Collaborative Research: High-Efficiency Gearless Power Conversion Systems with Silent Permanent-Magnet Machines

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The objective of this research is to design, build, and investigate novel high-efficiency gearless electromechanical power conversion systems employing power electronic converters and silent permanent-magnet, alternating-current, electric machines with a high number of magnetic poles. Two such systems, that is, a highly automated wheelchair and a small wind turbine system will be focused on. Four innovative machine designs will be studied. Abatement of the emitted acoustic and electromagnetic noise will be endeavored. Intellectual Merit:The intellectual merit of the project will consist in development of new structures, control strategies, and electromagnetic models of the investigated machines and power conversion systems. It will allow an insightful analysis of the electromagnetic fields and dynamic phenomena in complex assemblies of mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and electronic components. The direct outcome will be a novel gearless drive for wheelchairs and a novel gearless wind-turbine system for residential renewable-energy sources. The systems will have high efficiency, low speed and high torque, minimal torque ripple, low cost and maintenance requirements, high reliability, quiet operation, and user-friendliness. Broader Impacts:Enhancement of the knowledge of modeling, design, and control of novel types of electric machines, and enrichment of the technological base for new vehicular drives and renewable-energy systems, are the broader impacts of the project. The project will generate at least two PhD dissertations. Efforts will be made to recruit research assistants from underrepresented groups. Research results will be disseminated through publications and presentations, and the experimental setups developed will be utilized in exercises and demonstrations for university and high-school students.