Real-Time Embedded Control of Electrical Drives: A New Approach for Bringing Hands-On Experience Into the Classroom

This article presents a novel educational platform for teaching advanced electric drive systems to students using embedded controllers. The developed platform is based on a portable motor test stand with a quadrotor motor interfaced with the Texas Instruments (TI) LaunchPad F28069 and TI BOOST-DRV8301 inverter. The platform is combined with Altair Embed educational software, allowing for direct access from personal laptop computers. We also present a three-phase methodology of teaching electric drives, which relies on simulation (SIM), co-SIM (COSIM), and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing. The proposed approach would allow students to learn the control theory and techniques of motor drives with hands-on experience and without the need for advanced programming skills.