Electric Machine for Lab Course
Problem statement
Imagine leaving an electrical engineering lecture feeling confused, not knowing how the material you just saw could be applied. You may lose interest, or feel unprepared for future electrical endeavors. To set students up for success in a future career or research position, hands-on experience with electric machines is vital for developing their practical skills and intuition. ECE 504 is an electric machine drives lab course where electrical engineering master’s students learn to apply standard control algorithms and hardware systems used to drive different types of electric motors. These students are in need of a user-friendly machine that is compatible with a high-performance motor drive system. Faculty who teach this class at WEMPEC have voiced their dissatisfaction with current solutions, noting that previous groups have not failed; rather, the requirements for the class have shifted. The intended use of these motors will be learning how to drive and control them, rather than just building a motor. They feel that an entirely new approach to this lab class is warranted to better align with these educational goals. Rather than using off-the-shelf electric machines, they are seeking to create customized machines that can be made in-house. These machines should be more accessible, powerful, and sophisticated enough to function as near-commercial, realistic drives. The most notable difference from a typical off-the-shelf machine will be the ability for students to understand the construction of the machine, and directly view the insides of it during operation. We intend to provide such an instructional tool for professors of ECE 504, as well as a blueprint to build more machines for future use.
Team members
Alec Marshall – communicator
Andrea Relucio – admin
Shubh Arora – accountant
Sarah Neu – facilitator
Client
Pia Strampp
UW – Electrical & Computer Engineering