KEY BOTTLENECKS IN POWER DRIVES AND CONTROL RESEARCH (ONGOING)

Our potential R&D work:

The power electronics, motor drive, and digital control need to be explored in versatile applications to solve unique issues, including heavy-duty electric vehicle/ motorbike/aero/ marine/ railway/ EVTOL applications, and HVDC offshore wind turbine/ grid applications.

Our DSP+ARM+FPGA high-performance test rig will be set up in the UK Aberdeen lab, in 2024.

ELECTRIC VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING VEHICLE (EVTOL) (COMPLETED)

Companies such as Uber and Joby Aviation are developing eVTOL aircraft for urban air mobility, allowing passengers to travel within cities in a matter of minutes — reducing traffic congestion and travel time. In order to match very well with the world carbon neutrality 2050 requirement, the development of EVTOL in Hong Kong is promising. I was leading this interdisciplinary EVTOL design in EEE department of PolyU with several FYPs, RAs and PhDs.

Our R&D work:

1. 800V/250A Inverter Design:

Full SiC power devices and gate drivers, advanced heavy copper PCB technology, and high-bandwidth PMSM control with dual-core embedded DSP.

2. Design Mechanical Testbed:

Carbon fibre and aluminium alloy, FEAstress analysis.

3. 6DOF Fight Control:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) functions, Parameter configuration and PID tunning.

4. High-power Distribution Box Design:
Precharge circuit, braker system, fuse and DC-CB circuit.

Some Testing Videos：

COMMON DC-BUS MOTOR DRIVE SYSTEM (COMPLETED)

The motor drive system was built in 2021, and there is no need for adding a braker system under the common dc-bus topology. In addition, the system has excellent protection with a plastic cover and can achieve multiple-phases machine control. The three different versions of this system has been designed at the NTU lab and PolyU lab for our team members.

UNIVERSAL POWERFUL CONTROLLER (XCUBE) (COMPLETED)

The overall hardware of the universal powerful controller (XCUBE) is developed by myself during the NTU period and the software is established by me and Dr. Chen. We hope this powerful controller can replace all of the existed ones to enhance the overall system performance.
The controller can be divided into five layers, i.e., DSP board, ADC board, PWM board, EQEP board, and power board.

Key challenges

EMI suppression for high dv/dt in SiC power module
Hardware multiple trip protection.
Dual core DSP deep exploration.
Multiple function integration for AC motor drive (The test rig can drive up to 12 phases AC motor).

Corresponding key innovation or solutions:

Galvanic isolation technology; Common-mode noise technology for C-Coupling, L-coupling and common impedance coupling.
Collector-emitter saturation voltage detection technology for short circuit protection.
Considering EMC issue multiple layer board design.

800V/100A SIC INVERTER AT PEMC (COMPLETED)

I developed the SiC inverter in the UK based on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 controller platform. My major challenge is designing the SiC drive circuit to avoid EMI issues. Another highlight of this project is to transfer high current by creating a thick copper PCB board.

200-KW ELECTRIC PROPELLER-DRIVEN AIRCRAFT CONTROLLERS DESIGN (COMPLETED)

During my Ph.D. period, I designed this high-power controller.

The main contribution I made is shown as follows:
1. Develop model predictive current control considering parameter uncertainty.
2. Design and commission the 50-kW/200-kW controller hardware, including the control board, SiC/ IGBT drive board, component selection, and air/water cooling heatsink.
3. Test the controller performance by utilizing real propeller load.

WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM (COMPLETED)

With the help of Dr. Li, I established the hardware for the overall WPT system in 2022. The main merit of this test rig is that it can achieve high-frequency switching control by using GaN power devices.

30-KW LOW-SPEED ELECTRIC VEHICLE DESIGN (COMPLETED)

Since 2013 my master period, I designed and commissioned the original/2nd/3rd/4th version electric vehicle controller hardware, including control board, drive board, and power board based on eight discrete MOSFET devices in parallel structure, component selection, heatsink, and copper bar.

In addition, I developed the electric vehicle controller software (FOC) based on TMS320F28355. I established an actual golf cart based on the designed electric vehicle controller, lead-acid battery, hydraulic brake system, LCD dashboard, etc. The maximum speed of the designed golf cart can reach up to 25mph. This project is entirely meaningful for me as a motor control beginner, and I hope new students can build a new AC motor control system by themselves.

Testing Video：