Stepper FOC with just 12bit encoder

I tried to modify the library such that the AS5048A, only had an output resolution of just 12 bit.

This thread continues the mention in the adjacent thread: SC60228DC.

  // reduce to 12 bit
  word value12Bit = (register_value & data_mask)/4*4;
	
  // return register_value & data_mask;  // Return the data, stripping the non data (e.g parity) bits
	return value12Bit;  // Return the data, stripping the non data (e.g parity) bits

	// return register_value & data_mask;  // Return the data, stripping the non data (e.g parity) bits

The stepper still seem to be working fine in my test. I was still able to achieve fast movements in close loop position: 45 degrees (stop to stop) in less than 66 ms. YouTube video link - 6s.

So the resolution doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Regarding the linearity of the encoder - I suppose it would be possible to determine the non-linearity with the stepper in open loop and correct for this? I’m thinking that something like a 2 parameter fit will probably do wonders.

At least if the error looks like described in this Magn-Tek-datasheet

BR
Andreas

There is an ongoing thread in our discord server on this topic. Yes, it should be possible to do what you describe!

1 Like

I modified the code today to make a crude implementation of this. Seems to work great. Partly inspired by the ongoing discussion on discord.

I made an open loop calibration routine that would figure out what’s the average offset for each motor pole. Result of 4 calibrations.

It’s not completely perfect but still useful! :slight_smile:

And simply applied that within the StepperMotor class.

Works great.

Here is the main code that does the work:

  // zero electric angle not known
  if(!_isset(zero_electric_angle)){
    
    // Move 1 shaft rotation open loop (pole_pairs * 2 pi electric angle) 

    // create a look up table with a offset for each polepair
    float sum[pole_pairs] = {};
    int count[pole_pairs] = {};

    for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
        // for every pole we want ~ 20 measurements;
        for ( int measure_i = 0; measure_i < 20; measure_i++) {
            // for every measurement we want to take 20 steps to get to the next one
            float angle = 0;
            for (int i = 0; i <=20; i++ ) {
              angle = _3PI_2 + _2PI * (measure_i * 20 + i) / 400.0f;
              setPhaseVoltage(voltage_sensor_align, 0,  angle);
            
              _delay(1);
            }
            _delay(2);
            sensor->update();
            float mechAngle = sensor->getMechanicalAngle();
            float openLoopAngle =  _normalizeAngle(angle);
            float encoderElectricAngle = electricalAngle(); // from encoder)
            float angleOffset = _normalizeAngle(encoderElectricAngle - openLoopAngle);
            monitor_port->println(angleOffset);
            int bin = mechAngle * pole_pairs / _2PI;
            sum[bin] += angleOffset;
            count[bin] += 1;
        }
    }

    for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
      zero_offset_nonlin[pp_i] = sum[pp_i]/count[pp_i];
    }

    if(monitor_port) {
      for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
        monitor_port->print(F("bin: "));
        monitor_port->print(pp_i);
        monitor_port->print(F(" sum: "));
        monitor_port->print(sum[pp_i]);
        monitor_port->print(F(" count: "));
        monitor_port->print(count[pp_i]);
        monitor_port->print(F(" mean: "));
        monitor_port->println(zero_offset_nonlin[pp_i]);
      }
    }

    zero_electric_angle = 0;
    
    // stop everything
    setPhaseVoltage(0, 0, 0);
    _delay(200);
  }else if(monitor_port) monitor_port->println(F("MOT: Skip offset calib."));

and within LoopFOC

  // encoder offset
  float nonLinOffset = zero_offset_nonlin[(int) (sensor->getMechanicalAngle() * pole_pairs / _2PI)];

  // Needs the update() to be called first
  // This function will not have numerical issues because it uses Sensor::getMechanicalAngle() 
  // which is in range 0-2PI
  electrical_angle = electricalAngle() - nonLinOffset;
2 Likes

Ideally the offset should values should be transferred to the Sensor and not stored in the Stepper as it’s really the Sensor that’s wrong and not the electric poles…

I think it should be a wrapper (delegate) Sensor implementation…

So there could be CalibratedSensor which wraps a given sensor instance, and uses the driver.
Something like this could be the usage:

sensor = SomeMagneticSensor(...);
cSensor = CalibratedSensor(sensor);
cSensor.calibrate(motor);
motor.linkSensor(cSensor);

I’ll see if I can find some time to try an implementation based on your code… I have to think about the full rotation counting, and if there aren’t some tricky edge cases around the 0-crossing.

Video:

I have to think about the full rotation counting, and if there aren’t some tricky edge cases around the 0-crossing.

If you always apply the correction just after reading the sensor, then I can’t see it should make a difference (I might of cause have overlooked something).

They way I organised the bins is such that the measured shaft angle determines the bin / correction to apply.

One could imagine that jumping to the next bin would change the offset such that in fact the corrected measurement would jump backward. (especially for a high resolution encoder).

This is equivalent to sensor noise and shouldn’t throw off the rotation counting algorithm.

The maximum difference in the bins are (with my encoder) is approximately 0.05 shaft degree (0.05 rad *180/pi/ 50 poles) equivalent to a resolution of 1/0.05 = 7200. So the backwards jump will happen with a 2^14 encoder (16384).

Still it should not be a problem.

Also I decided that it would be best to have a number of bins equal to the number of poles as the offset angle varies a lot with the electric angle… Using the same amount of poles made it easier to mean the results.

The new board is working with the 12 bit encoders :smiley:

Responsive enough for my application.

Still using the calibration method mentioned above. I don’t think you can get anymore sensored torque for your buck:
0.4 Nm = 4$ driver, $3 encoder, $12 stepper :slight_smile:

3 Likes
  // zero electric angle not known
  if(!_isset(zero_electric_angle)){
    
    // Move 1 shaft rotation open loop (pole_pairs * 2 pi electric angle) 

    // create a look up table with a offset for each polepair
    float sum[pole_pairs] = {};
    int count[pole_pairs] = {};

    for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
        // for every pole we want ~ 20 measurements;
        for ( int measure_i = 0; measure_i < 20; measure_i++) {
            // for every measurement we want to take 20 steps to get to the next one
            float angle = 0;
            for (int i = 0; i <=20; i++ ) {
              angle = _2PI * (measure_i * 20 + i) / 400.0f;
              setPhaseVoltage(voltage_sensor_align, 0,  angle);
            
              _delay(1);
            }
            _delay(2);
            sensor->update();
            float sensorAngle = sensor->getAngle() * pole_pairs * sensor_direction;
            float openLoopAngle = pp_i * _2PI + angle; 
            float angleOffset = sensorAngle - openLoopAngle;
            monitor_port->println(angleOffset);
            int bin = sensor->getMechanicalAngle() * pole_pairs / _2PI;
            sum[bin] += angleOffset;
            count[bin] += 1;
        }
    }

    for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
      zero_offset_nonlin[pp_i] = _normalizeAngle(sum[pp_i]/count[pp_i] - _PI_2);
    }

    if(monitor_port) {
      for (int pp_i = 0; pp_i < pole_pairs; pp_i++) {
        monitor_port->print(F("bin: "));
        monitor_port->print(pp_i);
        monitor_port->print(F(" sum: "));
        monitor_port->print(sum[pp_i]);
        monitor_port->print(F(" count: "));
        monitor_port->print(count[pp_i]);
        monitor_port->print(F(" mean: "));
        monitor_port->println(zero_offset_nonlin[pp_i]);
      }
    }

    zero_electric_angle = 0;
    // stop everything
    setPhaseVoltage(0, 0, 0);
    _delay(200);
  }else if(monitor_port) monitor_port->println(F("MOT: Skip offset calib."));
  return exit_flag;

There is a small update to the algorithm. The calibration didn’t work before when the offset would wrap around / cross 2PI. Also improved the calibration in cases when the sensor direction is anticlockwise.

Example calibration

@aokholm

did you just insert this part of the code, or did you replace a part of the code in the library?

Replace the part of the code in the library.

Hello. I tried to replace this part of the code in the library but got an error while compiling. Will it work with ESP32?

Should work on any platform. I used esp32 myself

Am I doing something wrong