Robust control of a buck-boost DC-DC switching regulator for the electronic systems of next-generation cars

In this paper the buck-boost DC-DC switching regulator based on PWM techniques is used to supply a robust, stable negative voltage source to the electrical and electronic systems of next-generation cars, which will have to perform not only under 42 V technology, but also with many automotive electrical and electronic systems which have been designed to work under the soon-to-be obsolete 14 V technology. In this research H/spl infin/ integral control techniques are applied to the problem of designing a low-cost robust voltage regulator based on PWM techniques. Furthermore, QFD techniques are used as tools to better focus on the application of these voltage regulators to the automotive industry and the cost of their implementations. Moreover, the present robust control approach allows us to deal with uncertainties and modelling errors in the switching regulator due to nonlinearities and changes in the operating conditions, neglected dynamics, components' tolerances, external disturbances, and so on. The experimental results show the importance of using robust control techniques when designing power converters for the next-generation cars.