Full of useful information! Interview with the Power Electronics Design Competition | How to win the special prize
Latest update time：2024-06-14
Reads：
▲
Click above to follow
STM32
Energy conservation, emission reduction, green and low-carbon development have become the main theme of the world. With the gradual implementation of China's dual-carbon strategy, how to cultivate power electronics technical talents and promote innovation in the new energy industry has become a top priority.
The China Power Supply Society
initiated
the University Power Electronics Application Design Competition
in 2015.
This is a creative science and technology competition with the application of power electronics technology and the theme of innovation, energy conservation and emission reduction, and new energy utilization. It is open to college students across the country and aims to encourage students to apply power electronics technology to practice and stimulate their innovative spirit and practical ability. As a joint supporting unit, ST has injected strong momentum into the 10th University Power Electronics Design Competition and helped young talents stand out.
At the launch ceremony of the competition that just ended, Mr. Tang Xiaocheng from ST Microcontroller Department and Ms. Wang Rui from ST Power & Energy Technology Innovation Center respectively introduced the system solution and corresponding product description for the wireless charging topic of this competition on behalf of ST. At the launch ceremony, the conference specially invited Feng Yuan, a core member of the team that won the special prize of the 9th competition, from Southwest Jiaotong University (currently studying for a master's degree at Harbin Institute of Technology), to share his experience in the competition. ST staff noticed that Feng's experience was full of practical knowledge. As an electronics enthusiast, his personal learning and growth experience was impressive, so we arranged an interview with Feng, hoping to provide reference for more fans from universities.
▲ Award-winning works
▲ Competition scene
▲ Defense scene
The topic of the 9th design competition is: "High-efficiency and high-power density three-phase broadband inverter", with a power of 500W. Feng's design has the characteristics of high efficiency, high power density, and low input current ripple, which meets the requirements of the topic very well and can be applied to fields such as microgrids and motor drives.
In order to achieve the extreme high efficiency and high power density evaluation indicators required by the competition, Feng used the TCM triangle current mode in his design to achieve zero voltage conduction of the device, minimizing the filter volume while improving efficiency, and performed three-dimensional stacking in hardware design to improve the volume utilization of the prototype, thereby achieving a very high power density. After testing,
the power density index of this design far exceeded all competitors, reaching 245W per cubic inch, and the efficiency index was also among the best, reaching 98.3%
, thus winning the special prize. It is worth mentioning that his design was developed using STMicroelectronics' STM32G474 MCU.
How did they achieve such outstanding performance? How can they perform stably in the intense competition and achieve the best possible results? With these questions, we connected with Feng.
STM32G474: Optimized for digital power supply, achieving high power density and high efficiency
In the design plan, Feng chose an MCU from ST, STM32G474, as the main control chip to generate control signals, drive power devices, sample feedback, and also undertake the communication task with the host computer. Why did you choose STM32G474?
Student Feng explained: For this competition, high efficiency and high power density are the primary requirements of the competition. The controller should be as small as possible while meeting the functional requirements. The STM32G474CEU6 uses a 7mm×7mm surface mount package, which is small in size and integrates a wealth of analog peripherals, such as op amps, comparators, ADCs, DACs, etc., which can simplify the external signal conditioning circuit and further reduce the size.
STM32G474
is specially optimized for digital power applications
. Especially for applications with wide bandgap semiconductor devices. Wide bandgap semiconductor devices have excellent switching performance and can increase the switching frequency, thereby reducing the size of components and increasing the overall power density. The switching frequency of digital power supplies using wide bandgap semiconductor devices is as high as hundreds of kHz or even MHz, and the accuracy of general timers is difficult to meet the control accuracy requirements. The multi-channel
high-precision timer
equipped with
STM32G474 can generate high-precision drive waveforms at high switching frequencies to achieve higher control accuracy.
Feng also emphasized that another reason for choosing STM32 is its strong ecosystem support. Its development can be based on the HAL library and the STM32CubeMX initialization tool, which can greatly reduce the development burden and reduce the learning cost. Designers do not need to involve too much in the underlying details and can focus more on their own applications. The HAL library connects the ecosystems of various product lines together to form a strong synergy, making it very convenient for users to migrate between different product lines.
▲
Close-up of the back of the prototype
When you encounter problems, the support provided by ST is relatively comprehensive. You can directly search for relevant tutorials or go to the ST official website to find the reference manual (Reference manual). You can basically solve the problem through your own understanding and learning.
Sharing of practical information about the competition
For college students, participating in design competitions is an ideal platform to effectively improve their practical skills. However, it is not easy to successfully complete their own works. Students often encounter various Waterloos, and even cause months of hard work to go to waste. Here, student Feng also shared his personal experience and summarized a few key points:
First, pay attention to safety issues
.
Power electronics design is somewhat dangerous and may involve high voltages and require the use of soldering irons, so special attention should be paid to preventing electric shock and fire. When debugging a prototype, you can cover the prototype with a transparent plastic ball to prevent accidental explosions that could cause injury.
Second, focus on stability
.
It is a pity that many teams’ prototypes were damaged during on-site testing. To improve stability, sufficient margin should be reserved during design to avoid the device working in an extreme state, and sufficient testing should be done before the on-site finals.
Third, ensure the reliability of welding and connection
.
If the welding point is unreliable, it may work normally in school, but it may break after a bumpy ride to the competition site, causing the prototype to fail. DuPont wire is a very popular connection wire, but it has poor anti-interference performance and loose connection. If it is plugged in and out many times, it is easy to cause poor contact, causing problems with the prototype.
Fourth, prepare a spare machine
.
Bring
the spare machine and the test machine to the competition site together. In case the test machine fails unexpectedly, the spare machine can be used to continue the competition, avoiding wasting half a year's work due to an accident.
Fifth, prioritize and gradually approach the goal.
The technical requirements of the competition are relatively high and difficult to complete in one go. You must prioritize, complete the important parts first, then gradually approach, continuously polish, and use technological innovation to achieve the best results.
Sixth, reflect on the process of trial and error and continuously optimize.
There will always be unexpected problems in the competition. For situations with high trial and error costs, you should reflect on and find the source of the problem every time you make a mistake, and continuously improve to reduce losses. For situations with low trial and error costs, such as controller parameters, you can try repeatedly to find the optimal value and achieve better results at a lower cost.
Finally, arrange time reasonably, split tasks, and process them in parallel.
Competition tasks can be split into multiple small tasks, such as main circuit, program, and PCB design, and completed in parallel in a similar way to assembly lines to improve efficiency. At the same time, a certain amount of lead time is required to avoid unexpected situations (such as colds and fevers) that delay time and ensure that the work is submitted on time.
As a novice in the field of embedded design, how can I grow up as quickly as possible? Feng thinks that he can start by replicating excellent solutions and continuously improve his software and hardware development capabilities. There are many design resources worth learning on the websites of ST and other well-known companies. After gradually getting started, it is easier to develop independently according to your own needs.
Feng also talked about how he has been very interested in electronic circuit design since he was a child, and started making some circuit boards by himself. Through communication and learning with electronic enthusiasts in relevant Internet forums, he kept trying and growing. Now he can fully combine his interests and hobbies with his future career development direction. He feels very lucky. In the future, he hopes to become an engineer with comprehensive software and hardware design capabilities in the field of digital power supply, and make his own contribution to achieving the dual carbon goals.
▲ Small productions during junior high and high school
▲ Works during undergraduate period
Mr. Feng has used his own growth experience to set an example for all students who are interested in engaging in embedded research and development. I believe that in the future there will be more outstanding engineers like him who love power electronics design and are brave enough to explore and innovate, and contribute to the development and innovation of China's new energy industry!
·
© THE END
Click
"Read original text"
to learn more
京公网安备 11010802033920号