Design and Control of Power Converters 2019

In this book, 20 papers focused on different fields of power electronics are gathered. Approximately half of the papers are focused on different control issues and techniques, ranging from the computer-aided design of digital compensators to more specific approaches such as fuzzy or sliding control techniques. The rest of the papers are focused on the design of novel topologies. The fields in which these controls and topologies are applied are varied: MMCs, photovoltaic systems, supercapacitors and traction systems, LEDs, wireless power transfer, etc

Control of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System

265 p.In the era of sustainable development, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology has shown significant potential as a renewable energy source. This thesis focuses on improving the performance of the PEM fuel cell system through the use of appropriate algorithms for controlling the power interface. The main objective is to find an effective and optimal algorithm or control law for keeping the stack operating at an adequate power point. Add to this, it is intended to apply the artificial intelligence approach for studying the effect of temperature and humidity on the stack performance. The main points addressed in this study are : modeling of a PEM fuel cell system, studying the effect of temperature and humidity on the PEM fuel cell stack, studying the most common used power converters in renewable energy systems, studying the most common algorithms applied on fuel cell systems, design and implementation of a new MPPT control method for the PEM fuel cell system

A review of compensation topologies and control techniques of bidirectional wireless power transfer systems for electric vehicle applications

Owing to the constantly rising energy demand, Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)-equipped vehicles are being replaced by Electric Vehicles (EVs). The other advantage of using EVs is that the batteries can be utilised as an energy storage device to increase the penetration of renewable energy sources. Integrating EVs with the grid is one of the recent advancements in EVs using Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. A bidirectional technique enables power transfer between the grid and the EV batteries. Moreover, the Bidirectional Wireless Power Transfer (BWPT) method can support consumers in automating the power transfer process without human intervention. However, an effective BWPT requires a proper vehicle and grid coordination with reasonable control and compensation networks. Various compensation techniques have been proposed in the literature, both on the transmitter and receiver sides. Selecting suitable compensation techniques is a critical task affecting the various design parameters. In this study, the basic compensation topologies of the Series-Series (SS), Series-Parallel (SP), Parallel-Parallel (PP), Parallel-Series (SP), and hybrid compensation topology design requirements are investigated. In addition, the typical control techniques for bidirectional converters, such as Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID), sliding mode, fuzzy logic control, model predictive, and digital control, are discussed. In addition, different switching modulation schemes, including Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) control, PWM + Phase Shift control, Single-Phase Shift, Dual-Phase Shift, and Triple-Phase Shift methods, are discussed. The characteristics and control strategies of each are presented, concerning the typical applications. Based on the review analysis, the low-power (Level 1/Level 2) charging applications demand a simple SS compensation topology with a PID controller and a Single-Phase Shift switching method. However, for the medium- or high-power applications (Level 3/Level 4), the dual-side LCC compensation with an advanced controller and a Dual-Side Phase-Shift switching pattern is recommended.Web of Science1520art. no. 781

Advances in Intelligent Vehicle Control

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Advances in Intelligent Vehicle Control that was published in the journal Sensors. It presents a collection of eleven papers that covers a range of topics, such as the development of intelligent control algorithms for active safety systems, smart sensors, and intelligent and efficient driving. The contributions presented in these papers can serve as useful tools for researchers who are interested in new vehicle technology and in the improvement of vehicle control systems

High efficiency smart voltage regulating module for green mobile computing

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.In this thesis a design for a smart high efficiency voltage regulating module capable of supplying the core of modern microprocessors incorporating dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVS) capability is accomplished using a RISC based microcontroller to facilitate all the functions required to control, protect, and supply the core with the required variable operating voltage as set by the DVS management system. Normally voltage regulating modules provide maximum power efficiency at designed peak load, and the efficiency falls off as the load moves towards lesser values. A mathematical model has been derived for the main converter and small signal analysis has been performed in order to determine system operation stability and select a control scheme that would improve converter operation response to transients and not requiring intense computational power to realize. A Simulation model was built using Matlab/Simulink and after experimenting with tuned PID controller and fuzzy logic controllers, a simple fuzzy logic control scheme was selected to control the pulse width modulated converter and several methods were devised to reduce the requirements for computational power making the whole system operation realizable using a low power RISC based microcontroller. The same microcontroller provides circuit adaptations operation in addition to providing protection to load in terms of over voltage and over current protection. A novel circuit technique and operation control scheme enables the designed module to selectively change some of the circuit elements in the main pulse width modulated buck converter so as to improve efficiency over a wider range of loads. In case of very light loads as the case when the device goes into standby, sleep or hibernation mode, a secondary converter starts operating and the main converter stops. The secondary converter adapts a different operation scheme using switched capacitor technique which provides high efficiency at low load currents. A fuzzy logic control scheme was chosen for the main converter for its lighter computational power requirement promoting implementation using ultra low power embedded controllers. Passive and active components were carefully selected to augment operational efficiency. These aspects enabled the designed voltage regulating module to operate with efficiency improvement in off peak load region in the range of 3% to 5%. At low loads as the case when the computer system goes to standby or sleep mode, the efficiency improvent is better than 13% which will have noticeable contribution in extending battery run time thus contributing to lowering the carbon footprint of human consumption

Review on Control of DC Microgrids and Multiple Microgrid Clusters

This paper performs an extensive review on control schemes and architectures applied to dc microgrids (MGs). It covers multilayer hierarchical control schemes, coordinated control strategies, plug-and-play operations, stability and active damping aspects, as well as nonlinear control algorithms. Islanding detection, protection, and MG clusters control are also briefly summarized. All the mentioned issues are discussed with the goal of providing control design guidelines for dc MGs. The future research challenges, from the authors' point of view, are also provided in the final concluding part

Advanced Mobile Robotics: Volume 3

Mobile robotics is a challenging field with great potential. It covers disciplines including electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, cognitive science, and social science. It is essential to the design of automated robots, in combination with artificial intelligence, vision, and sensor technologies. Mobile robots are widely used for surveillance, guidance, transportation and entertainment tasks, as well as medical applications. This Special Issue intends to concentrate on recent developments concerning mobile robots and the research surrounding them to enhance studies on the fundamental problems observed in the robots. Various multidisciplinary approaches and integrative contributions including navigation, learning and adaptation, networked system, biologically inspired robots and cognitive methods are welcome contributions to this Special Issue, both from a research and an application perspective

Efficient Low Power Headphone Driver

In recent years, the consumer electronics market for battery-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets has been rapidly expanding. The requirements for audio CODEC in these portable devices have extended from merely supporting voice calls to high-fidelity music playback. As a result, audio driver performance has become one of the most important differentiating factors among products from different suppliers. There are three basic performance metrics that are typically used to benchmark audio modules: the maximum delivered output power, the audio fidelity measured in terms of dynamic range, THD+N, and finally the battery life. Maximizing all three of these performance metrics has proven to be an exceptionally hard task as portrayed by the research publications.This work presents an attempt to push all three of these metrics together and provide an acceptable balance which is achieved by selecting the right topology. Conventionally, headphone drivers are designed using a linear amplifier topology for many reasons- most prominently- to achieve a superior THD+N and PSRR requirement which in the past was essentially the only key performance metric needed. This came at the expense of realizing mediocre power efficiency targets, thereby wasting battery life. This picture changed dramatically over the last decade with smartphones and other portable devices becoming the first choice of the young generation. These devices are extremely power hungry due to the unlimited functions and features they provide and therefore battery life has come to the spotlight as a key resource that need to be preserved. As a result, in this work a headphone driver is based on a switching topology that is able to deliver more than 230mW of power (or equivalently 2Vrms) to a 16Ω load while achieving better than -98dB of THD+N , more than 108dB of SNR, and about 108dB PSRR while still maintaining a peak power efficiency of more than 84%