On the role of virtual laboratories in an undergraduate power electronics introductory course

Preprin

Common Characteristics of Power Conversion Circuits - Topology, Function and Power Semiconductor Switches

Experience in teaching of power electronics courses shows that at the beginning of the study students do not understand the common background of power conversion circuits. Students think that the topology of a converter circuit exclusively determines its function. In addition, they are not clear about the criteria by which semiconductor switches are to be selected for the given topology and type of conversion. This paper explains the approach to clarify the links between the topology and functions of the converter circuit as well as selection method for the required semiconductor switches. By using a simulation program, which contains model of the ideal switch, it is demonstrated that for the same topology, for example a single-phase bridge circuit, all four types of conversion can be realized. The selection methods of the actual semiconductor switches are based on simulation and analytical approach. By applying the proposed approach of clarifying the links between topology and function of the converter circuit, as well as applying the proposed methods for selection of semiconductor switches, the student\u27s ability to grasp the basic power electronics concepts faster and more effectively is enhanced

Development of a Low-cost, Portable, and Programmable Solar Module to Facilitate Hands-on Experiments and Improve Student Learning

Solar energy has become one of the major renewable energy sources to meet a significant portion of the global energy demand in the near future. The photovoltaic (PV) industry is growing at a fast pace and is predicted to reach tera-watt scale power production capacity by 2050. Thus, creating highly qualified engineers by providing effective hands-on education is of primary importance. This paper discusses on the design, fabrication, and implementation of a low-cost, portable, and programmable solar module to improve the student learning outcomes of a solar power and renewable energy course by facilitating hands-on experiments. Solar cells within the smart module can be electronically interconnected in various configurations and I-V characteristics of the resulting module or any individual cell can be measured using integrated microcontroller and measurement circuits interfaced by a LabVIEW-based interactive data acquisition software. The developed plug-and-play smart solar module is an affordable and effective teaching tool that can be used for in-class demonstrations or to perform hands-on experiments. An experiment-based project was included into the course syllabus where students perform solar cell I-V characterization and extract the cell parameters by analyzing the experimental data. Student perception on the learning outcome and the impact of the project were measured based on student feedback. All of the students found that the experiment-based project helped them to reinforce the theoretical knowledge and a majority of the students believe that the learning outcomes of the course would be incomplete without it

Incorporating electronics in the architecture track of computer science, a comparative study

The latest draft report of the ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force on computer science makes several recommendations. Of these, for computer architecture: a) a shift towards more use of Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), and b) more emphasis on the study of power constraints. While the shift towards use of PLDs requires minimal electrical knowledge, the study of power constraints requires better understanding of the electrical topics. With further constraints placed on the number of credit hours, detailed study the electrical topics may be skipped. The contribution of the paper is to propose a set of electrical topics compiled so as to include under curricula constraints and offer pedagogy of teaching the topics. In addition, the paper presents a comparative study of the electronics topics found in digital design texts.Facultad de Informátic

H-Bridge Converter as Basic Switching Topology Workbench in Power Electronics Teaching

This article deals with an effective power electronics learning setup based on a Full-Bridge converter used to teach electrical energy conversion experimentally. In the proposed learning by doing methodology, the hardware and the software are properly mixed in order to obtain an easy-to-use experimental learning environment. In this paper, the H-Bridge is the fundamental brick to build students’ knowledge on the main topics of power electronics converter circuit in different operative conditions. This H-Bridge comes with a reconfigurable output LCL to achieve several basic DC-DC powerconverters topologies. Converter current and voltage switching behavior can be investigated using the proposed setup. Furthermore, the friendly hardware and software set-up allows studying the converter modulation and control techniques of the different power electronics circuits

Incorporating electronics in the architecture track of computer science, a comparative study

The latest draft report of the ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force on computer science makes several recommendations. Of these, for computer architecture: a) a shift towards more use of Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), and b) more emphasis on the study of power constraints. While the shift towards use of PLDs requires minimal electrical knowledge, the study of power constraints requires better understanding of the electrical topics. With further constraints placed on the number of credit hours, detailed study the electrical topics may be skipped. The contribution of the paper is to propose a set of electrical topics compiled so as to include under curricula constraints and offer pedagogy of teaching the topics. In addition, the paper presents a comparative study of the electronics topics found in digital design texts.Facultad de Informátic

Designing experiments using digital fabrication in structural dynamics

In engineering, traditional approaches aimed at teaching concepts of dynamics to engineering students include the study of a dense yet sequential theoretical development of proofs and exercises. Structural dynamics are seldom taught experimentally in laboratories since these facilities should be provided with expensive equipment such as wave generators, data-acquisition systems, and heavily wired deployments with sensors. In this paper, the design of an experimental experience in the classroom based upon digital fabrication and modeling tools related to structural dynamics is presented. In particular, all experimental deployments are conceived with low-cost, open-source equipment. The hardware includes Arduino-based open-source electronics whereas the software is based upon object-oriented open-source codes for the development of physical simulations. The set of experiments and the physical simulations are reproducible and scalable in classroom-based environments.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Modeling, Analysis and Design of Synchronous Buck Converter Using State Space Averaging Technique for PV Energy System

If we start forecasting in the view of electrical energy generation, in the upcoming decade all the fossil fuels are going to be extinct or the worst they are going to be unaffordable to a person living in typical circumstances, so renewable power energy generation systems are going to make a big deal out of that. It is extremely important to generate and convert the renewable energy with maximum efficiency. In this project, first we study the characteristics of low power PV array under different values of irradiance and temperature. And then we present the exquisite design of Synchronous Buck Converter with the application of State Space Modeling to implement precise control design for the converter by the help of MATLAB/Simulink. The Synchronous Buck Converter thus designed is used for portable appliances such as mobiles, laptops, iPod’s etc. But in this project our main intention is to interface the PV array with the Synchronous Buck Converter we designed, and we will depict that our converter is more efficient than the conventional buck converter in terms of maintaining constant output voltage, overall converter efficiency etc. And then we show that the output voltage is maintaining constant irrespective of fluctuations in load and source. And finally we see the performance of Synchronous Buck Converter, which is interfaced with PV array having the practical variations in temperature and irradiance will also maintain a constant output voltage throughout the response. All simulations are carried under MATLAB/Simulink environment. And at last experimental work is carried out for both conventional buck converter and also for synchronous buck converter, in which we observe the desired outputs obtained in simulations

UltraSwarm: A Further Step Towards a Flock of Miniature Helicopters

We describe further progress towards the development of a MAV (micro aerial vehicle) designed as an enabling tool to investigate aerial flocking. Our research focuses on the use of low cost off the shelf vehicles and sensors to enable fast prototyping and to reduce development costs. Details on the design of the embedded electronics and the modification of the chosen toy helicopter are presented, and the technique used for state estimation is described. The fusion of inertial data through an unscented Kalman filter is used to estimate the helicopter’s state, and this forms the main input to the control system. Since no detailed dynamic model of the helicopter in use is available, a method is proposed for automated system identification, and for subsequent controller design based on artificial evolution. Preliminary results obtained with a dynamic simulator of a helicopter are reported, along with some encouraging results for tackling the problem of flocking