Course detail

Microcomputer Control of Electrical Drives

FEKT-MPC-MRPAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course discusses modern microprocessor circuits and their use in electric drives with feedback control. The STM32 microcontroller with ARM core is used in the laboratory exercises to demonstrate the subject. In the laboratory exercises, the students are introduced to the Nucleo development platform, on which they implement simple tasks to learn about the architecture and peripherals of microcontrollers for electric drives (DSP instructions, A/D converter, pulse-width modulation generator, timers, etc.) and also control loop algorithms are implemented on a real laboratory drive.  

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Ing. Ivo Pazdera, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Power Electrical and Electronic Engineering (UVEE)

Entry knowledge

A student enrolling in the course should be able to: explain the principles of transistor converters explain the methods of controlling DC and AC machines apply the C programming language The work in the laboratory is subject to a valid qualification of 'competent person', which students must obtain before starting the course. Information on this qualification is given in the Dean's Guideline Familiarising Students with Safety Regulations.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

A condition for the award of credit is participation in at least 80% of the exercises and obtaining a non-zero number of points for each project. Laboratory exercise: 40b (activity, preparation of independent tasks). 60b Laboratory exercises are required. The possibility of making up missed exercises depends on individual arrangement. 

Aims

The graduate of the course should be able to:
  • describe and explain the block diagram of an HW electric drive with a transistor converter,
  • describe the forward and feedback loops in an electric drive for its control,
  • explain the physical implementation requirements and describe the common types of electrical and mechanical transducers and their connection to a digital control system and the processing of their signals.
  • Explain the basic differences between fixed and floating point microprocessor control.
  • Explain strategies for representing quantities and parameters in fixed point.
  • Describe the requirements of microprocessors for controlling electric drives in terms of peripherals.
  • Describe the principles and functions of key microprocessor peripherals (PWM, ADC, Counters).
  • Explain the mathematical descriptions of the functional blocks of control schemes (filters, controllers, approximation of functional dependencies, complex space vector transformation, DC and AC 3-phase PWM algorithms).
In the laboratory exercises, students learn and the ability is verified through assessed individual projects:
  • implement the programming functions of the individual function blocks of control schemes for electric drives.
  • make settings of peripherals, make measurements of analogue signals implement and set up DC drive control loops

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

HEROUT, Pavel. Učebnice jazyka C. 4., přeprac. vyd. České Budějovice: Kopp, 2004. ISBN 80-7232-220-6 (CS)
Klíma B., Stupka R.;Mikroprocesorová technika v elektrických pohonech; Elektronický text FEKT VUT v Brně (CS)
Knobloch J.; Mikropočítačové řízení elektrických pohonů - Návody pro laboratorní cvičení; Elektronická skripta (CS)
Knobloch J.; Mikroprocesorová technika - učební text (pracovní verze); Elektronická skripta (CS)

Recommended reading

Carmine Novielo; Mastering STM32 (EN)
STMicroelectronics; STM32F334xx advanced Arm®-based 32-bit MCUs; Reference manual (EN)
STMicroelectronics; STM32F334x8 Datasheet (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme MPC-EVM Master's 0 year of study, winter semester, elective
  • Programme MPC-SVE Master's 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Ivo Pazdera, Ph.D.

Syllabus

Organizational information. Representation of numbers, number systems and conversions between them, logical functions, Boolean algebra. Demonstration of the software used. Repetition - C language. ARM processor architecture: memory organisation, buses, registers, program execution and data processing, subroutines, exceptions. STM32 microcontrollers, basic modules, principle of operation. Microcontroller peripherals: ports, timers, analogue converters, direct memory access. Incremental sensor, speed and position measurement, resolver. Pulse width modulation for transistor inverter control. Introduction to signal processing, MAC instruction, digital integrator and 1st order filter, derivation of differential equation. Approximation of functional dependencies: LUT, polynomial. BLDC motor control. AC drive control algorithms: three phase sinusoidal pulse width modulation. 

Laboratory exercise

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Ivo Pazdera, Ph.D.

Syllabus

Introduction, safety regulations, familiarization with the workplace. Configuring GPIO inputs/outputs using, debugger demonstration, reading and overwriting registers. Timers I: generating peridic interrupt - reload and output compare, treating button jams. Timers II: pulse width modulation (PWM), PWM center vs. edge align - two channels, complementary output, deadtime. Assignment and work on an independent project. A/D converter: reading data from AD converter, synchronization with TIM1 (PWM), using DMA. Digital integrator, 1st order low pass, triangle signal generator. PSD controller: component and closed form, floating and fixed point implementation, anti-windup. Assignment and work on an independent project. BLDC motor control, creation of commutation table, speed control. Three phase pulse width modulation, space vector modulation.