• WEEK 1

    Raul Funes • 10/03/2016 at 17:26 • 0 comments

    As a part of my 3rd year Beng in Mechatronics Engineering, I have been tasked to complete a project that runs for 2 semesters and it is worth a big chunkof my final degree class. Going through 1st and 2nd year I´ve become more and more aware that My area of interest heavily lies withing the Automotive industry and the aplication of embedded systems, power electronics and control systems within this sector, so It was only logical to choose a project that will allow me to explore and grow within this area. I have decided to share my progress on this blog on a weekly basis to share my experience and hopefully the knowledge and skills I will be aquiring during the upcoming weeks with everybody who might find it interesting!.

    So first week has been mostly about meeting with my supervisor to get to know each other, discuss how the meetings will be arranged as well as technical aspects of the project.

    Since my project is heavily related with power elctronics as well as the Automotive aplications side of it, I was very pleased to find out my supervisor is proffessor Andrew Forsyth, an academic within the school of Electrical & Electronic Engineering whose areas of expertise is heavily linked with the topics above mentioned.

    After having my first meeting with my supervisor, we agreed on a set of constraints/requirements for the project. They are as follows

    • The controller needs to provide a rated current of 100 A to the DC traction motor (LMC-LEM 170)
    • The controller will take a Voltage input of 48v from a battery supply producing a variable output according to the demand signal from the driver´s accelerator pedal.
    • The main targets of my project will be design, build and test the motor controller leaving simulation aside

    After discussing the minimum requirements. I was asked to find out the motor datasheet to be used as well as the type of topology of Dc-DC converter to be used for this project putting special atention to the current that the controller needs to handle.

    I´ll keep you posted!