Module overview
Linked modules
Pre-requisites: ELEC1200 AND MATH1055
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Perform design calculations for drive and power converter applications, and understand the approximations used
- Understand the advantages and disadvantages that different motors drives will bring to an application
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Analyse a specific application and produce the drive requirements that will result in the selection of sizing of a suitable drive system.
- Demonstrate the basic skills required to operate a power converter and electric drive
- Investigate the characteristics and performance of a power converter or electric drive
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Apply your knowledge of the electrical characteristics of power semiconductor devices, to select power semiconductor devices for a range of applications
- Understand the dynamics of mechanical systems found in industrial applications
- Understand the operation of modern drive systems applied to industrial applications including robotics and advanced machine tools
- Characterise the operation of motors, drives, sensors and the mechanical power train within the drive system.
- Understand the basic topology of converters, inverters and power supplies
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Understand the wide range of issues that impact on the use of drive system in the industrial context, including safety, efficiency and costs (procurement, running and disposal)
- Transfer understanding and theories from one discipline to another, in particular from the mechanical design to the electrical power and control domains
Syllabus
The Drive Environment:
- Robotic and machine tool applications
- Introduction to position and speed control systems, dynamics and load characteristics, power transmission, environmental factors
- Determination of speed and torque requirements, motion profiles, installation considerations.
Devices:
- Review of diodes, thyristors, bipolar junction transistors, MOSFETs, IGBTs
- Basic characteristics of all devices, drive requirements
- Thermal management, protection.
Converters:
- Two and six pulse circuits
- Derivation of operating equations
- Overlap and its effect on output waveforms.
Inverters:
- Three-phase inverters, dc link inverter
- Forced-commutation thyristor circuits.
Specification of Drive Systems:
- Mechanical transmission elements, gears, leadscrews, belts etc.
- Sizing algorithms.
Position and Velocity Transducers:
- Specifications, analogue versus digital, review of available linear and rotary systems.
Servo Drive Systems:
- Consideration of specific drives and their operating characteristics including brushed d.c. series motor drives, brushless d.c. motor drives, and vector-controlled a.c. motor drives.
Controllers:
- Integration into the drive package, networking.
Power Supplies:
- Linear and switched mode power supplies
- Practical characteristics and analysis of step-up and step-down switched mode power supplies.
Learning and Teaching
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 24 |
Completion of assessment task | 7 |
Wider reading or practice | 37 |
Lecture | 48 |
Revision | 10 |
Follow-up work | 24 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Laboratory space and equipment required.
Bradley D A (1987). Power Electronics. Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Lander C W (1993). Power Electronics. McGraw-Hill.
Richard Crowder (2006). Electric Drives and Electromechanical Systems. Newnes.
Rashid M H (2004). Power Electronics: Circuits Devices & Applications. Prentice Hall.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Continuous Assessment | 20% |
Final Assessment | 80% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Set Task | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Set Task | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External