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E E 452. Electrical Machines and Power Electronic Drives
This page contains a set of laboratory experiments that were developed for a senior-level, 3-credit hour, Electrical Machines and Power Electronic Drives course, in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. These experiments were developed with the kind support of the National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, under the NSF DUE TUES, “Development of a New Power Electronics Curriculum Relevant to Tomorrow's Power Engineering Challenges” award.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of power electronic converters as well as provide an understanding of electric machines and machine drives, in the context of modern renewable energy and electric transportation applications. The course is centered around weekly laboratory sessions, where students first learn how to simulate power electronics-based circuits using Matlab/Simulink and the Automated State Model Generator (ASMG) toolbox, and then the applications are implemented in hardware using Texas Instruments microprocessor units and power electronics hardware. The latest course syllabus can be accessed by clicking here.
For the instructor, it is a challenging course to teach, because a wide range of topics needs to be presented in relatively short time, which implies that only the most basic ideas should be discussed in class. (At ISU, class meets twice a week, for 45 minutes each time.) On the other hand, it is designed to be a “fun” course, letting the students do a lot of the discoveries on their own in the laboratory (there is a 3-hr weekly laboratory session).
Development of this material would not have been possible without the help of my Teaching Assistant, Mr. Nicholas David, to whom I am deeply grateful. My co-PI at Purdue University, Prof. Maryam Saeedifard, was instrumental in submitting this proposal in the first place. The experiments that were developed at Purdue University can be found by clicking here. Many thanks are due to Dr. Jason Wells at PCKA, who provided much needed technical support with ASMG.
These notes are not by any means in their final form. Please let us know if you come across errors or if you have ideas for further improvement. Should you decide to adopt this material in your courses, please send us a note!
Laboratory Curriculum
Each folder contains a lab manual (a PDF file) which guides the student through the experiment. Labs 2–14 contain a pre-lab assignment. Additional reference materials are provided within each folder.
Revision: Jan. 13, 2013