL ). The rules
of the digital controller can be explained using the flowchart
shown in Fig. 6.
Unlike a hysteresis current controller, a PWM control does
not have an inherent current control capability. Hence, a current
limiter has to be introduced. Current hysteresis digital con-
trollers have been reported for a BLDC motor in [4]. This paper
presents a controller with no need of any state observer. Fig. 7
shows the proposed digital controller. Fig. 8 shows the complete
block diagram of the motor drive system.
A proportional controller provides the reference for the
current limit. The current is made to stay within a maximum
and minimum limit. The maximum value of Ilimit is 1.5 times
SATHYAN et al.: FPGA-BASED NOVEL DIGITAL PWM CONTROL SCHEME FOR BLDC MOTOR DRIVES 3043

Fig. 7. Proposed digital control.

Fig. 8. Block diagram for digital PWM control for a BLDC motor drive
system.

the rated motor current. This is because motors can handle Fig. 9. Gate switching waveforms.
1.5 times the rated current for a short duration of time. The
minimum value of Ilimit decides the steady-state error. For a As long as
value equal to zero, a large steady-state error is observed in
the simulation. The minimum value of Ilimit is defined as the ωactual < ω ∗ − Δω, Ilimit = Ilimit,max . (3)
ratio of a percentage (1%) of the rated torque to the torque
constant. In addition, Ilimit α ωerror
The proportional constant K for a desired speed ripple can
be calculated as follows. In steady state, Δω ≤ |ωerr ∗ 2|. In the Ilimit = K ∗ ωerror . (4)
worst case, Δω = |ωerr ∗ 2|. For the desired speed ripple Δω,
a constant Kset can be defined as By using (1)–(3) in (4), it can be shown that

Δω 2 ∗ Ilimit,max
Kset = . (1) K= . (5)
ωrated Kset ∗ ωrated

Taking the maximum value of the speed ripple In this control strategy, both the high- and low-side switches
are switched simultaneously. Both high- and low-side diodes
ωerr ∗ 2 conduct. The waveforms for this type of switching are shown
Kset = . (2)
ωrated in Fig. 9.
3044 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 56, NO. 8, AUGUST 2009

Fig. 10. Steady-state speed response.

IV. C ONTROLLER D ESIGN The maximum deviation from the reference speed (ω ∗ ) due
to the application of high duty DH is denoted by ΔωH , and
The value of the duty ratio D can be obtained from the
the maximum deviation from the reference speed due to the
electrical and mechanical equations. The value of D can be
application of a low duty DL is denoted by ΔωL . The speed
expressed as a function of the motor parameters.
response can be expressed as
From the torque equation, we have   
Tem − TL ∗ Tem − TL b
dω ω(t) = + ω − e− J t . (12)
Tem = J + bω + TL (6) b b
dt
where Tem , ω(t), b, J, and TL denote developed electromag- From Fig. 10, at time t = t2 + TP
  
netic torque, rotor angular velocity, viscous friction constant, Tem − TL Tem − TL b

rotor moment of inertia, and load torque, respectively ΔωH = + ω∗ − e− J t − ω ∗ . (13)

b b
dω At time t = t1 + TP
Kt I = J + bω + TL (7)
dt     
Tem − TL Tem − TL b
where Kt = torque constant and I = average current. At ΔωL = − + ω∗ − e− J t + ω ∗ .
b b
steady state, (7) can be written in terms of steady-state angular (14)
velocity ωss as
The speed ripple can be calculated as
1
I(ωss ) = (bωss + TL ). (8)
Kt Δω = ΔωH + ΔωL (15)
ΔTem  b

At steady state, the time phase voltage equations can be written Δω = 1 − e− J TP (16)
in terms of phase voltage Van , phase current I, winding resis-
b 
Δω
tance, and velocity constant Ke as TP = −τm ln 1 − ΔTem (17)
b
Van = IRa + Ke ωss . (9)
where τm = mechanical time constant
Substituting the value of the steady-state current from (10) and  
Δω
defining the phase voltage in terms of dc-link voltage Vdc and TP = −τm ln 1 − . (18)
duty D, we get ωNL,max

(TL + ωss b) From (18), for a desired speed ripple, the sampling time can
DVdc = R + Ke ωss (10) be calculated. ωNL,max is the maximum speed under no-load
Kt
conditions.
where ωss denotes the steady-state angular velocity.
Therefore, the duty ratio can be expressed in terms of the B. Steady-State Analysis
motor parameters as
  For the purpose of analysis, the proposed digital controller
1 (TL + ωss b) was considered equivalent to a proportional controller with high
D= R + Ke ωss . (11)
Vdc Kt gain and saturation. This analysis was aimed at determining if
the actual motor speed reaches the reference speed at steady
A. Speed Ripple Calculation state. The transfer function for a BLDC motor is shown as
Kt
Steady-state error is a function of the speed samples. It is ω(s) JLa
= (19)
therefore necessary to find out the effect of sampling time (TP ) V (s) s2 + (JRa +BLa ) +Kt Ke )
s + (BRaJL
JLa a
on the speed ripple. Fig. 10 shows the speed response at steady
state. where V = DVin , with D being the duty cycle.
SATHYAN et al.: FPGA-BASED NOVEL DIGITAL PWM CONTROL SCHEME FOR BLDC MOTOR DRIVES 3045

Fig. 12. Final experimental setup.

TABLE II
DATA SHEET FOR BLDC MOTOR FROM POLY-SCIENTIFIC (BN42-EU-02)

Fig. 11. Closed-loop control of the BLDC motor with the novel digital PWM
controller.

The overall block diagram with the closed-loop control using

the proposed novel digital PWM controller is shown in Fig. 11.
The tolerated error decides the sampling in the speed loop.
Based on the speed error, a high duty or low duty is selected
by the Gw block. The output of the Gw block is Dw , which
can be Dh or Dl . The duty, along with the information about
the actual motor current, is the input to the Gi block, based
on which it selects a high duty, low duty, or a skip state. The
output of the Gi block is Di , which can be Dh , Dl , or D0 . The
minimum current (imin ) is used to compensate for the R and
B terms so that the steady-state error is reduced. The output
of the Gi block is a PWM voltage signal which is given as the
the predefined value, the current regulator sends a signal that
input to the BLDC motor.
automatically sets the duty cycle to zero. Therefore, the current
Simulations were carried out for a maximum variation from
is not allowed to rise further, until the value drops below the
the reference speed of about 10 r/min. The necessary frequency
limited value again.
of sampling in the speed loop for the desired speed ripple can be
An FPGA platform used for controlling the BLDC machine
calculated from (18). For example, a speed ripple of 10 r/min
is Spartan 3 family, from Xilinx. Reference speed value was set
requires a minimum sampling time of 916 μs. This was con-
digitally, and a speed loop was used to compare the actual speed
firmed. From measurements, this sampling time resulted in a
and the reference speed and based on error to determine the duty
speed ripple of about 6 r/min.
cycle for the next period. The actual speed was easily calculated
as a time between two Hall effect signals. The schematic of the
V. D ESCRIPTION OF E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP
controller simulated in the FPGA is shown in Fig. 13.
An experimental setup was constructed in order to implement Inputs to the FPGA device include three Hall effect sensors
and further validate the simulation results of the proposed and reference speed information, while output signals are trig-
technique. The following section gives a brief description of gers for switching on and off IGBTs. In addition, the dc-link
the requirements and final designs for the experimental setup. current was measured using LEM transducer, and analog signal
The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 12. Parameters of the is sent first to A/D converter, and then to FPGA, for current
test machine are given in Table II. protection. In order to show the speed error, 8-b D/A (digital-
The inverter was built using Pwrx IGBT modules, rated at to-analog) converter was used.
50 A, 600 V, with a switching frequency of 6 kHz. Gate signals As shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the logic used to control the
were generated in the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) BLDC motor is very simple with few components. As a base for
controller and buffered using an inverted Schmidt circuit. For comparison, when using conventional control schemes with a
the mechanical load, constant load torque was provided by a DSP, the cost may be as much as 20 dollars [23]. The novel dig-
magnetic brake. Current protection was realized by adding a ital PWM control scheme uses 3 adders, 3 comparators, 5 flip-
dc-link current transducer. This sensor was used to sense the flops, 30 logic elements, and 3 counters. In mass production,
dc-link current and keep it below a maximum value in order to an analog IC implemented using the aforementioned elements
limit inrush current. If the value of the dc-link current exceeds would cost less than a dollar, which would make the BLDC
3046 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 56, NO. 8, AUGUST 2009

Fig. 13. Block diagram showing operations and functions implemented in

FPGA device.

Fig. 15. Experimental results for a reference speed of 2500 r/min under no-
load condition.

Fig. 14. Simulated duty, speed, and current response for a commanded speed
of 2500 r/min for full-load operation.

motors affordable for manufacturers to use in their products.

In addition, in conventional schemes, three current sensors are
required [1], whereas this control scheme requires only one
current sensor at the dc link. Furthermore, this scheme can be
effectively implemented on an FPGA as opposed to DSPs that
are used for the implementation of complex control schemes.
This makes the present technique significantly cost effective.

VI. S IMULATION R ESULTS AND

E XPERIMENTAL V ERIFICATION
For the verification of the control scheme, several operating
conditions were selected. Fig. 14 shows the simulated response
for a reference speed of 2500 r/min under full-load conditions.
This figure includes the variation of speed versus commanded
reference, duty ratio assigned, and the resultant current.
Figs. 15–21 show the experimental results obtained for vari-
ous operating conditions, and Table III summarizes these results
for various load conditions and reference speeds. It can be noted Fig. 16. Experimental results for a reference speed of 2500 r/min. Load is
that the average error is well below 5%. In addition, the absolute 30% of rated value.
SATHYAN et al.: FPGA-BASED NOVEL DIGITAL PWM CONTROL SCHEME FOR BLDC MOTOR DRIVES 3047

Fig. 19. Experimental results for a reference speed of 2100 r/min under
full load.
Fig. 17. Experimental results for a reference speed of 1500 r/min under no-
load condition.

Fig. 20. Speed response for change in load torque and for a reference speed
of 2000 r/min.

value of the maximum speed ripple stays well within 30 r/min,

Fig. 18. Experimental results for a reference speed of 1500 r/min. Load is or in other words, the maximum error stays below 5%. Hence,
30% of rated value. this control technique is well suited for applications where high
3048
Fig. 21. Experimental results for a change in reference speed from 2200 to
1300 r/min under no-load condition.
TABLE III
SUMMARY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
precision is not required. Some of the applications where this
control technique can be implemented are washing machines,
dryers, machine tools, pumps, refrigerators, etc.
In order to test the stability of the proposed technique, the
response of the system was observed for a sudden change
in operating conditions (Figs. 20 and 21). Fig. 20 shows the
response for a step change in load torque, which was varied
from 20% to 80%. Fig. 21 shows the response of the system for
a step change in commanded speed. For each of these changes,
the speed response was observed to settle within 5% of the
commanded value. Thus, this simple low-cost stable control
strategy proves its effectiveness for use in applications which
are subject to disturbances.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 56, NO. 8, AUGUST 2009
VII. C ONCLUSION
A new digital control concept for BLDC machines has
been introduced and experimentally verified. The aim of this
paper is to develop a low-cost controller for applications where
inefficient single-phase induction motors are used. Due to the
simplistic nature of this control, it has the potential to be imple-
mented in a low-cost application-specific integrated circuit. The
controller exploits the characteristic of most electromechanical
systems. Since electrical time constants are much faster relative
to the mechanical time constants, speed regulation with an
acceptable amount of ripple is possible by rapid switching of
states. Furthermore, this control strategy does not require a
state observer. Under dynamic load conditions, the proposed
controller was found to be capable of regulating speed without
the use of an observer. This results in a considerable reduction
of size and the cost of the system.
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Anand Sathyan (S’04) received the B.S. degree
(with distinction) in electrical engineering from
Amrita Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India,
in 1998, the M.S. degree (with distinction) in electri-
cal engineering from Coimbatore Institute of Tech-
nology, Coimbatore, in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree
from the Department of Electrical and Computer En-
gineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.
From August 2001 to August 2004, he was a
Faculty Member with the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Amrita Institute of Technology. From
August 2004 to December 2008, he was a Research Assistant with the Grainger
Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory, Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy. Since April 2009, he has been with Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, MI,
working on hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. His research interests include
power electronics, motor drives, and renewable energy systems.
Nikola Milivojevic (S’07) received the B.S. and
M.S. degrees from the University of Belgrade,
Belgrade, Serbia. He is currently working toward
the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy, Chicago.
He has several years of experience in the field of
renewable energy sources as well as energy storage
systems. He was engaged in research and develop-
ment projects on control of ac/dc electric drives. His
current research interests include maximum power
point tracking techniques for renewable energy systems as well as low-cost
electric drive control in generating applications.
Mr. Milivojevic was one of the student team leaders that won “International
Future Energy Challenge 2005” with low-cost adjustable-speed motor drive
solution.
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Young-Joo Lee (S’07) received the B.S. degree
in electrical engineering from Korea University of
Technology and Education, Cheonan, Korea, in 1996
and the M.S. degree from Gwang-Woon University,
Seoul, Korea, in 2003. Since 2006, he has been
working toward the Ph.D. degree in the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois In-
stitute of Technology, Chicago. His Ph.D. research
focuses on integrated bidirectional converter for
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
In 1995, he joined SunStar R&C, Incheon, Korea,
where he specialized in industrial sewing machines and controllers, and motors
and controllers for industrial sewing machines. He then joined Genoray Com-
pany, Ltd., Seongnam, Korea. He has over ten years of industrial experience
and has developed several commercial system controllers for sewing machines
and medical X-ray fluoroscopy equipment, which require control of brushless
dc motors, induction and stepper motors, high-frequency full-bridge converters,
X-ray electron tubes, and other electric–pneumatic actuators.
Mahesh Krishnamurthy (S’02–M’08) received the
M.S. degree from the University of Missouri, Rolla,
in 2004 and the Ph.D. degree from the University of
Texas, Arlington, in 2008.
Since 2008, he has been with the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Insti-
tute of Technology, Chicago, as an Assistant Profes-
sor. His current research interests include numerical
analysis of energy conversion in electric machines;
design, analysis, and control of power electronics
and drives in renewable energy; and hybrid and plug-
in hybrid vehicular applications.
Ali Emadi (S’98–M’00–SM’03) received the B.S.
and M.S. degrees (with highest distinction) in elec-
trical engineering from Sharif University of Technol-
ogy, Tehran, Iran, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering from Texas A&M University, College
Station.
He is the Harris Perlstein Endowed Chair Profes-
sor of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the
Electric Power and Power Electronics Center and
Grainger Laboratories, Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy, Chicago, where he has established research and
teaching facilities in power electronics, motor drives, and vehicular power
systems. He has been named as a Chicago Matters Global Visionary in 2009.
He is the principal author/coauthor of over 220 journals and conference papers
as well as six books.
Dr. Emadi was the founding General Chair of the First IEEE Vehicle Power
and Propulsion Conference (VPPC’05) and is currently the Chair of the IEEE
VPPC Steering Committee.