The Advanced Electronic Drives course aims to provide engineering students with a knowledge about efficient energy conversion techniques employing power electronic circuits and an understanding of how such power electronic circuits could be employed in driving electrical machines. Throughout the course, a strong emphasis is placed on fundamental principles, design techniques and drive applications for power levels up to about 1kW combining state-of-the-art technologies with conventional technologies and current practices. Students from this course will be expected to gain a good understanding of the electrical and switching characteristics of modern power electronic devices, to appreciate the use of such power devices in modern static power conversion systems, to know fundamental techniques of power conversion circuits in applications such as motor drives and to acquire a detailed understanding of the operation of the basic topology of two- and four-quadrant power converters and inverters. By the end of the semester, students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge about power semiconductor devices to select devices for a range of applications and to select and size high performance gate drive circuits for high speed switching applications, analyze and design switching power processing units to meet the electrical specifications of the motors, to evaluate pro and cons of different pulse-width modulation techniques on the driving performances, to gain awareness of the electromagnetic interference problems associated with power electronic systems and mitigating them by applying solutions based on appropriate analytical models.

After completing the course, the student shall demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: ? the advantages of power electronic systems in most of the current energy conversion applications ? the concepts and operating principles of reversible and bidirectional switch-mode converters for motor driving applications ? the figures of merit that drives the design and optimization of the power converters ? the structures of basic two- and four-quadrant DC-DC power converters (half- and full-bridge converters) ? the concept of pulse-width-modulation (PWM) in two- and four-quadrant DC-DC switch-based converters ? the architectures of single-phase and three-phase DC-AC (inverters) power converters ? the synthesis of alternating signals using the most common modulation techniques such as PWM, square-wave modulation, and space-vector modulation ? the operating principles of stepper motors and the architectures of power electronic circuits required to drive them ? the concepts of brushless DC (BLDC) motors and the topologies of their power electronic drives ? the basic notions on piezoelectric actuators and the architectures of power electronic circuits required to drive them ? the static and dynamic characteristics of the state-of-the-art power semiconductor devices such as MOSFETs and IGBTs ? the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) problems associated with power electronic systems In terms of general abilities or skills, the following areas will be worked upon throughout the course: ? ability to read the data-sheets of commercial power devices extracting useful information to identify the best device to meet certain specifications ? ability to investigate the gate drive circuit requirements for the power devices ? ability to analyze the most common power converter topologies for motor driving applications ? ability to analyze certain advanced topologies of power converters ? ability to analyze signals generated using the most common modulation techniques ? ability to investigate the performance parameters, to analyze DC-DC and inverter circuits and to balance pro and cons of the different kind of architectures ? ability to conduct experiments, to analyze and interpret the results. This capability will be dealt with during the laboratory practical sessions ? ability to work cooperatively in a team by means of the development of mini-projects and laboratory practical sessions ? ability to communicate (in both oral and written form) with the engineering community regarding power electronic system confidently and effectively

Attendance of this module requires fluent spoken and written English as a necessary pre-requisite: all lectures and all study material will be in English. Standard mathematics for engineers is sufficient. It is assumed that students taking this course already have knowledge and understanding of the basic analytical techniques and methods to analyze electrical circuits and analog and digital electronic circuits. Basic concepts of solid state devices and of signal theory are helpful. It would be an advantage if students would have a prior basic knowledge of basic power electronic concepts.

1. Introduction to the course (lectures 3 hrs) - definition of electronic drives - bi-directionality of power flow: motor and generator operating modes - quadrant of operation of drives - basic notions and equivalent electric circuit of DC and AC actuators 2. Survey of the state of the art about power semiconductor devices (lectures 4.5 hrs; exercises 6 hrs) - power diodes (PN, PIN) and Schottky diodes - power MOSFETs (Double Diffused MOS) - IGBTs - Data-sheet parameters and gate driver characteristics 3. Power electronic converters for stepper motors (lectures 4.5 hrs; laboratory 6hrs) - Operating principle and classification of stepper motors: variable reluctance, permanent magnets and hybrid. Mechanical and electrical characteristics. Unipolar and bipolar steppers - Power electronic drives for steppers : L/R, R/L drives, asymmetrical bridge 4. The switching power pole as the main building block of any hard-switched power converters (lectures 4.5 hrs ) - resistive, inductive and capacitive loads - the switching pole configuration, the unitary switching function - buck and boost operating mode and the main figures of merit - pulse-width modulator 5. Two-quadrant and four quadrant DC-DC converters (lectures 4.5 hrs; exercises 1.5 hrs) - architecture and operating principles - state of conduction of transistors according to current direction flow - unipolar (three-level) and bipolar (two-level) PWM switching modulations - practical implementation: the half bridge and the full-bridge bridge (H-bridge) - dead time influence, output current ripple calculations 6. Power electronic converters for piezoelectric actuators (lectures 1.5 hrs, exercises 4.5 hrs ) - operating principles and classifications of piezo-actuators - Switch-mode power electronic drives for piezo-actuators. 7. Power electronic converters for brushless DC motors (BLDC) (lectures 6 hrs; laboratory 3hrs ) - operating principles and classifications of BLDC motors. - Switch-mode power electronic drives for BLDC motors. 8. DC-AC power electronic converters: inverters (lectures 10.5 hrs ) - Classification of inverters and performance parameters - Single-phase inverters. Sinusoidal-PWM, over-modulated and square-wave inverters: topologies and output spectrum characteristics - Derivation of voltage-cancellation inverters - Three-phase inverters: Sinusoidal- PWM, over-modulated and square-wave inverters: topologies and output spectrum characteristics. - Third harmonic injection and space-vector modulation techniques

This is a 6 credit module then it has 60 classroom hours that are generally divided into 39 lecture hours, 12 exercitation hours and 9 laboratory hours. Lectures are mainly delivered by using the chalkboards, even though complicated drawing and some animations could be provided by projecting slides. Exercitations consists of numerical exercises that are focused on the application of theoretical concepts in order to bond knowledge with skills. Laboratory practical sessions allow to verify the theory on the basis of experimental measurements.

The learning material used in the lectures, exercitations and lab is made available through the course website. Students should either download and print the files before the lecture and use the copy to facilitate taking notes. More precisely, the reading materials consisting on the slides projected during classes and the lecture notes covering the topics described in the course will be provided at the beginning of the course. Some more materials like technical papers, data-sheets and application notes will be also delivered to the students. Reference textbooks that cover specific parts discussed during classes or other sources to deepen the understanding of some topics will be suggested during the course.

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova orale facoltativa;

Exam: Written test; Optional oral exam;

... The achieved learning outcomes will be assessed by a final examination. This consists of a 30 minutes oral session related to the whole program and to all the subjects discussed during classes, exercises and laboratory. The objective of the examination is to verify the competence of the students to discuss the theory and their ability to analyze practical circuits and systems. Final grade reflects achievement of course goals. A list of mini-project ideas is presented to the students in the first weeks of the course usually consisting on the simulation or design of specific electronic drives. Students can chose one of the listed topics, optionally and on a voluntary basis, in order to have the possibility to get additional marks on the final grade. Students doing the mini-projects should terminate their work by the end of the course by delivering a written report and describing the obtained results in classroom by slide presentation.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.