I am confused regarding inputs.

InstaSPIN-FOC may meet your needs, though I would ask what you need to do at 0 speed. These types of sensorless algorithms like FAST rely on some rotor rotation as feedback for the estimating the angle. At 0 speed there is not feedback so your angle estimation will become inaccurate.  You can BRAKE the motor and then start up to a torque/speed, but you can't control at zero speed.

Another thing I will not from a control perspective is if you are trying to do direct drive at multiple wheels it becomes a major control challenge to synchronize the speeds.  Any small difference really effects how the vehicle moves.  Your job becomes much easier if you control a single motor to provide torque and you use a transmission to apply that torque to wheels.

The solution is given to you as a framework example. All interface is done through a PC - USB - JTAG connection to apply code to the MCU and interface with variables.  It is up to the user to add any sort of additional interface (like buttons, a POT, etc.) that change these commands.  This is NOT a product, this is a development platform.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the reply. It sounds like sensorless FOC is not quite what i need for this application. Maybe sensored control would be more suitable.

This being a development platform, i am still not quite sure what the user gains form the kit. Could you link to some examples maybe? I understand that you can monitor the motor and change the direction in software, but how will that make me better at developing FOC solutions?

Steer-by-wire systems aim to remove the mechanical linkage between steering wheel and the wheels. A motor is placed at the wheels to generate a torque in order to turn the wheels from side to side. Most of the time the wheels will be (almost) fixed at an angel, when making a turn. I am trying to dimension and control that motor. Many systems use a PMDC motor now, so it would be convenient if it was possible to implement a control method that didn't need sensors but could do with what was already there.  

Thanks, your answer is very appreciated.  

Bjorn,

You can read at www.ti.com/instaspin-foc and www.ti.com/instaspin-motion

The key things that you get in the solution are

• FAST premium software sensor (estimator) for rotor Flux, Angle, Speed, and shaft Torque
• Motor parameter identification and auto tuning of PI current controllers
• Field Oriented torque control system with space vector generator that supports pure sinusoidal through trapezoidal over modulation with Vbus compensation
• Compensation (sample triggering, current readings, angle) to support highest speed closed loop control
• Flexible architecture to quickly change PWM, sampling, current, estimator, speed, and trajectory rates, as well as call a fixed control system or use FAST and completely customize the forward loop in user code.
• Stable system ready in minutes (which usually takes weeks if ever) using a robust software sensor which gives better real world performance across dynamic applications (start-up, speed reversal, stall, high speeds)
• Tune the included speed PI control, or use InstaSPIN-MOTION and the SpinTAC suite to identify inertia, tune speed with a single parameter, add movements, and create a full motion plan for your application