Hardware and Software Rapid Prototyping Platform for Power Electronic Converters

Until the 1990s, the main application of Power Electronic Converters (PECs) was to drive industrial motors and conventional power supply sources. In addition to conventional use, nowadays, converters are used in miscellaneous applications, such as renewable energy generation systems and electric vehicles. With PEC use, it is possible to use more efficient energy sources that pollute less than traditional sources. The new topologies complexity and the PECs variability make it mandatory to use microcontrollers and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to implement PECs Digital Control (DC). With the increase in PECs use, it is increasingly necessary to develop power electronics teaching, and one possibility is to use didactic platforms that assist in learning. In that regard, this paper presents a Rapid Prototyping Platform (RPP) for PEC project development that consists of a Main Cabinet (MC), equipped with Rapid Prototyping Modules (RPM), enabling hardware and software rapid prototyping. The developed RPP uses the Do-it-Yourself (DiY) concept to facilitate its production by students and professionals interested in learning power electronics. With the RPP, it is possible to control the converters analogically using dedicated Integrated Circuit ICs, or digitally using microcontrollers. The paper presents the RPP description and the boost converter experimental results.