Virtual Electric Machines Laboratory, Requirements and Practical Realization

A fully equipped electrical machine laboratory can become a costly factor. However the look and feel of electrical machines behavior in operation, is indispensable and very informative for students. Not only do they learn how to connect and operate the machines, but also the limitations of each type of machine, becomes visible. Not only equipment is costly, also laboratory room space, service and safety can become an issue. To reduce those laboratory costs, often simulation is used as an alternative. However, the look and feel of the real machines, is in many cases lost. In this paper a virtual electric machines laboratory is proposed, where students can be trained, using digital twins of the electric machines from the laboratory. The look and feel of the digital twins, the way the machines are connected electrically and mechanically, should represent their physical counterparts in such detail, as required in a real physical training set-up. Nameplate parameters ease the selection of machines size and power level. Adding measurement devices, such as voltage and current meters, as well as measuring torque and rotational speed, should resemble the real measurement setup as close as possible. The size and power level of the electrical machine, is given by its nameplate. In the virtual electrical machine model, those parameters are entered, instead of the electrical parameters mostly encountered in simulation programs.