IEEE Access (Jan 2021)

Development of a Modular Educational Kit for Research and Teaching on Power Electronics and Multilevel Converters

  • Wilson C. Sant'Ana,
  • Bruno R. Gama,
  • Germano Lambert-Torres,
  • Erik L. Bonaldi,
  • Levy E. L. Oliveira,
  • Frederico O. Assuncao,
  • Daniel A. Arantes,
  • Isac A. S. Areias,
  • Luiz E. Borges-Da-Silva,
  • Fabio M. Steiner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3112531
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9
pp. 127496 – 127514

Abstract

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This paper presents the detailed project of a modular educational kit to be used in research and teaching activities in the area of power electronics - with emphasis on applications in medium voltage multilevel converters. The half bridge topology has been chosen for the submodules, as they can be arranged together in a multitude of other topologies. A system composed by a mother board and daughter cards is presented. A DSP control card and a FPGA System-On-Module are inserted in the mother board in order to control the half bridge submodules. The targets of this project are applications in medium voltage - hence, the communication between the submodules and the FPGA/DSP is performed through optical fibers. Also a self power system is presented for the submodules, in order for them to operate at floating potentials. Experimental results have been presented for the most usual topologies of converters, including a Modular Multilevel Converter operating at 2000V.

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