Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Design and close loop control in the electromechanical energy conversion course Margaret G. Wismer, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837

Abstract Electromechanical energy conversion is currently a required senior year course at Bucknell University. The course has been revamped over the past several years in order to reinterest students and give them a greater appreciation of power systems, power electronics, machine drives and feedback systems. The course is design and experiment oriented and include several multiweek projects in which students have the opportunity and responsibility to execute a design, evaluation and redesign of a power system. The first third of the course provides students with a formal introduction to the definitions and types of power (active and reactive), three phase circuits and transformers. The final two thirds introduces generators and motors and controllers. The general order of the topics is DC generators, voltage regulators for the generators, DC motor, speed controllers, AC gener a tor, AC voltage regulator, AC motor and AC motor controllers. There is a weekly lab which is closely tied to the lecture material. Specifically the labs include three phase circuit design, transformer characterization, generator voltage controller design, and motor speed controller. In order to complete the labs on generator control, students need to know about pulse width modulation (PWM) circuits and feedback systems. While DC generators may not be the most likely machine a practicing engineer will encounter, it is felt that they provide students with a simpler introduction to machines and controllers as compared to AC or DC motors. The topic of DC generator voltage control leads naturally to DC motor speed control, AC generator voltage control and finally AC motor speed control. Recent student surveys indicate that they are satisfied with the course and that they have a grasp of the material.

1 Introduction The typical electrical engineering course in electric rotating machinery and energy conver- sion has been reconsidered over the past 20 years due to waning student interest and the maturation of the subject. While at some schools the course has been squeezed out of the curriculum, at many institutions the course has been overhauled and updated in order to tap into student interests in clean energy, distributed generation, electric vehicles and to satisfy employers’ needs for knowledgeable people in power electronics, electric drives and power systems. Examples of how this course has been restructered and “modernized” are given in [1]-[3]. By all accounts students are responding to these new formats and in particular the University of Minnesota has reported noteworthy increases in the numbers of students enrolled in their power engineering electives[3]. At Bucknell University the electromechanical energy course has also changed. Since its the only in depth exposure most students receive in many aspects of electric power it has evolved to include many topics such as definitions of power, three phase circuits, trans- former modelling, modelling of generators and motors and control of motors and generators. One course naturally cannot cover all aspects of electric power and electric machinery. At

1

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Wismer, M. (2003, June), Design And Close Loop Control In The Electromechanical Energy Conversion Course Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12511