The Martins' Method

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ben.martins
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The Martins' Method

Post by ben.martins »

Hi all,

Hope we are all safe and well?

You might all be intrigued by the subject of this post. The reason for it is because I want to share a technique that I discovered whilst spending a lot of time researching better ways to diagnose 3 phase motors. I found that actually there is a very simply way we can do this and after sharing with the team here at Pico, Steve Smith kindly named it the Martins' Method after yours truly. So let's get started.

The Martins' Method drew upon existing math for plotting the relationship between current phases of 3 phase motors. Known as the Park Vector Approach it comprises two formulas -
  • iD = (sqrt(2)/sqrt(3))A-(1/sqrt(6))B-(1/sqrt(6))C
  • iQ = (1/sqrt(2))B-(1/sqrt(2))C
Where i = current and D and Q are just components for the formula.

These two formula's have to be set up correctly in the math channel wizard and have to take in account the range used in the channels and has too match. Other complications also arise from the fact that it's math which means if watching it live, there is a delay whilst the software draws the math from the raw data. The most important part of the Park Vector Approach is that you have to use XY to view the result. At time of writing XY hasn't yet been implemented into PS7 Automotive so the following images will all still be in PS6 Auto. Needless to say it is coming and will be awesome when it arrives but for the time being in order to use XY we will have to stay with PS6 Auto. The tests carried out the following Park Vector captures were done in controlled conditions using a 3 Phase motor powered by a VFD unit and not from a vehicle.
3 phase startup.png
The first capture shows a 3 phase motor during startup and what we see is a spiral as the current increases. What we are seeing is the current relationship between the phases. This is further highlighted when we load the motor further.
3 phase under load.png
This was great to see as it's so clear to see issues that might arise but the hurdle is the fact it's math. When PicoScope is capturing data in block mode, typically anything under 200ms/div, we do get an update at the time but shifting to streaming the math is created at the end of the buffer and waits till the next before is full before drawing again. Not only this but you have to reset the math for each motor as the current levels might be different. Not so much of a problem post capture but we want to view issues in real time. This got me thinking, what would the current phases look like if there compared directly with no maths.
3 phase XY.png
It may not be a perfect circle but you can see the relationship between each of the phases relevant to another. We have V & W against U, U & W against V and finally U & V against X. The great thing about using XY is that it is drawn in real time. This means if you were to start a motor from rest and were streaming data at say 500ms/div, you will actually see the pattern being drawn on the screen. These type of waveform is more typically known as a lissajous pattern. They are typically used to calculate the phase difference between two sinusoidal signals having same frequency but I've yet to see them being used for motor analysis.

The use of XY can help to spot issues with motor balancing as the waveforms should sit on top of each other. Below is an example of when the current is different in a phase.
3 phase XY with current offset.png
And also what happens when you lose a phase.
3 phase XY lost phase.png
I know 3 phase motor testing is difficult on some vehicles and impossible on others, but where it is possible then applying the Martins' Method could offer some quick detail on the motors you are troubleshooting.

It doesn't stop there though as we can apply the Martins' Method to another component found on the majority of electrified vehicles, the resolver. You may have seen in our newsletter on Resolvers - https://www.picoauto.com/library/traini ... -unwrapped and right near the bottom I'd included an animation demonstrating how the two signals are used to determine position.
Resolver GIF.gif
In the corner you can see the circle being drawn in, yes you guessed it, XY view. Whilst this isn't possible in PS7 we can do this in PS6 but we have the issue with math's again.
Resolver math XY.png
The nice thing about the math though is we have removed the excitation frequency to leave us with the actually signal the ECU is seeing. Details on this math can be found in the PS7 Guided Test electric vehicle section. This results in a perfect circle and is very clear when something goes wrong. We can though still apply the Martins' Method to the raw signal. As the signals are 90 degrees apart a circle will still be drawn but it just appears filled in!
Resolver XY good.png
An important note to make here is that you have to watch that the grid for the XY view is perfectly square. You can adjust the size by clicking the line between the two views and adjusting as you can get a more of an ellipse than a circle! This is important as when you have a bad one as in the one featured in Miki Diosy case study video - https://youtu.be/-0aPawW5vGg. Below is the capture of the resolver in XY view.
Resolver bad.png
As you can see, it's quick to determine something is wrong and best of all you can draw a mask in XY which means a known good can be loaded, XY drawn and then carry out the capture to quickly determine an issue.

To add an XY viewport in PS6 please click Views > Add View > XY
Adding XY View.png
From here you may need to adjust the grid layout. This is made a lot simpler in PS7 but for PS6 you will need to click Views > Grid Layout > Custom Layout
grid layout.png
Here you can amend the layout and I find 1 Row x 2 Columns works best for this type of view.

Once you have the XY view where you want you now need to select the channel you would like to put on the X axis. You can do this by right clicking on the XY grid select X-Axis and then the channel you would like to use. You can then hide any other channels not of interest which in the resolver file would be the Channel A and the math channel.
X Axis selection.png
I hope this helps and I've attached a resolver capture which you can have a play with in PS6 and see if the Martins' Method could help with the diagnosis.

Kind regards

Ben Martins
Attachments
gt885-motor-resolver with amt.psdata
(16.3 MiB) Downloaded 1035 times
Last edited by ben.martins on Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jfixmycar
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Re: Martins' Method

Post by Jfixmycar »

This is amazing and I love it, I can only hope that a small part of this makes it to the automotive presets for fuel pumps especially, since we are seeing a lot of new petrol cars with 3 phase intake pumps. Outstanding work and I am just blown away.

ben.martins
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Pico Staff Member
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

Re: The Martins' Method

Post by ben.martins »

Thank you, I do think this could help simplify the way we view 3 phase signals. We will of course be looking at the presets for the guided to tests and how this technique can be added in especially for the EV guided tests.

The brushless DC motors is a guided test on our list and something we need to take a look at with this method. In theory it should work the same but I've not applied it to these motors. I know there are plenty of captures floating around so it should be fairly straight forward to check! It may be that we have to AC couple the signals in order to view but we'll let you know as soon as we have anything to share.

Thanks again and look forward to hearing more from people trying out the Martins' Method!

Kind regards

Ben

ben.martins
Pico Staff Member
Pico Staff Member
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

Re: The Martins' Method

Post by ben.martins »

Just a quick follow up after some testing I carried out on a 2016 e-Golf.

The resolver output for this vehicle appears to already have the math applied leaving you with 2 sine waves. This means we can watch these in real time using the Martins' Method and watch the direction of the motor change depending on if you're travelling forwards or reverse.
egolf motor position XY.mp4
(705.13 KiB) Downloaded 727 times

Jfixmycar
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Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 2:07 pm

Re: The Martins' Method

Post by Jfixmycar »

THE MARTIN'S METHOD WORKS.

Ben, I have been playing some by applying your math channel and research to 3 phase fuel pumps. This is off a late model BMW 7 (g12). It is a good working pump. Its awesome how using your math channel setup I almost can see a bench dyno blue print of the motor. Seeing the true balance of all 6 armatures inside the motor and how the rotor responds to it. Very cool stuff
Attachments
Capture.JPG

ben.martins
Pico Staff Member
Pico Staff Member
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

Re: The Martins' Method

Post by ben.martins »

Hi Jfixmycar,

Thanks for posting and it's great to see the method being used for fuel pump applications. It has been on the to do list!

Looking forward to getting XY into PS7 Auto, hopefully soon, and then we can look at including a guided test that has this set up ready to go.

Thanks again and look forward to the next captures using the Martins' Method! Out of interest if you used the Math channel instead, how did the capture appear?

Kind regards

Ben

ben.martins
Pico Staff Member
Pico Staff Member
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 1:02 pm

Re: The Martins' Method

Post by ben.martins »

Hi all,

I've been meaning to get an update out for this as PS7 now has XY view as per Steve's release notes for Early Access viewtopic.php?p=103268#p103268.

With XY now featured in PS7 this means that a protentional guided test can be on it's way for motor testing. There is the additional benefit with using XY in PS7 which is the 1:1 ratio for the view port. This means that when comparing the phasing visually it is much easier as you don't have to worry about sizing. This also makes it easier when comparing resolvers as we will get the circle we're looking for and be sure that it is a circle due to the ratio being set to 1:1
PS7 XY resolver.png
Another useful feature with viewing signals that over lay each other is they can be bought to the front just by clicking on the axis.
XY and axis.gif
You can find XY under the Views which will allow you to change the x axis from time to any channel, including a math channel.

Enjoy!

Ben

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