MS student William Vavrik with Advisor A. Stillwell Modern processor loads place stringent power delivery demands on power density, efficiency, and dynamic performance. In previous work, a current-sourced hybrid switched-capacitor converter design was presented so all converter magnetics are at the input. However, to be able to regulate these loads, and respond to dynamic situations, […]
ECE 217: Solar Car
The course objective is to show students early in their curriculum that a multidisciplinary understanding is essential to create a complex system. UIUC’s own Solar Cars Brizo and Calypso are the examples. The course covers high-level aspects of the design, construction, analysis, and economics of solar-powered electric vehicles. Understanding the business and operations side of […]
ECE 498 EMS: Electric Mobility Systems
Transportation electrification is foundational to global decarbonization. This course covers electric mobility from foundational physics to system-of-systems energy interactions. We introduce the common system-level components of electric vehicles – electric propulsion, energy storage, power conversion, drive cycles – and how they operate together to meet mobility needs. The course focuses on energy linkages, and on […]
Illini Solar Car shines in American Solar Challenge
Students at The Grainger College of Engineering are proven pioneers in sustainable transport. The multidisciplinary Illini Solar Car team raced their newest model, Calypso, at the 2024 American Solar Challenge this July. The team placed fourth place in their class, with the third highest distance traveled — 1566 miles. Hosted by the Innovators Educational Foundation, […]
Secure Distributed Control Algorithms for Microgrids
PhD Student Eric Silk with Advisor A. Domínguez -García As distributed energy resources (DERs) continue to see increased utilization in the modern grid, the use of distributed controls becomes increasingly necessary for their operation. A promising family of algorithms are known as consensus algorithms – in particular, we rely heavily on Ratio Consensus (RC) and […]
Develop and Test System Level Controls for the BANSHEE Microgrid
PhD student T.G. Roberts with Advisor A. Domínguez-García This research focuses on developing a suite of system level controls for the BANSHEE microgrid (Figure 26) and test them in a high-fidelity real-time controller hardware in the loop (C-HIL) setting (Figure 28). This microgrid comprises synchronous generators on feeders 1 and 3 as well as a […]
Slotless Permanent Magnet Multi Port Generator Design for Integrated Generator Rectifier Systems for Wind Turbine Applications
Anubhav Bose with Advisor K. Haran Integrated Generator-Rectifier Systems have been shown to improve reliability and operating efficiency of offshore wind turbine generation systems, as well as reduce the overall Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) and Annual Energy Production (AEP) from these systems. These advantages have been shown in design studies at the 10 MW […]
A Data-Driven Framework for Frequency and Voltage Regulation in Inverter-Based Power Systems
PhD student Temitope Amuda with Advisor A. Domínguez-García We consider a data-driven frequency and voltage regulator for inverter-based power systems, specifically those integrating energy storage systems (ESSs) and photovoltaic (PV) arrays. A key challenge addressed by this work is the practical limitation of having complete knowledge of the power system model, including the network admittance […]
Plasma-Sprayed Ceramic Coatings for Electric Machine Insulation
MS student Brian Wolhaupter with Advisor K. Haran Last semester, we concluded an initial investigation into the long-term insulative properties of plasma sprayed ceramic coatings (PSCC) for usage as electric machine slot insulation. To evaluate the insulative properties over time, an isothermal aging test was employed to accelerate the thermally induced degradation of the insulation […]
DC-DC Converter for Electric Aircraft Wing Deicing
MS student Nicole Stokowski with Advisor A. Stillwell Ice formation and accumulation on aircraft is a major problem for the aviation industry. Icing is directly responsible for fatal aircraft incidents, negatively impacting the safety of air travel and requiring expensive, inefficient, and sometimes ineffective de-icing strategies to be employed both pre-flight and during flight. Current […]