A Modular Converter- and Signal-Processing-Platform for Academic Research in the Field of Power Electronics

For academic research it is mandatory that the theoretical evaluation and modelling of new control methods, modulation schemes, electrical machines, power electronic topologies, etc. is validated with accurate measurements. To guarantee a high quality and high performance research it is necessary to have a modular, scalable, user-friendly, adaptable and affordable system. This allows to put the focus on the research topics themselves rather than spending a high effort on the pure implementation of the theoretical research results. The system described in this paper consists of a software environment/toolchain and a hardware platform. The hardware platform can be subdivided into a power electronics platform and a System on Chip based signal processing system. Besides the hardware platform also a user-friendly software environment/toolchain for model-based research is developed and illustrated in this paper. This new system enables rapid-prototyping of new algorithms, hardware and topologies.