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This paper suggests a cascade output voltage regulation strategy for dc/dc boost converters that embeds a robust inner-loop current controller against parameter variations. The contributions of this paper are divided into two parts. The first contribution is to present a simple and robust inner-loop current controller despite parameter uncertainties, guaranteeing the stability of the whole closed-loop system including the first-order internal dynamics. The second contribution is to show that an outer-loop proportional–integral regulator can stabilize the output voltage error without relying on any parameter information. Simulations and experiments using a 3-kW dc/dc boost converter showed that the proposed method offers satisfactory closed-loop performance in the presence of parameter uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Voltage source converter (VSC)-based high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems have attractive advantages compared to classical thyristor-based HVDC transmission systems. However, VSC-based HVDC transmission systems are vulnerable to dc side fault, and expensive dc circuit breakers are required to protect them against dc fault. This paper proposes a control method of a dc fault-resilient VSC which can be protected against dc fault without using expensive dc circuit breakers. In the VSC configuration, several H-bridge modules are connected in cascade, so the voltage balancing control of several floating dc capacitors is required. In this paper, an appropriate control structure with the capacitor voltage balancing controller is proposed. The appropriate control algorithm for dc fault operation and recovery after dc fault is also proposed. PSCAD simulation results are presented to validate the proposed control structure under normal and dc fault operating conditions. Real-time-digital-simulator results are also presented to verify the control structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A phase-locked loop (PLL) is commonly used in grid-connected power converter for synchronization. A single input single output (SISO) linear model of PLL with the phase angle of the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage as input and the estimated phase angle as the output is generally used in the PLL analysis and design. However, an undesirable coupling between the magnitude and phase of the input voltage is present when a filtering stage is incorporated before the control loop, which a SISO model cannot capture, and could result in a significant disturbance in the PLL estimated phase during grid faults. This paper proposes a generalized multi-input multi-output (MIMO) linear model that captures the complete PLL dynamics during symmetrical faults for a PLL equipped with any prefilter. Furthermore, a compensation method that decouples the magnitude dynamics of the input voltage from the phase dynamics is proposed in this paper. The proposed compensation improves the PLL's phase tracking performance by ensuring that the prefiltered PLL acts only on the PCC voltage phase changes. A vital application of the proposed compensation method for PLL is during a grid fault case, wherein the converters are expected to contribute to the fault current, which requires an accurate measurement of the PCC voltage phase. The compensation method's effectiveness is demonstrated using power hardware in the loop simulation of a hardware voltage source converter interfaced to a distribution system simulated in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive study on current loop auto-tuning for self-commissioning of sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) drives. Well-tuned current controllers are essential for both high-performance operation and self-commissioning procedure. However, current controller design parameters, i.e., $L_{d}$ and $L_{q}$ , are not known at the beginning of the self-commissioning procedure where their estimation also has unique challenges. For example, an initial rotor position to determine the actual d- and q-axes is not known. Also, feedback controllers cannot be used in the estimation because they are not tuned yet. As a solution, this paper proposes a method to estimate the spatial inductance map by spatially scanning the motor via sinusoidal voltage injection in a controlled manner. Then it uses the estimated inductance values to tune the current controllers. The proposed method identifies $L_{d}$ and $L_{q}$ values using open-loop voltage injection without needing actual d- and q-axis positions. The whole procedure takes around a second. Practical considerations such as an automatic selection of the injection voltage, and digital control and dead-time effects are carefully addressed. The findings are experimentally verified on a 3-phase IPMSM drive. Furthermore, its applicability to different motor types is also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Series-connected-based offshore wind farms can eliminate bulky central offshore converters, transformers, and platforms. In a series-connected-based offshore wind farm, the dc voltage of the converters should be changed within a large range to control the dc-link voltage (grid side) and maximize wind power acquisition (generator side). In this paper, the full-bridge-based modular multilevel converter (FB-MMC) is proposed as grid- and generator-side converters. The dc voltage of the FB-MMC can vary in a large range because the full-bridge submodule (FBSM) is used. The control method of the FB-MMC in a series-connected-based offshore wind farm is different from those of traditional ones. The dc current control and capacitor voltage balance control are proposed in this paper, with which the FB-MMC can operate normally in the series-connected offshore wind farm. Moreover, the capacitor ripple voltage in the generator-side FB-MMC is studied. The result shows that the capacitor in the FBSM can be designed in rated power and frequency, and it will be feasible when the power and frequency decrease. Simulation and experiment results verify the feasibility of the proposed configuration and the corresponding control algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the proliferation of distributed generation in distribution networks, quickly and smoothly converting to a state of regional autonomy in the case of distribution network failure is one of the main challenges for the stable operation of a multimicrogrid (MMG). To address the aforementioned problem, this paper proposes coordinated control of the passive transition from grid-connected to islanded operation for a three/single-phase hybrid MMG. Under the premise of fully considering the constraints on the tie-line transfer power undertaken by the master power supply (MPS), the following two scenarios regarding safety and emergency are formulated: 1) when the output power of the MPS is in the safe range, the proposed strategy coordinates the energy storage (ES) in each submicrogrid (SMG) to achieve power balance; 2) when the output power is in the emergency range, this paper proposes a three-phase balance method based on a bubble sort to realize the combination optimization of the single-phase source-load-storage (SLS) and a fast power regulation method based on implicit enumeration for the SLS to reduce the tie-line transfer power, which could prevent failure of the mode transition from power overload. The test results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed coordination strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with the conventional two-level dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc–dc converter, the three-level DAB converter could operate with lower voltage rated switching devices and provide more control degrees of freedom, which enhances the control flexibility. This paper proposes a modulation strategy with five control degrees of freedom. In the previous work with multiple control degrees, the optimization strategies for efficiency or inductor current minimization are investigated; however, these strategies all need detailed mode analysis and complex mathematical optimization tools to obtain the optimal duty cycles. In this paper, an optimization strategy for the root-mean-square value of the inductor current is proposed. This method extracts the fundamental and third-harmonic components from the high-frequency voltages on both sides and adjusts the amplitude of the bridge voltages by the vector diagram to obtain the optimal duty cycles. The inductor current can be reduced significantly at light loads with the proposed strategy, so the efficiency of the converter can be improved. Moreover, the optimization process does not need the detailed operation analysis of the converter, nor does it require the complex mathematical optimization tools. Finally, the performance of the three-level DAB and the optimization strategy are verified by the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper improves the position sensorless drive by sensing actual machine phase voltages. A high-bandwidth phase voltage measurement is developed for pulsewidth modulation (PWM) voltage inverters. On the basis, the actual phase voltage is obtained based on the digital integration of PWM voltage using the capture modulator in existing drive microcontrollers (MCU's). Comparing to existing phase voltage measurement, no separated A/D converter and communication hardware are required because PWM pulses are directly measured using MCUs. However, for standard machines without neutral points, only line-to-line ac PWM voltages can be measured for the phase voltage reconstruction. Since the capture based on transistor-transistor logic (TTL) logics receives only digital signals, a preprocess circuit to convert ac PWM line voltages to equivalent digital signals is proposed. This paper clearly explains the voltage sensing hardware using MCU capture modulator. According to experimental results, a 150-MHz sampling rate for phase voltage measurement is achieved based on the proposed capture-based voltage measurement. Although the physical limitation of back electromotive force estimation still appears, the proposed phase voltage measurement substantially enhances the sensorless drive performance at low speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a practical robust controller that solves the problem of accurate motion control of ultrasonic motors (USMs) over prolonged durations, where temperature increases pose a significant challenge. This paper focuses on USMs with driver circuits that have a single user-controllable input. Prior to developing the robust controller, a nonlinear model of the system was identified by experimentally measuring the temporal relationship between motor speed and temperature to the applied input control signal. A linear approximation of this model was used to design two robust inverse dynamic controllers: one used temperature feedback and the other did not. Both control methods were implemented on a custom designed embedded control system and achieved highly consistent and accurate performance while under load over a range of working frequencies. Step-response experiments (1 rad) demonstrated a rise time of 0.1 s without any overshoot or steady-state error. A normalized RMSE below 3% with a delay of 25 ms was achieved for reference inputs with frequencies up to 1 Hz. This performance was maintained during prolonged continuous dynamic operation of several minutes, despite the great variation in the motor’s dynamics due to the temperature effects (over a range of 25 °C–45 °C) and modeling uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a six-step mode-combined field-weakening control scheme to improve the maximum output torque of induction motor (IM) in the voltage-extension region. Compared with the conventional inscribed circle and hexagon methods, the proposed six-step mode method can increase the utilization of dc-link voltage, leading to extended maximum output torque capability. However, the six-step mode operation will inevitably result in torque ripple and current harmonic. To figure out the quantitative relation between the torque extension and ripple, an “equivalent-circuit”-based method is proposed for theoretical torque analysis in six-step mode. To cut off the main current harmonic (sixth harmonic), a second-order generalized integrator based band-stop filter is designed for the feedback current in the current loop. The designed filter can achieve IM stable operation in a six-step mode without affecting the bandwidth of the current loop. The experimental results from a 3.7-kW IM setup verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A space vector modulation (SVM) technique of a dual-inverter system for an open-end winding motor drive is described in this paper, where one inverter has a battery power source and the other has an only capacitor across the dc bus. The SVM must be achieved to operate the motor with field-oriented control and simultaneously to control the capacitor voltage at a constant value by using redundant switching states of the dual-inverter system. The control of the capacitor voltage is carried out by selecting a charging or a discharging mode in each redundant switching state, taking the instantaneous motor power factor into account. In addition, it is also required to reduce the error voltage pulses, which are generated in output multilevel voltage waveforms during the dead time. The compensation method of the existing dead-time scheme and the improved SVM sequence to reduce the error voltage vectors are proposed in this paper. The proposed methods are examined through several experimental tests and are confirmed to generate superior output voltage waveforms from the viewpoint of the measured total harmonic distortion and dv/dt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid state transformer (SST) integrated hybrid dc–ac microgrid (HMG) has wide operating capabilities in presence of dc–ac loads, renewable energy resources, and energy storage. This paper proposes control strategies for localized control of zonal hybrid microgrid, enabled by the SST and centralized energy storage devices (ESD) integrated using dual active bridge (DAB) converter. The control of DAB dc–dc converter is modified for zero circulating power flow (ZCPF) operation in both SST and ESD. Power management and coordination control used in this paper ensures the power supply reliability of the zonal HMG integrated through the SST. Microgrid system, along with its proposed controllers, provides a stabilized low-voltage dc and ac network ports, in both grid feeding and forming modes. The performance of the configured HMG system is evaluated under various power management scenarios using the MATLAB software platform. Further, the SST architecture, with its proposed controller, is tested on FPGA-based hardware platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a Tornambe controller (TC) for a two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel mechanism of pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) based on tracking differentiators (TDs). A dynamic nonlinear system is established for the 2-DOF parallel mechanism of PMAs. TC is designed for improving control performance of the dynamic nonlinear system. The TDs are utilized to obtain high order derivatives of tracking errors, which are required by TC. Moreover, stability analysis of the dynamic nonlinear system is shown by a Lyapunov approach. Finally, experimental results are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an improved coordinated control of standalone brushless doubly fed induction generator (BDFIG) supplying nonlinear loads. Due to the existence of nonlinear loads, the voltage at the point of common coupling becomes distorted with a large number of low-order harmonics, which severely degrades the performance of power generation systems. In order to eliminate the included low-order harmonics, a coordinated control method of harmonic mitigation has been presented in this paper for the control of both machine side and load side converters. Then, a weight factor is introduced to the proposed control method for distributing the contribution of harmonic mitigation between the two converters. Comprehensive experimental results on a 30 kVA BDFIG are presented to verify the proposed control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) dc–dc converter is proposed. The significant feature of the proposed converter is feeding a constant power load in low-voltage side (LVS) port, where even feeding a variable load at LVS does not have any cross regulation to high-voltage side port with the desired approximation. Magnificently, both merits are obtained in open-loop manner, which is an outstanding characteristic in comparison with that of the existed converters. In this paper, soft commutation and soft switching of switches and diodes are investigated along with the aforementioned main novelty. Moreover, detailed theoretical analyses of the proposed SIDO dc–dc converter in continuous conduction mode are presented besides the comparisons with some other structures. Finally, theoretical analyses are verified through a 1500 W experimental prototype results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiC mosfet based converters are capable of high switching frequency operation. In this paper, the converter is operated with 50-kHz switching frequency for an active front-end rectifier application. Due to high switching frequency, the grid-side filter size is reduced, and the possibility of a high bandwidth current control loop is utilized in this paper. A current control loop with bandwidth of 5 kHz is designed using a proportional–integral controller in synchronously rotating dq-reference frame. In addition, the performance of the controller is tested under unbalanced input supply conditions. During this condition, new feed-forward signals, which are added to the controller output, are proposed. The gain of the feed-forward signal can be modified to achieve balanced sinusoidal grid currents, constant dc-link voltage, or a controlled negative-sequence input current, which are typical application-depending requirements. A closed-form formula to calculate the gain of the feed-forward signal to achieve the above-mentioned requirements is also proposed in this paper. To verify the proposed method, the simulation and experimental results are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a photovoltaic (PV) microinverter capable of operating in both island mode and grid-connected mode by means of a reconfigurable control scheme is proposed. The main advantage of control reconfiguration is that in grid-connected mode, the microinverter works as a current source in phase with the grid voltage, injecting power to the grid. This is the operation mode of most commercial grid-connected PV microinverters. The idea is to provide those microinverters with the additional functionality of working in island mode without changing their control algorithms for grid-connected mode, which were developed and refined over time. It is proposed that in island mode, the microinverter control is reconfigured to work as a voltage source using droop schemes. These schemes consist in implementing P/Q strategies in the inverters, in order to properly share the power delivered to the loads. The aim of the paper is to show that the proposed control reconfiguration is possible without dangerous transients for the microinverter or the loads. Simulation and experimental results on an 180-W PV microinverter are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with the control of a hybrid source combining a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and supercapacitors. To achieve this objective, an interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control in a sampled-data context is implemented. This paper first details with this new controller and shows that it ensures the stabilization of the hybrid system at its desired equilibrium point under large range of sampling periods. These considerations are followed by a detailed discussion on experimental results achieved on a 1.2-kW test bench. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper gives an overview of the topological variations of multi-winding induction machines (IMs) and drives. The study is restricted to IMs having two distributed windings on the stator and a brushless rotor. The mathematical modeling techniques and control algorithms available in the literature are highlighted. Being magnetless and brushless, a Dual Stator Winding IM is highly reliable, maintenance free, and economic. Thus, it possesses the necessary potential to become a part of ac and dc microgrids. Recent research trend shows growth in the application of such generators for off-grid and grid-connected systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a four-leg matrix converter is proposed as the power conversion core for aircraft ground power unit (GPU) applications. This structure allows easy management of unbalanced and nonlinear loads with minimal disruption of the power supply operation. A hybrid repetitive-traditional control system is proposed to regulate the output voltage of the GPU. This solution reduces the steady-state tracking error, maintaining fast dynamic characteristics, and increases the stability of the converter compared to conventional approaches. Simulations and experimental results from a 7.5-KW converter prototype are presented to verify the operation of the proposed configuration and to prove the effectiveness of the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Exploiting the rich switching redundancies of the dual inverter, new hybrid pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) switching methods are proposed in this paper using the degree of freedom of operating the individual inverters independently, in addition to exercising the degree of freedom of controlling the switching action of the individual legs independently. Two voltage entities, namely, common-mode voltage (CMV) and differential-mode voltage are identified in the dual inverter, and all hybrid PWMs are envisaged aimed at reducing and also eliminating the CMV in it. The effects of such attempts on motor shaft voltage and also the motor bearing currents are presented in detail. Furthermore, bearing current profiles of an open-end winding induction motor are also presented with both conventional and hybrid PWMs proposed in this paper. Electric discharge machining discharge currents are completely eliminated with the use of all hybrid PWM methods proposed in this paper. In addition, implications of completely eliminating the CMV are also presented in this paper. All hybrid PWMs proposed in this paper are first simulated using MATLAB and are experimentally verified on a dual two-level inverter feeding a 1.1-kW 415-V 3- $\phi$ open-end winding induction motor drive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a simplified control technique for a dual three-phase topology of a unified power quality conditioner—iUPQC. The iUPQC is composed of two active filters, a series active filter and a shunt active filter (parallel active filter), used to eliminate harmonics and unbalances. Different from a conventional UPQC, the iUPQC has the series filter controlled as a sinusoidal current source and the shunt filter controlled as a sinusoidal voltage source. Therefore, the pulse width modulation (PWM) controls of the iUPQC deal with a well-known frequency spectrum, since it is controlled using voltage and current sinusoidal references, different from the conventional UPQC that is controlled using nonsinusoidal references. In this paper, the proposed design control, power flow analysis, and experimental results of the developed prototype are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The shunt regulator is a key part of the power conditioning unit, which is becoming more and more important in the spacecrafts. Due to the nonlinear link, the switch operating with hysteresis control, the shunt regulator is a nonlinear system; however, the stability analysis method for the system is still grounded on the approximate linearization method, which neglects some of the ac and dc characteristics. In this paper, a novel stability analysis method for the nonlinear systems is proposed based on the describing function, which can be used to model the nonlinear link in the shunt regulator system. Further, the different conclusion of the shunt regulator system stability are drawn, by the approximate linearization method and the stability analysis method proposed in this paper, respectively. Finally, the simulation and experimental results prove the correctness of the stability analysis method with describing function and discover the incompletion of the approximate linearization methods on the stability analysis. Therefore, this paper provides a new way to analyze the stability of the nonlinear systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces modeling and control of a cascaded flying capacitor bridge (CFCB) multilevel converter for a solid-state transformer. The finite control set-model predictive control (FCS-MPC) is easy and simple to implement for many applications. However, the computational complexity increases with the increase in the number of switches. Furthermore, as the number of control variables increases, the weighting factors also increase. Thus, it is difficult to apply to a system with a large number of switches and variables to be controlled similar to a CFCB multilevel converter. In this paper, the proposed method divides variables such as current, dc-link voltage, and flying capacitor voltage into layers. The proposed method reduces the number of states to be considered in the control, which shortens the computational time and simplifies expansion of the flying capacitor bridge. In addition, since weighting factors are not used, there is no tradeoff between current quality and voltage quality, and there is no difficulty in selecting weighting factors. Algorithms that include a method for compensating for the distortion caused by the delay of the digital control system are also described. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified via experiments using a two-cell CFCB multilevel converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the innovative “variable-voltage” bus concept for future more-electric aircraft platforms. Using new functionalities and opportunities offered by innovative sources actively controlled by power electronics, there is an opportunity for a significant increase of their output power (within powertrain capabilities, machine thermal limits, and power converter maximum current) to supply increased load demands under certain conditions. This paper investigates applications of this concept to satisfy power demands for the wing ice-protection system for business jet. The study includes a detailed study into the control challenges of the proposed approach and suggests corresponding theoretical solutions. Furthermore, the controller design aspects are explored with considerations to achieve stable operation. The concept is tested in simulation environment and validated through experimental studies. This paper might be of interest for the researchers and engineers focused on innovative solutions for future aircraft platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a multifunctional control system for interlinking converters interfacing microgrids and ac mains. Applicable standards pose power quality and grid-support function requirements for converters that interface energy resources of dc nature with an ac utility grid. At the same time, the forthcoming smart grid scenario calls for additional functionalities, enabling the effective integration of hybrid (i.e., dc or ac) microgrids, that are applicable to both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. This requires novel interlinking converter controllers with extended flexibility. The control system described in this paper fulfills both connected and islanded operation needs and provides seamless transitions between the two modes. Such valuable functionalities are attained owing to an underlying, large-bandwidth, triple-loop control organization. The target converter is meant to be connected to a local dc subgrid at the dc side and to a local ac subgrid at the ac side. The controller manages the connection of the ac-side subgrid with the utility grid, ensuring a fast response control of the ac grid current. Therefore, it allows interfacing of renewable sources and loads, aggregated in dc and ac nanogrids or microgrids, with smart power systems, providing enhanced power quality, stability, and flexibility of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the common-mode voltage (CMV) and eliminate the CMV spikes for two-level voltage source inverters (2L-VSIs), an improved model predictive control (MPC) based CMV reduction method is proposed in this paper considering dead-time effects. First, an improved voltage vector (VV) preselection strategy is proposed to reduce the CMV spikes caused by the dead time. Second, a new hybrid VV preselection strategy based on a delay compensation strategy and a modified current sector division strategy is proposed to completely eliminate the CMV spikes. As the proposed hybrid VV preselection based MPC strategy makes full use of the six nonzero VVs of the 2L-VSI, the current total harmonic distortions and ripples are reduced. The simulation and experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research results of voltage gain number control methods of a power electronic resonant zero-current switching dc–dc switched-capacitor (SC) voltage multiplier (SCVM) in a topology with fault tolerance capability (FSCVM). The converters operated under the basic switching patterns are constant-voltage-gain dc–dc series-parallel resonant SC converters. However, this paper presents a method for the output voltage regulation by a special switching strategy. A variable voltage gain is made possible by selecting the number of active switching cells, using an appropriate control method. This creates a set of voltage ratio ranges. In addition, the proposed topology and method of control enable a fault-tolerant operation of the FSCVM under various failures of the device. The paper presents an analysis of the concept, simulation results and an experimental verification in a three-cell FSCVM dc–dc resonant boost converter operating at a 200-watt charge. Issues regarding the selection of components related to the problem of inrush currents that can occur during the voltage ratio increase are also analyzed in this paper, and the design for low inrush currents is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a decoupled power control strategy for a modular multilevel converter (MMC)-based hybrid ac–dc grid integrated with a hybrid energy storage system. This system can mitigate the active power fluctuations caused by intermittent renewable generation and also realize reactive power compensation as required by voltage regulation. The proposed hybrid ac–dc system has a novel configuration in which batteries and supercapacitors are distributed into the upper arm and the lower arm of the MMC, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to design fully decoupled power control and simultaneously optimize the performances of batteries and supercapacitors. First, the system modeling and operational principles of the MMC are briefly introduced in this paper. On the basis of these analyses, the power decoupling between the upper arm and the lower arm is presented to realize different control objectives. Moreover, battery state-of-charge balancing control and supercapacitor voltage control are also presented, which are crucial for ensuring the normal operation of these energy storage components and the proposed MMC-based hybrid ac–dc grid. Finally, the proposed system and its control strategies are verified by laboratory experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two capacitor voltage balancing (CVB) strategies for modular multilevel converter (MMC) applications. Both balancing schemes are based on model predictive control and are designed to efficiently solve a constrained optimal control problem, where the predicted capacitor voltage errors are included in the cost function with the demanded output voltage of a cluster being forced through an equality constraint. The first method proposed in this paper computes specific modulation indexes for each module using the explicit solution of a relaxed version of the original optimization problem. The second approach proposed in this paper reduces the complexity of the original problem by linearizing the objective function and using an optimal sorting network based on a greedy algorithm to solve this approximation. Considering the structures of both solution approaches, they are integrated into modulation schemes based on phase-shifted and level-shifted pulsewidth modulation algorithms, respectively. Experimental results obtained from a nine-cell single-phase MMC prototype demonstrate the good performance achieved with the proposed methodologies, as well as the implementation simplicity offered by the proposed CVB algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CLLC-type dc transformer (CLLC-DCT) is very popular in the hybrid ac–dc microgrid thanks to its high-power density advantage and good bidirectional power transfer capacity. In the hybrid ac/dc microgrid, the open-loop control is always utilized by the CLLC-DCT to cooperate with the bidirectional interlinking converter to realize the power and voltage conversion between the ac and dc bus. This paper first studies the circuit parameters design of the open-loop controlled CLLC-DCT with consideration of such a realistic problem: The real inductors/capacitors values are actually different with their theoretically designed values due to the operation power and temperature variation. To solve this problem, a robust circuit parameters design scheme is proposed for the CLLC-DCT in this paper. With the proposed scheme, the designed CLLC-DCT exhibits good power transmission and voltage regulation ability in the hybrid ac/dc microgrid even when its actual inductors/capacitors values vary with the practical power and temperature. The robust design method is experimentally verified in a hybrid ac/dc microgrid prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing penetration level of distributed generation (DG) units necessitates their participation in supporting power system stability and providing ancillary services. This paper highlights the necessity of supporting the connection voltage by these units under short-term unbalanced voltage sags. To address this, a new regulation scheme, named asymmetrical ride-through (ART), is proposed in this paper. The proposed scheme enforces DG units to properly regulate the voltage within the dynamic limits for three important voltage parameters: positive sequence, negative sequence, and phase voltage magnitude. The main advantages of applying the ART scheme are avoiding unnecessary outages due to temporary unbalanced faults and enhancing the grid stability. As the second contribution, an advanced dynamic voltage support method is also proposed to accurately address the specifications determined in the ART scheme. The successful results of the ART regulation scheme and the proposed dynamic voltage support method are verified using simulation and experimental test cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a sensorless vector control method, at low speeds and self-commissioning for AC motors, it is necessary to model dead time, rise/fall time, parasitic capacitors, and semiconductors’ voltage drop accurately. In this paper, voltage drop in each phase due to the nonlinear behavior of the inverter from the control system's viewpoint is precisely modeled by using two lookup tables. These lookup tables make the proposed model robust against the dc-link voltage and carrier frequency variations in the entire current range. In conventional methods at standstill, the measured voltage in the dc current test contains the nonlinearity of two phases. Therefore, to obtain the nonlinear voltage of each inverter phase, it is assumed that the values of inverter nonlinearity voltage at both high current and low current are equal. This simplification leads to distortion in measured voltage in the low currents. However, in this paper, the voltage drop equation of each phase is solved by numerical method that is realizable in conventional processors. The results obtained in actual voltage measurement show the superiority of the proposed method over traditional methods in the low currents. The proposed method is verified by using a voltage source inverter feeding a 2.2-kW three-phase induction motor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model predictive control (MPC) is emerging as a powerful control method for the high performance control of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives due to its merits of simple principle, quick response, and flexibility to handle multiple variables and constraints. However, conventional MPC applies only one voltage vector during one control period to minimize the cost function, which produces relatively high steady-state ripples and high computational burden due to the enumeration-based predictions. Introducing duty cycle control into MPC can improve its steady-state performance, but the control complexity is further increased. This paper proposes a generalized multiple-vector-based MPC for PMSM drives, which unifies the prior MPC methods in one frame with much lower complexity and computational burden by eliminating the enumeration-based predictions and complex calculations in conventional MPC methods. This is achieved by reconstructing the three-phase duties obtained from the classical deadbeat control with modulator, which also reveals the inherent relationship between deadbeat control and the proposed MPC methods. The presented experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a cascaded H-Bridge (CHB)-multilevel converter (MC)-based photovoltaic (PV) system with no voltage or current sensors at the dc-side is proposed. Eliminating the dc-side sensors simplifies the hardware, leading to lower cost and higher reliability of the PV system. A novel scheme estimating the capacitors’ voltages from the ac output voltage of the inverter is developed. The scheme allows replacing all dc-side voltage sensors by a single-voltage sensor at the ac-side of the converter. Furthermore, the dc current sensors, conventionally required for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT), are also eliminated. Instead, the outputs from the capacitors’ voltage control systems are utilized for the MPPT. The effectiveness of the proposed dc-side sensorless system is experimentally demonstrated on a 2-kW single-phase seven-level CHB converter-based PV system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AC–DC–AC converter-fed induction motor (IM) drive is mainly realized by back-to-back three-phase converters. However, fault in a single semiconductor switch will make it inoperative. To enable continued controllable operation in case of the faults occurring in the converter, the five-leg converter with a shared leg between the grid and load sides is a possible solution. However, this topology poses an inherent two-objective control problem, because its grid and load sides should be controlled simultaneously. More importantly, the potential increase of the shared-leg current may destroy the converters. In this paper, a new control scheme based on the FCS-MPC combined with intrinsic characteristic of the five-leg converter is proposed for independent control of the rectifier and inverter subsystem with the shared-leg overcurrent constraint. The condition for independent control is analyzed. In order to give a complete evaluation of the proposed control scheme, the conventional pulsewidth modulation (PWM) control scheme is conducted for comparison. Experimental results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For interleaved boost-type converters, both functions of voltage regulation and current balance are important. In this paper, the decoupled current-balancing control (DCBC) with two parallel loops is proposed. At first, the small-signal transfer functions of the voltage-regulation loop and the current balancing loop to the controller output are derived. The results show that the voltage-regulation loop and the proposed current-balancing loop are nominally decoupled. That is, two PI-type controllers can be designed independently and included to implement the proposed DCBC. Additionally, the single-sensor sampling-current strategy is proposed to obtain two average inductor currents by sensing only the sum of diode currents. All the controllers are implemented in field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The provided simulation and experimental results demonstrate the proposed DCBC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new multiperspective stereo concept for real-time 3-D panoramic vision is presented in this paper. The main contribution is a novel event-driven stereo approach enabling 3-D 360° high-dynamic-range panoramic vision for real-time application in a natural environment. This approach makes use of a sparse visual code generated by a rotating pair of dynamic vision line sensors. The use of this system allows panoramic images to be generated by the transformation of events, eliminating the need to capture a large set of images. It thereby increases the acquisition speed, which improves accuracy in dynamic scenes. This paper focuses on its 3-D reconstruction and performance analysis using such a rotating multiperspective vision system. First, a theoretical analysis of the stereo matching accuracy is performed. Second, a depth error formulation is developed, which takes motion into consideration and reveals the leverage of scene dynamics on depth estimation. In this paper, disparity is measured in time units, which allows accurate depth maps to be estimated from a moving sensor system. Third, a stereo matching workflow is presented using standard stereo image matching to assess the 3-D reconstruction accuracy. Finally, experimental results are reported on real-world sensor data, showing that the system allows for the 3-D reconstruction of high-resolution round views even under challenging illumination conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-stage power-factor-corrected (S2PFC) power supplies usually suffer from high voltage stress, due to lack of control on the intermediate bus capacitor voltage. In the past, analysis of such voltage stress was mostly based on steady-state condition without providing sufficient explanation during the transient circuit operation. This paper revisits the problem at circuit level and reports that the root cause is due to the inherent negative current feedback property of the output inductor or the transformer operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). Based on the finding, this paper further proposes a new approach to reducing the voltage stress by adding an auxiliary circuit branch to existing S2PFC converters. The additional circuit branch limits the effect of negative current feedback by suppressing the change of output current slope due to change of load. This assists the pulsewidth modulation controller to track the change of load better such that the bus capacitor voltage range is reduced through duty cycle control. The auxiliary circuit branch also reduces reverse-recovery-related losses of the converter under CCM operation. A laboratory prototype using the popular boost PFC converter combined flyback dc/dc converter was built and tested to confirm the analysis and effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main technical challenges associated with the modular multilevel converter (MMC) for any application is the optimal control of its states. Optimal control of the MMC requires determination of the following: 1) an accurate MMC model, 2) the MMC states to be controlled and their corresponding reference trajectories, and 3) an appropriate controller type/form and its parameters. The aforementioned tasks lead to the formulation of a multistate control optimization problem, which is tackled in this paper. This paper enhances the accuracy of the existing MMC state-space model by including the following: 1) a piecewise affine insulated-gate bipolar transistor/diode model and 2) the impact of dead time. This paper also proposes a simulation-based gradient-descent optimization algorithm (cosimulation) to optimize the controller gains, given the controller type/form and the reference state trajectory. The theoretical proofs of the gradients required in the optimization algorithm are also provided. The aforementioned optimization algorithm is applied to a variable-frequency MMC-based drive system. Experimental results on a scaled-down prototype and simulation results on a real-world application are provided to validate the accuracy of the proposed MMC model and to show the effectiveness of the proposed optimization algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strategy for fault detection and tolerance on the inverter that controls power flow in variable-speed permanent-magnet generators is proposed in this paper. The performance of the proposed strategy is analyzed in two different four-wire topologies. In the first topology, the neutral point of the generator is connected to the middle point of the dc-link capacitor bank, whereas in the second topology, it is connected to a fourth leg of the inverter. The main contribution of this paper resides in the control scheme, which allows a steady operation through a fault occurrence without the need of reconfiguring neither the inverter topology nor the control algorithm. In this way, transients and the use of extra hardware components are avoided. In addition, a control loop that allows limiting the generator losses at any operation point is presented in order to protect the machine. Finally, experimental results, obtained from a laboratory prototype, validate the practical feasibility of the proposed strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a systematic procedure using power flow graphs for generating all possible double-input single-output (DISO) dc/dc converters. To maximize the generality of applications, the input ports can possibly be connected with voltage source(s) or current source(s), and the output port can be connected with a voltage load or current load. The control methods are described in this paper. A DISO converter with two voltage sources and one voltage load is taken as an example to analyze a few key properties of practical relevance, including input voltage range, efficiency, power distribution, and switching stress. A popular application of DISO converters involves the use of a battery as storage element, and for this specific case, possible choices for the converters, the control method, and the attainable efficiency are discussed. Finally, experimental results are presented to verify the analytical results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The second harmonic current compensator (SHCC) can be added into the single-phase converters for compensating the second harmonic current (SHC) and thus removing the undesired electrolytic capacitor. In this paper, a virtual impedance, which is in the form of a capacitor and a resistor connected in parallel, is introduced to be in parallel at the bus-side port of the SHCC for effectively compensating the SHC while guaranteeing the system stability. This virtual parallel impedance is realized by feeding forward the bus-side port voltage of the SHCC, and thus the SHCC can be modular designed. The closed-loop parameter design of the SHCC is also presented. A 3.3-kW prototype of a two-stage single-phase power factor correction converter is built and tested in the laboratory, and the experimental results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to comment on the reference voltage tracking ability of a recently proposed state observer based adaptive sliding mode control for boost converters. It is shown that the control in the cited paper cannot track the reference voltage. A modified control law that enables reference voltage tracking while preserving the other advantages of the commented paper is proposed and validated by simulation and experimentation on laboratory hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aiming at effective power management in microgrids with high penetration of renewable energy sources (RESs), this paper proposes a simple power control for the so-called second-generation, single-phase electric springs (ES-2), which overcomes the shortcomings of the existing ES control methods. By the proposed control, the unpredictable power generated from RESs is divided into two parts, i.e., the one absorbed by the ES-2 that still varies and the other injected into the grid that is controllable by a simple and accurate signal manipulation that works both at steady-state and during RES transients. It is believed that such a control is suitable for the distributed power generation, especially at domestic homes. In this paper, the proposed control is supported by a theoretical background. Its effectiveness is at first validated by simulations and then by experiments. To this purpose, a typical RES application is considered, and an experimental setup is arranged, built up around an ES-2 implementing the proposed control. Testing of the setup is carried out in three steps and proves not only the smooth operation of the ES-2 itself, but also its capability in running the application properly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Essential imbalance and fluctuation of the mobile train load draw some problems, e.g., three-phase unbalance, reactive power, voltage and load fluctuation, harmonics, etc. in both public and train supply networks (TSNs). Railway power flow controller (RPFC)'s good performance on dealing with those problems has been convinced in practice these years. However, as the primary task in commercialization, how to qualitatively determine RPFC's design capacity with high cost efficiency and how to comprehensively assess its performance in the design stage have perplexed engineers for many years. To solve those problems in both planning and real-time executing processes, this paper focuses on an RPFC design capacity optimization strategy for grid-connection compatibility and operating performance improvement in terms of both the utility and the TSN. The strategy not only makes a railway substation satisfy the grid-connection standards with high calculating efficiency, but also renders the RPFC to have the minimum design capacity, the excellent feeder voltage control ability, the good fixed capacitor installing prospect, and the high operating efficiency on the targets of reducing the investment and enhancing the transportation ability. The generic models, the industry-oriented design and the quantitative analysis, discussed in this paper give an insight for those concerned based on a balance transformer. Future RPFC projects on serviced railway power systems will benefit from the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the model predictive current control is introduced in the semicontrolled open-winding permanent magnet synchronous motor (OW-PMSM) generation system with a common dc bus to suppress the zero-sequence current for the first time. Particularly, the basic voltage vectors of the semicontrolled OW-PMSM, which are synthesized by the three-phase full-controlled converter and the three-phase uncontrollable diode bridge, is analyzed and their influences on the zero-sequence current are investigated for the first time in this paper. Then the current-error-based cost function that includes dq-axis current error and zero-sequence current error is designed to evaluate all the voltage vectors. Moreover, to further improve the steady-state control performance of the whole generation system, a zero-sequence current suppression method based on the uncontrollable side voltage vector adjustment, which has the advantage of low computation burden, is developed. In this method, two voltage vectors of the controllable converter are applied during one control period. Based on the distribution character of the basic voltage vector in the semicontrollable OW-PMSM generation system, the first voltage vector is selected according to the three-phase current direction to adjust equivalent vector of the uncontrollable diode bridge, whereas for the second voltage vector, the selection method based deadbeat voltage vector sector is designed to reduce the range of the candidate voltage vector. In addition, the vector durations are also computed. Finally, simulation and experiment are carried out to validate the proposed control approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a uniform control strategy for the bidirectional ac/dc interlinking converter (BIC) in hierarchical controlled hybrid microgrid. The uniform control strategy unifies different control structures for multifunctional BIC in terms of power management, ac and dc voltage support. With the unified control structure, various triggering mechanisms for BIC mode-switch are not compulsory in response to the relevant scenario changes in the power network. Therefore, the negative consequences, such as unsmooth transition and system collapse due to the inaccurate or slower mode switch, can be avoided. Moreover, the uniform control strategy is also applicable for the hierarchical controlled hybrid microgrid, whose control architecture is typically comprised of the centralized and decentralized levels. This enables the communication fault ride-through capability and the impact from the communication failures can thus be mitigated. To sum up the above two features, the proposed control strategy is able to provide a smooth operation for the BIC without control mode switch in the event of unintentional scenario changes in power or communication network. To verify the validity of the proposed uniform control strategy, the controller hardware-in-the-loop experimental results have been provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents an improved saliency-based position sensorless drive of an interior permanent-magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) with a single current sensor, used for low cost applications. The phase current, reconstructed from a dc-link current, shows a reconstruction error resulted from the difference of the sampling point from that of a full current sensor drive. This reconstruction error results in degradation of the overall sensorless control performance. In this paper, we analyze the impact of the reconstruction error depending on the injection frequency for a high frequency voltage signal injection sensorless control. Based on this analysis, we propose an improved position sensorless drive that employs a new current reconstruction method. In order to minimize the reconstruction error, the proposed current reconstruction method predicts the dq-axis currents with the same sampling point as a full current sensor drive. Several experimental results are provided to verify the analysis of the reconstruction error and the proposed method's improved sensorless control performances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyzes the performances of different carrier phase-shifting pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques to be used with a multilevel cascaded H-bridge converter in case of unbalanced operational conditions. In fact, in many practical applications, the ideal condition of equal dc voltages and equal reference signals for each H-bridge cannot be achieved. In such conditions, the conventional carrier phase-shifting PWM technique loses its harmonic canceling capabilities and then the multilevel ac voltage harmonic quality is deeply affected. To overcome this limit of the original technique, different variations have been proposed. All of them still rely on the carrier phase-shifting concept and propose to use a different value of the shifting angle for each carrier (unlike the original technique) whenever unbalanced operational conditions occur. In this paper, the three main solutions proposed over the last years to extend the capabilities of the carrier phase-shifting PWM technique are compared. The analysis is focused on a three-cell cascaded H-bridge converter. Simulation and experimental results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]