The ELMG Digital Power Electronics Control Course
Three days of focused unique training in digital control of power electronics!
Our Digital Power Electronics Control Course overs the essential knowledge and know-how for engineers to implement digital power electronic control!
Come to the Three Day Digital Control Course in Camarillo, California August 22-24, 2016. Register here.
How did the course came about?
Essentially the course came about because we were asked by one of our customer’s to provide one. The story is we were in the middle of a “fix up” job where the power supply had shown some control instability at its final release testing. The testing that showed the problem was passing a short circuit test of parallel connected power supplies. When the short circuit was removed the supplies came out of current limit, however they did not come out of the limit at exactly the same time. This created an oscillation where individual power supplies came out of current limit and then returned to current limit. It was possible for the oscillation to continue indefinitely. This was an unacceptable and embarrassing problem.
Six months of expertise in a three day course
During the six month project to rework the control code we spent lots of time teaching the team about the underlying issues that had been missed when the controller had been designed, coded and tested. And part way through the “fix-up” the R and D manager suggested we could put a course together covering all that the team needed to know.
And so the digital control course was born
The first course covered exactly what we had discovered during the fix up job. This included lots of digital expertise targeted for power electronics. The areas we covered were diverse from;
- Numeric precision loss in filters
- Improvement of modulation spectral performance
- Stability
- The effect of numeric precision on stability
- Best filter forms
- Direct digital control design
- Linearising control loops
What is covered in our course?
The course was created at the request of a Power Electronics Research and Development manager. He asked that we make it specific his team’s needs. And this is why the course has the unique structure that it has. We have been through the pain and heartbreak of having digital control development go wrong and have seen clearly where the repeated problems lie; our course addresses those areas.
Digital PWM and VPO modulators
One of the big differences between digital power electronics control and conventional analog control is the timer precision in digital modulators. This difference can be corrected or made negligible and in some cases can be made an advantage. Spectral control in digital modulators is a focus area in the course as it is so effective.
Digital Precision in control blocks
It is possible to use a digital system and adjust the coefficients of the filters so that small inputs result in no output from the filter. Such scaling issues often lead to a loss of precision in the digital control system. The resulting slip-strike behavior can create limit cycle oscillations in the power converter output.
Direct Digital design of controllers
The “design then translation” approach of taking analog controllers to digital form can be avoided by using the direct digital design approach. This simple but powerful method of digital control loop design is covered in the course.
Converter non-linearity correction
Certain converter topologies are non-linear either in the control input to the output or the conversion ration. Dealing with the converter non-linearity to achieve high bandwidth is key to stable parallel connected converters.
Stability
The course covers the fundamentals of stability from a physical basis with a focus on measurements of power converter transfers. This along with a simple framework for managing margins and robustness is an integral part of the course.
Why we offer the course?
Understanding and implementing digital control of power electronics offers great advantages for configuration and flexibility. However, this is not without road blocks and issues that need to be designed around. This course provides the know how to get digital control working robustly and reliably.
How do I get on the course?
The course is next being run in Camarillo, California USA August 22-24. To register for the course, click and visit the information page here. Press the ‘Register’ button on the page and this will take you to the shopping cart for the course. Complete the purchase to register for the course.
Next course
The next course is being held August 22-24 in Camarillo, California, USA.
Hotels
HOTELS
There are several hotels a short distance from the Ridley Engineering Design Center. The prices below reflect their current prices for August 2016. The last hotel listed is a nice beachfront resort if you do not mind the 25-minute commute to the office. Regardless of your selection, we recommend arriving on Sunday evening and departing Wednesday evening or Thursday.
| Best Western Inn
295 E Daily Drive, Camarillo |
0.3 mi.
805-987-4991 |
$100/night |
| Residence Inn by Marriott
2912 Petit Street, Camarillo |
2.8 mi.
805-388-7997 |
$185/night |
| Courtyard by Marriott
4994 Verdugo Way, Camarillo |
4.3 mi.
805-388-1020 |
$180/night |
| Hampton Inn & Suites
50 W Daily Drive, Camarillo |
1.1 mi.
805-389-9898 |
$175/night |
| Hilton Garden Inn
200 Solar Dr., Oxnard |
5.6 mi.
805-983-8600 |
$155/night |
| Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort
2101 Mandalay Beach Rd., Oxnard |
15.4 mi.
805-984-2500 |
$200/night |
Travelling to the course
Transportation
Airports: There are three options for airports. Bob Hope Airport in Burbank will be the least congested and is serviced by American, United, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue:
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Shuttle: The Roadrunner Shuttle is a Camarillo-based service that provides door-to-door service from the airport. www.rrshuttle.com
Driving:
Bob Hope Burbank Airport (BUR) via US 101
https://goo.gl/maps/caMGB9QSEqP2
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via US 101
https://goo.gl/maps/kRBDQifyVfM2
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)
https://goo.gl/maps/XPbBhNQYTzj
Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) via US 101
https://goo.gl/maps/2fGP3K7FMZx
About the presenter
Dr. Hamish Laird
Dr. Hamish Laird is a well regarded digital power electronics control engineer, researcher, lecturer and teacher. Hamish is Chief Technology Officer at ELMG Digital Pwoer and holds a visiting academic position at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
During his career Dr Laird has worked on the control for;
- High Voltage Direct Current Transmission
- Reactive Power Compensators
- AC and DC Motor Drives
- DC to DC converters including LLC and phase shifted bridges
- Medium and low voltage AC motor starters
Dr. Laird has worked for;
- Alstom Grid (GEC Alsthom)
- Eurotherm Drives
- University of Canterbury
- Aucom
Through ELMG Digital Power Dr. Laird has provided advice, services and products to;
- ABB
- Enphase
- Comsys
- Evashred
- TNEI
- Eaton
Dr Laird says
“In designing and presenting the course we aim to have engineers able to use digital control in power electronics to achieve robust and reliable results. See you in Camarillo”.
How to Register
P.S. Please note that the ELMG Digital Power course is being hosted at the Ridley Engineering Centre in Camarillo, California. Ridley Engineering are processing all course registrations viatheir webstore. Click here to register.