Design and Analysis of a SiC-MOSFET Based Three-Phase Motor Drive for an Off-World Application

Aerospace applications have had difficulties achieving terrestrial power-density metrics due to requirements on reliability and limited availability of radiation-hardened components. In the most recent NASA New Frontiers mission, the rotorcraft system "Dragonfly" is being designed to fly on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Its electric power subsystem requires both a high-reliability and high-power-density design. This paper provides an overview of design challenges and considerations for Dragonfly’s electronic speed controller which converts power from the battery to the motors. Additionally, a prototype system was built, and experimental results are discussed.