Facilities

NI ELVIS II

• Integrated suite of 12 instruments
• Includes Basic Breadboard for Circuits and Electronics
• Complete integration with NI Multisim for teaching circuits and control concepts
• Extend your lab with companion products from Quanser add-on boards

About the Lab

Electric drives and their power electronic converters are a demanding area in engineering and technology. Modern electric drives enable smarter utilization of industrial processes and systems. For all applications and industrial processes, electric drives, and their power electronic converters have real and significant potential for improving efficiency, reliability, performance, and safety. In this Lab, research is being conducted, which is focused on various aspects of electrical machines and their associated drive system. The objective is to provide better solutions for electromagnetic energy conversion systems by addressing the current challenges in electric machine and drive design, analysis, optimization, and fault diagnostics.

Research

Some of the most recent research areas of interest pursued in the Electric Drives and Control Laboratory:

• Design and analysis of Induction Motor, Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor, and Switched Reluctance Motor for Electric Vehicles through a computationally efficient Finite Element simulation tool.
• Development of fault diagnostic procedures for electrical machines such asIM, PMSM, SRM, BLDC, etc., used in industrial and EV applications.
• Application of various signal processing tools and artificial intelligence techniques for fault diagnosis of electric drives in EVs and industrial applications.
• Design and development of Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) based Electric Vehicle.
• Extension of Field Weakening region of operation in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor.

Facilities

The laboratory has dSPACE DS1104 R&D Controller Board that upgrades the PC to a powerful development system for rapid control prototyping. The real-time hardware based on PowerPC technology and its set of I/O interfaces make the board an ideal solution for developing controllers in various industrial fields. Real-Time Interface provides Simulink blocks for convenient configuration of A/D, D/A, digital I/O lines, incremental encoder interface and PWM generation. The industrial motors can be controlled by implementing various control strategies like PI control, Vector control, Direct Torque Control, etc.,

The lab is equipped with anFPGA-baseddrive control in which the FPGA Xilinx blockset is integrated with MATLAB, and FPGA can be directly controlled from MATLAB. The setup comprises Xilinx FPGA Zynq Dual ARM Cortex with communication ports, isolated Voltage and Current sensors, ADC, DAC, PWM Card, Encoder interface, and Analyzer with DSO.

PLC-baseddrive control is carried out with the help of Siemens Simatic PLC, Analog and Digital modules, Siemens variable frequency drive, and Siemens HMI. The VFD is controlled through PLC and also integrated with HMI through the Siemens Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal.

Also, the lab is furnished with various electrical machines like 220V, 3.9A Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor, 550W Switched Reluctance Motor, 48V Permanent Magnet DC Motor, 3.7kW three-phase Slip Ring Induction Motor, 2.2kW three-phase Induction Motor with short-circuit fault tapping arrangement etc., In addition to this, the laboratory is equipped with various software packages such as ANSYS Electronics, MATLAB System Generator, dSpace Control Desk, etc.

Works Carried Out

1. Stator Inter-turn and Bearing Fault Analysis of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Electric Vehicles – Consultancy Work for Bosch Global Software Technologies
2. Experimental set-up for Stator winding inter-turn fault analysis at the incipient stage in a closed-loopspeed-controlled three-phase Induction Motor using an FPGA Controller.
3. Experimental set-up for Stator winding inter-turn and bearing fault analysis in a PMSM utilized in EVs.
4. Machine-related fault analyses such as inter-turn, broken bar, eccentricity, bearing, and demagnetization in various electrical machines using the ANSYS Finite Element Analysis Software tool.
5. Design and development of a Switched reluctance motor-based Electric Vehicle.
6. Sensorless control of Permanent magnet synchronous machine using dSPACE controller.
7. Reduction of torque ripple in Surface mounted PMSM using dSPACE controller.
8. Performance analysis of surface-mounted PMSM under different speed using dSPACE controller.

PhD Research Work

Electromagnetic Signature Analysis of Inter-Turn Short Circuit and Broken Rotor Bar Fault in Induction Motor Drives (Mr. N. Praveen Kumar)

Guided By: Dr. Isha T B

• Three-phase Induction Motor with inter-turn fault severities
• Experimental set-up forFPGA based closed loop V/f speed controlled IM to analyze the terminal quantities.
• Application of Empirical Wavelet Transform to diagnose healthy and faulty machine

Design, Development and Fabrication of a Switched Reluctance Motor Based Electric Vehicle (Mr. Sadeep Sasidharan)

Guided By: Dr. Isha T B

• Development of 2kW Switched Reluctance Motor based Electric Vehicle
• Reduction of torque ripple minimization and improvement of torque to weight ratio

Publications

1. R. K. Dussa and P. Kumar N, “Implementation of Machine Learning to Analyze Static Eccentricity Fault in SPMSM using FEM,” 2023 IEEE 8th International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), Lonavla, India, 2023, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/I2CT57861.2023.10126292
2. M. V. N. A. S. Gayatri and P. K. N, “Application of Machine Learning for Analyzing Demagnetization Fault in IPMSM using Finite Element Method,” 2022 IEEE North Karnataka Subsection Flagship International Conference (NKCon), Vijaypur, India, 2022, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/NKCon56289.2022.10126665.
3. P. K. N and B. P, “EWT Implementation for Examining Demagnetization Fault in PMSM using FEM,” 2022 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES), Jaipur, India, 2022, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/PEDES56012.2022.10080132.
4. V. K. S, P. D, R. R. S, M. Shaheed and P. K. N, “Analysis of Converter Fault in Switched Reluctance Motor using Finite Element Method,” 2022 IEEE 19th India Council International Conference (INDICON), Kochi, India, 2022, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/INDICON56171.2022.10039700
5. M. Shwetha, V. Swathi, E. A. Evangelene, G. S. Nair, N. P. Kumar and P. Balakrishnan, “Application of EWT for Analysing Stator Inter-Turn Fault in SPMSM using Finite Element Method,” 2021 IEEE Madras Section Conference (MASCON), 2021, pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/MASCON51689.2021.9563446.
6. A. Vijay and N. P. Kumar, “Effect of Demagnetization Fault in SPMSM using Finite Element Analysis,” 2021 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Smart Technologies for Power, Energy and Control (STPEC), 2021, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/STPEC52385.2021.9718742.
7. K. S. Kashyap, P. K. N and B. P, “Application of Machine Learning for Analysis of Static Eccentricity Fault in IPMSM using Finite Element Method,” 2021 National Power Electronics Conference (NPEC), 2021, pp. 01-06, doi: 10.1109/NPEC52100.2021.9672469
8. Kripanidhi Pyasi and N Praveen Kumar, “Finite Element Analysis on Multiple IGBT Switch Open-Circuit Fault in PWM Inverter fed Induction Motor,” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 872, 2020. (ICMSMT 2020)
9. Praveen Kumar N and Isha T B, “Application of EWT for Analyzing Rotor Fault in Inverter fed Induction Motor using FEM,” Power Electronic and Renewable Energy Systems Control (PERESC 2020), IIT, Bhubaneswar, December 2020.
10. Praveen Kumar N and Isha T B, ” Application of Empirical Wavelet Transform for Analyzing Inter-turn Fault in FEM Based Closed Loop Speed Controlled Induction Motor,” 9^th IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES 2020), MNIT, Jaipur, December 2020.
11. Sadeep Sasidharan, T.B Isha, “Design, Development and Fabrication of a Switched Reluctance Motor based Ultra Light Electric Vehicle for Indian Scenario”, ICCCES, Perinthalmanna, February 2020.
12. B Hema Priya, R Karthick, B Lokprakash, S Vasanth and N Praveen Kumar, “Static Eccentricity Fault Analysis in Inverter fed Induction Motor using Finite Element Method,” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 872, 2020. (ICMSMT 2020).
13. Dasari Deekshith Kumar and N Praveen Kumar, “Dynamic torque response improvement of direct torque controlled Induction Motor,” Journal of Physics:  Conference Series, vol. 1706, 2020. (ICAPSM 2020).
14. Praveen Kumar N. and Isha T. B., FEM based Electromagnetic Signature Analysis of Winding Inter-turn Short-Circuit Fault in Inverter fed Induction Motor, CES Transactions on Electrical Machines and Systems, vol. 3, pp. 309-315, 2019.
15. Praveen Kumar N., Isha T. B., Electromagnetic Signature Study of a Closed loop Speed Controlled Three-Phase Induction Motor under Broken Rotor Bar Fault using Finite Element Method, Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 2731-2745, 2019.
16. Sreedharala Viswanath, N. Praveen Kumar, T. B. Isha, Static Eccentricity Fault in Induction Motor Drive using Finite Element Method, Advances in Electrical and Computer Technologies 2019 (ICAECT-2019), Coimbatore, India.
17. Praveen Kumar N., Vinothraj C. and Isha T. B., Effect of Wear and Tear Bearing Fault in Induction Motor Drives using FEM, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES), Chennai, India, 2018.
18. Naveen P., Praveen Kumar N., Sriganesh K., Rajesh T., Sushmitha K., Stator Fault Analysis of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor using Finite Element Method, 2019 4^th IEEE International Conference on Recent Trends on Electronics, Information & Communication Technology (RTEICT-2019).
19. Sasidharan, S. and Isha T.B., “Geometric Modification of a Switched Reluctance Motor for Minimization of Torque Ripple using Finite Element Analysis for Electric Vehicle Application”,Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review, 12(2), pp.81-86, 2019.
20. Karthic Krishna M., Kishan Kumar K., Koushik M., Sudhakaran K., Praveen Kumar N., Inter-turn Stator Winding Short Circuit Fault Analysis in Inverter fed Induction Motor using FEM, 2018 3^rd IEEE International Conference on Recent Trends in Electronics, Information & Communication Technology (RTEICT-2018). 
21. N. Praveen Kumar, G. Ashwini, V. Muthukumaran, R. Pavithra, D. Priyanka, P. Balakrishnan, PWM Inverter Switch Short Circuit Fault Analysis in Three Phase Induction Motor Using FEM, Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 640-646, Mar 2018.
22. Swathika S., Praveen Kumar N., and Isha T. B., Stator Turn-to-Turn Short-Circuit Fault Analysis in Line Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine using Finite Element Method, 2018 3^rd IEEE International Conference on Recent Trends in Electronics, Information & Communication Technology (RTEICT-2018). 
23. Vinothraj C., Praveen Kumar N., and Isha T. B., Bearing fault analysis in induction motor drives using finite element method, International Journal of Engineering and Technology(UAE), vol.7, no.3, pp.30-34, 2018.
24. Sadeep Sasidharan and T. B Isha, “SRM for EV : The Future”, Third Biennial International Conference on Power and Energy Systems: Towards Sustainable Energy, Bangalore, January 2018.
25. Sasidharan, Sadeep, and T. B. Isha. “Comparison of the Thermal Characteristics of Induction Motor, Switched Reluctance Motor and Inset Permanent Magnet Motor for Electric Vehicle Application“,International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering 12, no. 10, 746-750, 2018
26. Praveen Kumar N., Sreemathi R., Ragul Chandar K. P., Vaijayanthi V., Praveen Kumar S., PWM Inverter Switch Open-circuit Fault Analysis in Three Phase Induction Motor Drive Using FEM, 2017 International Conference on Energy, Communication, Data Analytics and Soft Computing, ICECDS, 2017.
27. Prasob K., N. Praveen Kumar, and T. B. Isha, Inter-turn short circuit fault analysis of PWM inverter fed three-phase induction motor using Finite Element Method, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies, ICCPCT, 2017.
28. Praveen Kumar N. and Isha T. B., Electromagnetic field analysis of 3-Phase induction motor drive under broken rotor bar fault condition using FEM,2016 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES), Trivandrum, India, 2016, pp.1-6.
29. Praveen Kumar N., Isha T. B. and Balakrishnan P., Radial electro-magnetic field analysis of induction motor under faulty condition using FEM, 2016 Biennial International Conference on Power and Energy Systems: Towards Sustainable Energy (PESTSE), Bangalore, 2016, pp.1-6.
30. Akhila E., Praveen Kumar N., and Isha T. B., Fuzzy logic and PI Controls in Speed Control of Induction Motor, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Springer India 2016., pp.987-1001, Jan. 2016.
31. Balakrishnan P., Isha T. B. and Praveen Kumar N., Two Stage on-board battery charger for plug-in electric vehicle applications, International Journal of Control Theory and Applications, vol.9, no.13, pp.6175-6182, 2016.
32. Anand J., Balakrishnan P., and Isha T. B., Simulation of Torque Ripple Minimization in Switched Reluctance Motor, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, vol. 10, no. 55, (spl. Issue), pp. 3548 – 3553, June 2015.
33. R. G. Krishnan, T. B. Isha and P. Balakrishnan, A Back EMF based Sensorless Speed Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor, IEEE International conference on circuit power and computing technologies (ICCPCT) – 2017, Baselios Mathews II college of engineering, Kollam, April 2017.
34. Pradyumna S. and P. Balakrishnan, Reduction of Torque Ripple in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor, International Conference on Engineering and Advancement in Technonolgy – 2018, Sri Krishna College of Technology, Coimbatore, 22-23 March 2018. [Published in Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control System (JARDC) – 2018, special issue – 03, page no. 918 – 922
35. Praveen Kumar N, Vinothraj C and Isha T B, “Effect of Wear and  Tear Bearing Fault in Induction Motor Drives using FEM,” 2018 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES), Chennai, India, 2018.
36. VishnuvardhanaSai J, P Balakrishnan and T B Isha, “Performance Analysis of Surface Mount Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine Under Different Rated Speed”, International Conference on Recent Trends in Electronics, Infromations and Communication Technology (RTEICT – 2018), Sree Venkateshwara College of Engineering, Bangalore, 18-19 May 2018
37. N Sriram Vinay, G Saisurya and P Balakrishnan, “Multiport Inverter with AC Link”, IEEE International Conference on Power, Control, Signals and Instrumentation (ICPSCI) – 2017, Saveetha Engineering College, Thandalam, Chennai, September 2017.
38. Kannan V, P Balakrishnan, and T B Isha, “A Comparative study on different control techniques on Bridgeless Interleaved AC-DC Converter for Power Factor Correction”, IEEE International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies – ICCPCT – 2016, Noor Islam University, Kanyakumari, India.
39. Anand Babu, Anupama R. Krishnan, Arvind D, Naveen S, and N. Praveen Kumar, “Speed Control of a Seperately Excited DC Motor Using FPGA,” International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, vol.10, no.55, pp.722-726, May 2015.
40. Reethu Mariam Raphael, Sreerag Veppil Sasikumar, Vaishnav Mohanan Mavilakandy, Vishnu Sudheer Menon, and N. Praveen Kumar, ”Human Detecting and Location Mapping Robot Using PIR Sensor and Velocity Motion Model,” International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, vol.10, no.10, pp.26115-26126, May 2015

Electrical Machines Lab

People

Dr. M. R. Sindhu, Dr. R. Jayabarathi

Electrical Machines Lab provides a hands-on learning environment, that bridges theoretical knowledge with practical application. Through experimentation with various electrical machines like DC motors, AC generators, transformers, and more, students gain a comprehensive understanding of machine operations, performance characteristics, and control methods. It has an additional project room where computer based data acquisition and control of machines and power systems can be implemented. This lab has Fluke make Power Quality Analyser, dSPACE Control Desk, three phase IGBT inverters, three phase AC/DC converter and AC voltage regulator, USB-6009 14-bit 48kS/s multifunction I/O and NI – DAQ mx, Faradigm Ultra capacitor 2.86F, Hall sensors, and  Digital Storage Oscilloscopes (Two channel and four channel).

DST funded research project “An Intelligent Controller based shunt Hybrid filter for Harmonic Reduction in Adjustable Speed Drives” , AMRITA seed grant project “Harmonic Analysis of Brushless DFIG”, other project works as “Real and Reactive power control using shunt and series FACTS devices”, “LabVIEW based power quality monitoring and improvement” are carried out in this lab.

Significant Research Work

• An Intelligent Controller based shunt Hybrid filter for Harmonic Reduction in Adjustable Speed Drives (DST)
• Brushless Doubly Fed Induction Generator based Wind Electric Generator
• Simplified Control Algorithm for Power Quality Improvement in Industrial Applications
• Power Quality Compensation for an Induction Motor Drive with UPQC
• A bidirectional power converter with shunt active filter for electric vehicle grid integration
• An Intelligent Control Strategy for Vehicle to Grid and Grid to Vehicle Energy Transfer
• Development of an Intelligent Controller for Vehicle to Grid(V2G)System
• Reactive power management of grid connected SCIG using STATCOM
• Real Time Energy management and bus voltage control in Solar powered standalone DC Microgrid
• Development of Instantaneous Power Estimation Algorithms for Unified Power Quality Conditioner
• Design and Implementation of Feedback Nonlinearisation Controller for Unified Power Flow Controller

Hands on Workshops on Emerging Topics

Training sessions on modern tools and technologies used in power electronics and drives to enhance practical skills of the students.

Student Projects

Real Time Energy Management in DC Microgrid

The objective of this work is to design, simulate, fabricate and implement the control of solar powered standalone DC microgrid to mitigate real time power mismatches and implemented with dSPACE real time controller.( Visvesvaraya National Level Collegiate Project Design Competition I Prize)

Three phase Static Synchronous Series Compensator

This system demonstrates three phase static synhronous series compensator, which providesvoltage compensation and power flow control.

Power Quality Enhancement in a Solar Power Integrated System(Best paper award)

This system demonstrates current harmonic elimination, reactive power compensation, power factor correction along with control over real power flow from grid to load in a solar power integrated system. The real power flow is determined by the load factor which is the percentage of real power to be shared between the grid and the Solar Photo Voltaic system.

Government Funded Research Projects

An Intelligent Controller based shunt Hybrid filter for Harmonic Reduction in Adjustable Speed Drives (Rs.17.4 Lakhs)

This project demonstrates harmonic and reactive compensation for an Adjustable Speed drive. The developed adaptive shunt hybrid filter reduces rating of the active filter and control algorithm compensates for power quality issues in real time.

Smart EV Sharing Infrastructure with Solar Powered EV Battery Swapping/Charging Stations (Rs.15 Lakhs)

The project has many highlights such as Uninterrupted Service, EV Market Promotion, Clean energy transportation, Pollution free roads , Implementable in Smart City, Value for Money, Zero Capital investment on EV, Zero Ownership Risk for rider, Near Zero Waiting time, Safe and secure Battery swapping, Scalable – Local to National.

Publications

International Journals

• Sindhu S., Sindhu M. R., T. N. P. Nambiar, Design and Implementation of Instantaneous Power Estimation Algorithm for Unified Power Conditioners, Journal of Power Electronics, Vol 19, No.3, pp.815-826, May 2019.
• Revathy V., P. Maya, M. R. Sindhu, Optimal position and minimal rating of SVC for voltage stability in power system, Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, Vol.10,05-Special issue,2018.
• Aswathi Krishna D., M. R. Sindhu, Application of Static Synchronous Compensator to Enhance Voltage Profile in IEEE Standard 5 Bus Transmission System, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol.9(30), pp. 1-7,August 2016.
• Krishnapriya P., M. R. Sindhu, Multiobjective Optimal Design and Control of Auto-tuned Passive Filter using Bacterial Foraging Algorithm to improve Power Quality and to minimize Power Losses, International Journal of Control Theory and Applications, Vol.8, Issue 5,pp. 2013-2020,April 2016.
• Aswathi Krishna D., M. R. Sindhu, Application of Static Synchronous Series Compensator to Enhance Power Transfer Capability in IEEE Standard Transmission System, International Journal of Control Theory and Applications, Vol.8, Issue 5, pp. 2029-2036, April 2016.
• M. R. Sindhu, Manjula G. Nair, T. N. P. Nambiar, Three phase Auto-tuned Shunt Hybrid Filter for harmonic and reactive power compensation, Elsevier Procedia Technology, Vol.21, pp-482-489, Nov.2015
• Sindhu S., M. R. Sindhu, T. N. P. Nambiar, An Exponential Composition Algorithm Based UPQC for Power Quality Enhancement, Elsevier Procedia Technology, Vol.21,pp-415-422, Nov.2015
• Sindhu M. R., Manjula G. Nair, An Adaptive Shunt Passive filter for Power Quality Improvement, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, ISSN 0973-4562 Vol. 10 No.1 (2015) pp. 615-621.
• Sindhu M. R., Manjula G. Nair, T. N. P. Nambiar, Dynamic Power Quality Compensator with an Adaptive Shunt Hybrid Filter, International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive System (IJPEDS) Vol. 4, No. 4, December 2014, pp. 508-516.
• Sindhu M. R, Manjula G. Nair, T. N. P. Nambiar, An ANN based Digital Controller with three phase Shunt Active Power Filter for power quality improvement, International Review of Electrical Engineering Special issue on Power quality in smart grids, December 2011.
• Sindhu. S., Sindhu. M.R., Manjula. G. Nair, Ginnes. K. John, Implementation of shunt hybrid filter using ICOSf algorithm, Asian Power Electronics Journal, Vol.5, No.1, 2011, pp.7-12.

International Conferences

• Ginnes K. John, Sindhu M. R, T. N. P. Nambiar, Hybrid VSI Compensator for AC/DC Microgrid, Proceedings of Conference TENSYMP 2019
• Sindhu, S., M. R. Sindhu, and T. N. P. Nambiar, Comparative Study of Exponential Composition Algorithm under Dynamic Conditions, IEEE International (biennial) Conference on Technological Advancements in Power & Energy– TAP Energy 2017.
• P. Maya, P. Keerthy, M. R. Sindhu, Anu G. Kumar, Real time implementation for harmonics and reactive compensation, Proceedings of International Conference on Technological Advancements in Power and Energy, 2017,pp: 1 – 6.
• Aparna K J, Sindhu M R, Jisma M, Reactive power management of grid connected SCIG using STATCOM, Proceedings of International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies (ICCPCT), 2017, pp.1-5.
• Akhiya Sanal, Vivek Mohan, M. R. Sindhu, Sasi Kottayil, Real Time Energy management and bus voltage control in Solar powered standalone DC Microgrid, 2017 IEEE Region 10 Symposium (TENSYMP 2017)
• Keerthy P., Maya P., Sindhu M. R., An Adaptive Transient Tracking Harmonic Detection method for Power Quality Improvement, 2017 IEEE Region 10 Symposium ( TENSYMP 2017)
• Sindhu M. R., Manjula G. Nair, Sindhu S., Photovoltaic Based Adaptive Shunt Hybrid Filter for Power Quality Enhancement, IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems(PEDES), December 2016, Trivandrum, India.
• Sindhu, S., M. R. Sindhu, and T. N. P. Nambiar, Implementation of Photovoltaic Integrated Unified Power Conditioner for Power Quality Enhancement, IEEE International Conference on power electronics,drives and energy systems(PEDES), December 2016, Trivandrum, India

Research Facility: Power Quality Monitoring and Enhancement

Microcontroller Boards

• Raspberry Pi 3 with Built in WiFi and Bluetooth LE
• Beagle Bone Black (REV C) Cortes A8 4G
• MBED NXPM3 LPC1768 ARM CORTEX BOARD
• SPARTAN 6 Trainer kit
• DUALCORE ARM CORTEX LPC4357 BOARD
• ARM LPC2129 CAN DEVELOPMENT BOARD
• LPC 1768 Starter Board
• ARM7 LPC 2148 Development Board
• ARDUINO UNO R3 ARDUINO DUE BOARD
• ARDUINO MEGA 2560 R3 BOARD
• MSP430F5438 EXPERIMENT KIT
• TMS 320C6713 DSP TRAINER KIT (VSK 6713)
• BLACKFIN PROCESSOR 1248346 ADSP
• LAUCHXL-F28027 C2000 PICCOLO
• STELLARIS EKS-LM3S8962 EVALUATION KIT
• TMDSEXPL 138-UNV KIT
• DOT NET MICROFRAME WORK

Robotic Kits

• ROBOTICS ARM KIT (RB-50)
• FIRE BIRD – IV
• LEGO MINDSTORM EDUCATIONAL BASE SET – 9797
• CREATE PREMIUM DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE
• (I-CREATE ROBOT)
• SPARK V ROBOT

Wireless Modems and Kits

• BLUETOOTH MODULE
• ZIG BEE – S2
• ZIG BEE APPLICATION KIT
• BLUE TOOTH APPLICATION KIT
• WI-FI DEVELOPMENT KIT
• SIMPLE LINK GPS CC4000
• Node MCU

Debugging / Programming Tools

• J-LINK USB-DRIVEN JTAG INTERFACE FOR ARM
• MPLAB REAL ICE KIT (1294851 – PROBE KIT)
• ELNEC SMART PROG2 UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMER
• MSP430-FET DEBUG TOOL

Other Modules

• EBOX 4300 MINI PC
• EBOX 48XX MINI PC
• GSM/GPRS APPLICATION KIT
• GPS MODULE (SIM 28ML)
• GSM MODEM (SIM900)

Software

• IAR EMBEDDED WORKBENCH FOR ARM BASED MCU’S
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS CE 6.0 TOOLKIT WITH R2
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED TOOLKIT WITH SP2 AND FP 2007
• Netsim v10
• Ns2/ns3

The Power Electronics Laboratory focuses on developing new converter topologies and controls for various applications, including electric vehicles, storage, renewable energy, energy efficiency, variable speed drives, and power quality. These applications include bidirectional converters, battery chargers, fuel cells, grid connected converters, microgrid converters, harmonic analysis, and electromagnetic interference (EMI).Teachers and students alike can hone their skills in power electronics in the laboratory, where they can work with a variety of power semiconductors, peripheral devices, converter circuits, and controls utilising FPGAs and microcontrollers. Undergraduate, graduate, and research students can use the power converter circuits built in-house in this lab. In addition, students study how to analyse power electronic systems using a variety of simulation tools, including MATLAB/Simulink, LTspice, and OpenModelica.

Research/Special Equipment

OPAL-RT: Power Electronics Testing HIL based on eHSx32 FPGA Solver

The OP4200 RCP system offers Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP), data acquisition and input-output (I/O) expansion capabilities in a desktop-friendly package combined with RT-LAB software. Create more advanced FPGA RCP applications by adding the RT-XSG toolbox for FPGA real-time simulation. Applications involving Hardware in the loop can be majorly handled with this OP4200.

Xilinx (EK-Z7-ZC702-G) Evaluation Kit, ZC702 Xilinx Zynq-7000 All programmable XC7Z020 CLG484-1

Microchip – dsPIC33CK Low Voltage Motor Control Board

The dsPIC33CK Low-Voltage Motor Control Board is targeted to drive a low-voltage,three-phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) or Brushless DC (BLDC) motor using the dsPIC33CK256MP508.

• Three-Phase Motor Control Power Stage with the Following Electrical Specifications:
  • Input DC voltage: 12V to 48V
  • Nominal phase RMS current: 10A at +25°C ambient temperature
• Motor Phase Current Feedbacks to Implement Field-Oriented Control (FOC) of a PMSM/BLDC Motor
• DC Bus Current Feedback for Overcurrent Protection and to Implement Single Shunt Current Reconstruction Algorithm

Semikron Three-phase Rectifier and IGBT based Inverter Stack

The inverter stack is helpful for testing thecontrol logic in various applications such as AC motor control, UPS, and grid-connected Solar inverter.

Electric Scooter

This electric scooter includes a BLDC motor, Power converter and other sensors required. Various control algorithms can be tested with this setup.
Specification:
Vehicle make: Ampere
Motor: BLDC 250 W
Battery: 48V, 7Ahr
Power Converter: Developed with IRFP460N MOSFET

Ace Kits DSPACE 1104 Kit Consisting of:

• DS1104 R&D Controller Board, MPC 8240 Power PC 603eCore, 250MHz –
• CLP1104 – Connector/LED Panel: SN: 507192

Software

• CDP1104–Control Development Package (for Processor Boards, Containing Real Time Interface, Control/Desk NG Basic+Standard Platforms, and Platform_API with USB Dongle
• Microtec PowerPC Cross Compiler with USB Dongle

TMS320LF28335 Based DSP Trainer Kit

• TMS320F28335 Digital Signal Controller
• On chip 12 bit Analog to Digital Converter with 16 input channels
• On board RS-232 Connector with line driver
• On board CAN 2.0 interface with line driver and connector
• Multiple Expansion Connectors (analog, I/O)
• On board embedded USB JTAG Controller
• 5-volt only operation with supplied AC adapter
• On board IEEE 1149.1 JTAG emulation connector
• TI F28xx Code Composer StudioTM Integrated Development Environment, Version 3.3

USB-6009 14Bit, 48 KS/s Multifunction I/O and NI-DAQ Mx

Induction motor control module It consists off:

• 3 phase IGBT based inverter (SEMIKRON)

FPGA and PWM card-zedboard make

(FPGA control software for control, monitoring and analysis – entuple 1 user) 3.7kW 4 pole 1500 rpm/2.2kw 6 pole 1000 rpm. 3 phase slipring induction motor, 415V with mechanical loading arrangement – CG make , current & voltage sensor a long with encoder for feedback and protection – v sensor , I-sensor , Encoder.

Control panel with PLC Training kit

• PLC with training kit interface with water heater & water level control process
• VFD kit motor with PLC and HM1 1HP 3 phase 1ph-1hp VFD & motor + PLC

Software

• PSCAD/EMTDC4.2
• ETAP 5.5 ETAP-AMC-12.5 ETAP
• ANSYS’ MAXWELL

Research & Consultancy

Funded Research projects

Dynamically Adaptable Model Predictive Control with Signal Decomposed Synchronizer for Inverter Dominated Microgrids (Rs.13.25 Lakhs)

Model predictive current control of grid-tied and grid-forming mode operation of inverters in Inverter Dominated Microgrid. Testing and validation through Hardware in-loop platform.

Dynamic Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Electric Vehicle

Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor used for electric Vehicle considering the effects of changes in machine parameters. Performance evaluation of dynamic control algorithm of Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor with OP4200 Opal-RT through Hardware-in-Loop testing.

About

Renewable energy integration to electric power grid is a challenge even in developed countries as the intermittency and variability of the energy sources like solar radiation and wind speed affect the essential power balance on the grid, if a large share of the demand is required to be met from renewable resources. In order to address research in this domain, the Renewable Energy Technology (RET) Lab was established. RET laboratory developed through assistance from C-WET (presently, NIWE), MNRE and DST, Government of India, equipped with hard and soft experiment systems and real field data collection systems, provides active training support to the graduate and post graduate programme. Collaborations with global academic and industrial establishments too help in imparting quality research in the lab.

People

• Faculty in Charges: Nithin S., S. R. Mohanrajan
• Supporting Staff: C. Rajinikandh

Research

Wind and solar power generation are geographically distributed and such power plants are to be connected to electric distribution network in many places. These are called micro grids. The Amrita solution involves operation of wind-solar microgrid also integrated with energy storage systems like battery and pumped hydro. A technology has been developed to automatically decide in real time to charge or discharge these storage systems in a dynamic fashion as and when required so that the power balance on the grid is always ensured – that is DEMS.

Projects

1. Development and prototyping of ICT enabled smart charging network components (2018-2020)

Project Incharge: Dr. K. K. Sasi

Co-Project Incharge: Sivraj P., Nithin S., Vijith K.

Funding Agency: DHI, Government of India & DST, Government of India – DHI TPEM Project under FAME India Scheme

2. Energy Management on Smartgrid using embedded Systems (2011-2014)

Project Incharge: Dr. K. K. Sasi

Co-Project Incharge: Dr. T. N. P. Nambiar, Prof. A. T. Devarajan, Dr. P. Supriya

Funding Agency: Indo –Swedish collaboration,

• Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India.
• VINNOVA, Sweden.

Facilities

The laboratory has a rooftop installed solar panels and wind electric generator used for training and research. A weather monitoring system provides data for such studies. The solar and wind power generated on roof top can either be connected to the battery-inverter unit,Or fed to the local grid through Grid tied inverter. The lab has a micro grid research facility developed in house. This facility is known as a Smart Micro Grid Simulator or SMGS. DST of India and VINNOVA of Sweden sponsored development of this facility.

Real Time Data Collection Units continuously monitor voltages, currents, and frequency at all nodes of the microgrid and transfer the data wirelessly to the control server.The data collected are transmitted and recorded with time stamp. The solar and wind generators connected to the SMGS make a unique research facility. This lab has wind turbine emulators fitted with all types of generators – cage induction, DFIG and permanent magnet generator.

In addition to this, the laboratory is equipped with various Software packages such as WAsp , Windpro, ETAP, DigSILENT, PowerFactory,Ansys Fluent and MATLAB etc.

Equipment Details:

Wind Turbine (300W),Fuel cell (20W),Photo Voltaic Panels (68 * 8 = 544W),Grid tied inverter, Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (500W),3 Phase Induction Motor (1.1kW),DC Shunt Motor (1.1 kW),1kVA Alternator coupled with 1.5kW DC motor and tachometer, DC rectifier (30A),SEMIKRON Inverters (Inverter + Inverter),SEMIKRON Inverters (Rectifier + Inverter), Altium Nano Board 3000, Xillinx SPARTAN 3AN, Altium Designer, Digital storage oscilloscope 4 channel, Digital storage oscilloscope 2 channel.

Publications

1. S. Nithin, K. K. Sasi. T. N. P. Nambiar, Development of a Smart Grid Simulator, Proceedings of the National conference on Power Distribution, CPRI Bangalore, 8-9 Nov 2012.
2. N. Honeth, M. Buschle, R. Lagerstrom, K. K. Sasi, S. Nithin, An Extended ArchiMate Metamodel for Microgrid Control System Architectures, Proceedings of 9^th IET International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management (APSCOM 2012). 18-21 November 2012, Hong Kong, Organized by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hong Kong, Power & Energy Section.
3. S. Nithin, P. Sivraj, K. K. Sasi, L. Robert, Development of a Real Time Data Collection Unit For Distribution Network in a Smart Grid Environment, proceedings of International conference Power and Energy systems: Towards Sustainable Energy, PESTSE 2014, Amrita School of Engineering, Bangalore, 13 -15 March 2014.
4. S. Nithin, K. K. Sasi, Robert Lagerstrom, Direct Load Control on Smart Micro Grid supported by Wireless Communication and Real Time Computation, Communicated to the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Advances in Applied Computing, ICONIAAC 2014, Amrita School of Engineering, Amritapuri.
5. D. Prasannavadana and Sasi K. Kottayil, Energy-Aware Intelligent Controller for Dynamic Energy Management on Smart Microgrid, PESTSE 2014, Amrita School of Engineering, Bangalore, 13-15 March 2014
6. D. Prasannavadana and Sasi K. Kottayil, Realization of a Smart Micro Grid Central Controller, NCPSE 2014, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, May 1-3, 2014
7. A. Vijayakumari, A. T. Devarajan, and N. Devarajan, Effect of Grid Impedance Variation on the Control of Grid Connected Converters with Synchronous Reference Frame Controllers in Micro-Grids, Accepted in Lecture Notes on Electrical Engineering. Springer, 2014.
8. M. Välja*, N. Honeth, M. Buschle, R. Lagerström, K. K. Sasi, S. Nithin, An Archimate based analysis of Microgrid Control System Architectures, Proceedings of the International conference on Embedded Systems, ICES 2014.
9. K. Deepak Karthik*, S. Nithin, E. Prabhu, Power System Frequency Estimation Technique Using Artificial Neural Network, Proceedings of the International conference on circuit, power and computing Technologies-ICCPCT 2016.
10. Sivraj P.*, Nithin S., Sasi K. Kottayil, Smart Microgrid Simulator, International Conference on Smart Grid and Smart Cities – Indian Smart Grid Week 2016, Delhi, 2016.
11. Nithin S.*,Sivraj P., Sasi K. Kottayil, Aggregation of Smart Facilities in a Smart City-A Case Study, International Conference on Smart Grid and Smart Cities – Indian Smart Grid Week 2016, Delhi, 2016.
12. S. Nithin, Vijith K., Rajinikandh C., Sasi K. Kottayil, Automated Dispatch of Wind Power On Microgrid for Voltage Regulation, Accepted for Publication in the International Journal of Automation and Smart Technology, October 2018.