An integrated pedagogical approach for a switching power supply design: example of fly back

Teaching power supply design, like other fields of electronics, is not always easy: there are classically theoretical courses and practical lessons. The link between the two is often the most important difficulty that appears for the students. Despite abundant literature on switching power supplies, a global and simple analysis is rarely found. In order to improve the efficiency of teaching, we present here a practical and pedagogical approach (including magnetic, practical electronic considerations, design method and flowchart) for understanding and designing classical switching power supplies. It is arranged as a progressive linear guide from the most simple to the most difficult. A fly back topology is used to illustrate our approach.