Software-Based Speed Control of a DC Motor Using Pulse-Width Modulation

Abstract

Speed control of DC Motor is vital in many applications. In this paper, an effort has been made to control the speed of the DC motor using pulse-width modulation (PWM) based on LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) program. LabVIEW provides a graphical programming environment suited for high-level or system-level design. Because of the global tendency towards using PC-based data acquisition and control systems in industrial applications, and the high accuracy, reliability, and flexibility requirements to the control system, LabVIEW software is used. Experimental results show that the proposed control scheme provides soft start/ stop transient operations, which improves the dynamic performance of the drive system, and keeps the speed constant regardless of the changes in supply voltage or load torque.

Keywords: DC motor, Pulse-width modulation, Speed control, LabVIEW software, PC-based data acquisition