Development of an 11 kW Lightweight, High Efficiency Motor Controller for NASA X-57 Distributed Electric Propulsion Using SiC MOSFET Switches

A light weight, high efficiency, 11 kW motor controller, which includes the controlling processor and a three phase power inverter, has been developed at NASA Glenn Research Center for NASA's experimental all-electric manned aircraft, X-57, DEP high lift system. The high efficiency development was enabled through the use of a processor which implements Matlab/Simulink code for rapid performance optimization for specific motors and by the use of wide bandgap low-loss, low parasitic SiC switches in the power inverter. Due to the high efficiency, the controller is integrated into the high lift nacelle with no disturbance to the outer mold line of the nacelle; no drag-producing heatsinks are required. The controller weighs 1 kg and has demonstrated efficiency exceeding 97%.