Fundamentals of Motor Controls: A Systems Approach to Switching, Protection, Sensing, Logic, and Variable-Frequency Drives

By Anders Riedel

Motor control is more than a collection of contactors, relays, sensors, and drives. It is a complete system in which power, control, logic, protection, and motion must work together.
Fundamentals of Motor Controls takes a systems-based approach to industrial motor control, helping readers understand not only what each component does, but why it is used, how it interacts with the rest of the system, and how failures can be diagnosed efficiently.
Designed for apprentices, technicians, maintenance professionals, panel builders, controls engineers, and engineers working with industrial machinery, this practical reference moves from foundational principles to modern programmable and drive-based control.
Inside, you'll explore:
- Power, control, and logic layers in motor-control systems
- Electrical safety, energy isolation, arc hazards, grounding, and fail-safe design
- Schematics, ladder logic, contactors, starters, coils, and control transformers
- Overload and short-circuit protection, coordination, and conductor sizing
- Push buttons, limit switches, pressure and level devices, proximity sensors, and analog signals
- Latching, interlocking, permissives, timers, counters, and sequential control
- AC, DC, and single-phase motors, starting methods, braking, and load holding
- Variable-frequency drives, semiconductor switching, vector control, PLCs, industrial networks, and safety-rated systems
- Systematic troubleshooting, failure analysis, and design review
Worked examples, learning objectives, key terms, review questions, and cross-referenced concepts reinforce practical understanding throughout.
Whether you are learning motor controls for the first time or strengthening your ability to design, commission, maintain, and troubleshoot industrial systems, this book gives you the framework to see the whole system, not just the individual parts.
Build stronger control systems. Diagnose faults with confidence. Understand the principles behind the hardware.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HGMRTJ2K
• ISBN13: 9798170005611
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 390 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.9" x 8.5"