Disclosed herein is a method and
system for initializing a rotating device such as an electronically commutated
electric machine. The
system comprises: an
electric machine; a
position sensor subsystem operatively connected to the
electric machine configured to measure a position and transmit a position
signal to a controller. The controller executes a method initializing position for the electric
machine, the method comprising: establishing a sensor subsystem datum indicative of a measurement reference point for a sensor subsystem; obtaining a calibration value corresponding to a distance to a selected magnetic reference position for the electric
machine, relative to the sensor subsystem datum; and measuring a position and calculating a position
delta relative to an initial reference. The method also includes: estimating an offset from the sensor subsystem datum to an initial reference; determining an absolute position estimate of the electric
machine relative to the magnetic reference position. The absolute position estimate is responsive to the calibration value, the position
delta, and the offset from the sensor subsystem datum to the initial reference.