Sensorless Control Based on Slide Mode Observer for Stirling Linear Generator

The sensorless control is very attractive for the Stirling linear generator due to low cost and non-requirement for precise mover position detecting. However, the normal back-EMF observer is an open-loop method, which is easily influenced by the disturbance. Therefore, the slide mode observer (SMO) is proposed for the sensorless single phase Stirling linear generator drives in this paper. The operating principle of the Stirling linear generator is introduced. The mathematical model is build. The slide mode observer of back-EMF is calculated. The prototype was developed to verify the effectiveness of the control method. The experimental results shows the effectiveness of the SMO.