Search Results (24)

A compact millimeter-wave radar system operating at 33 GHz is presented for integration on small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and for ground-based counter-UAS reconnaissance. The design is specifically motivated by civil-sector agricultural applications, where large-payload crop-dusting and precision-spraying drones operating under FAA 14 CFR Part 137 require lightweight sense-and-avoid radar that conforms aerodynamically to existing aircraft or ground vehicles. The system is based on a 36-element hemispherical conformal phased array of crossed half-wave dipole radiators that generate right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) on transmit and selectively receives left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) echoes from targets, providing passive first-stage suppression of co-polarized rain and ground clutter. A Linearly Constrained Minimum Variance (LCMV) digital beamformer, applied to per-element analog-to-digital converter (ADC) outputs, delivers closed-form beam weights that enforce a distortionless response at each scan direction while globally minimizing sidelobe power. The formulation resolves the main-beam drift caused by the ill-conditioned re-scaling step in iterative Chebyshev tapering, achieving sidelobe levels below $-20$ dB with main-beam peaks within $0.1$° of their commanded angles across all evaluated positions. Mutual coupling between array elements is modeled analytically using the induced-EMF method, yielding a $36\times 36$ impedance matrix whose off-diagonal entries are at most 8.2% of the element self-impedance at the minimum inter-element separation of 2.70 $\lambda$. A closed-form decoupling matrix is applied to the receive manifold prior to LCMV weight computation. Seven simultaneous independent receive beams covering $0$°–$60$° elevation are formed from a single data snapshot. A Scaled Conjugate Gradient neural network classifier, trained on radar-equation-scaled micro-Doppler features following Swerling I–IV radar cross-section (RCS) fluctuation statistics, achieves overall classification accuracy above 85% across five target classes. The five classes comprise two bird-signature classes (SW-I and SW-II), two UAV-signature classes (SW-III and SW-IV), and a clutter class. The design is entirely simulation-based; experimental validation using a sub-array prototype is identified as the primary direction for future work. Full article

This paper proposes a single-stage three-phase AC-DC converter based on an LLC resonant topology utilizing a front-end matrix switch. Unlike traditional two-stage solutions, the proposed topology synthesizes a fluctuating equivalent DC voltage from the three-phase input, achieving direct power conversion with high efficiency. To maintain a stable DC output voltage against the time-varying input, a trajectory-based Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) control strategy is developed. By employing State-Plane Analysis (SPA), the operational trajectory is divided into four calculation segments, allowing precise derivation of the switching frequency and duty cycles for both boost and buck modes within a single line cycle. Furthermore, to improve power density and reduce parasitic parameters, a high-frequency planar inductor with interleaved windings and a planar transformer are designed for 500 kHz operation. A pipeline control architecture based on a single DSP is implemented to handle the complex real-time computations. A 500 W prototype is built and tested under 100 V input and 130 V output conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that the converter achieves a peak efficiency of 97%, a power factor of 0.99, and a grid current Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of 3.95%, validating the effectiveness of the proposed topology and control scheme. Full article

This paper proposes a single-phase AC-AC solid-state transformer (SST) that eliminates bulky energy storage components. The proposed matrix-type structure comprises a line-frequency (LF) rectifier, a half-bridge (HB) LLC resonant converter, a buck–boost converter, and an LF inverter. The HB LLC resonant converter not only achieves high efficiency at unity voltage gain but also provides high-frequency (HF) isolation as a DC transformer (DCX). Meanwhile, the buck–boost converter ensures precise voltage regulation. The replacement of traditional DC-link electrolytic capacitors with small film capacitors effectively suppresses the second-harmonic power ripple, leading to a significant improvement in both power density and operational reliability. Experimental results from a 1 kW prototype demonstrate high-quality sinusoidal input and output, a wide range of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) operations, and stable output voltage control. Full article

The increased penetration of power electronics interfaced resources in modern power systems is unlocking new opportunities and challenges. New concepts like multiport converters can further enhance the efficiency and power density of power electronics-based solutions. The triple active bridge is an isolated multiport converter with soft switching and high voltage gain that can integrate different sources, storage, and loads, or act as a building block for modular systems. However, the triple active bridge suffers from power flow cross-coupling, which affects its dynamic performance if it is not removed or mitigated. Unlike the extensive literature on two-port power converters, studies on modeling and control comparison for multiport converters are still lacking. Therefore, this paper presents and compares different modeling and decoupling control approaches applied to the triple active bridge converter, highlighting their benefits and limitations. The converter operation and modulation are introduced, and modeling and control strategies based on the single phase shift power flow control are detailed. The switching model, generalized full-order average model, and the reduced-order model derivations are presented thoroughly, and a comparison reveals that first harmonic approximations can be detrimental when modeling the triple active bridge. Furthermore, the model accuracy is highly sensitive to the operating point, showing that the generalized average model better represents some dynamics than the lossless reduced-order model. Furthermore, three decoupling control strategies are derived aiming to mitigate cross-coupling effects to ensure decoupled power flow and improve system stability. To assess their performance, the TAB converter is subjected to power and voltage disturbances and parameter uncertainty. A comprehensive comparison reveals that linear PI controllers with an inverse decoupling matrix can effectively control the TAB but exhibit large settling time and voltage deviations due to persistent cross-coupling. Furthermore, the decoupling matrix is highly sensitive to inaccuracies in the converter’s model parameters. In contrast, linear active disturbance rejection control and sliding mode control based on a linear extended state observer achieve rapid stabilization, demonstrating strong decoupling capability under disturbances. Furthermore, both control strategies demonstrate robust performance under parameter uncertainty. Full article

In this paper, the authors consider a problem with comprehensive properties in terms of form and content in the space ${\mathcal{L}}_2\left[\left(a,b\right)\times \left(\mathrm{c},\mathrm{d}\right)\right]\times C\left[0,T\right],T<1$. In terms of time form, we assume that the time phase delay is implicitly contained in a nonlinear differential integral equation. The positional part is considered in two dimensions, and the position’s kernel is a general singular kernel, many different forms of which will be derived. In terms of content, all of the previously established numerical techniques are only appropriate for studying special cases of the kernel separately but are not suitable for studying the general kernel. This led to the use of the Toeplitz matrix method, which deals with the kernel in its extended nonlinear form and the special kernels will be studied as applications of the method. Moreover, this method has the advantage of converting all single integrals into regular integrals that can be easily solved. Additionally, the researchers examine the solution’s existence, uniqueness, and convergence in this paper. The error and its stability are also studied. At the end of the research, the authors studied some numerical applications of some of the singular kernels derived from the general kernel, examining the approximation error in each application separately. Full article

Compared with the line-frequency transformer (LFT), the emerging power electronic transformers (PETs) have gained wide concerns due to the significant merits of higher power density, higher reliability, more flexibility, and multiple functions. However, the need for bulky energy storage elements, multi-stage power conversion and reduced conversion efficiency, and the intrinsic twice-frequency pulsating power issue are the main disadvantages of the conventional single-phase PETs. To overcome the above shortcomings of conventional single-phase PETs, this paper develops a matrix-type single-phase AC-AC PET without bulky energy storage elements. The proposed PET consists of a line-frequency commutated rectifier, a half-bridge LLC resonant converter with a fixed switching frequency, a boost converter, and a line-frequency commutated inverter. The LLC operates efficiently with unity voltage gain and acts as a high-frequency isolated DC transformer (DCX). The boost converter provides AC output voltage regulation function and the line-frequency commutated inverter unfolds the output voltage of the boost converter to generate the sinusoidal AC output voltage. As a result, high power density, reduced power conversion stages, direct AC-AC power conversion without twice-frequency pulsating power, high conversion efficiency, and high reliability are achieved. The experimental results on a 1kW PET prototype show that sinusoidal input current and output voltage, ZVS of the LLC stage, and output voltage regulation capability are realized. The experimental results verify the correctness and feasibility of the presented methods. Full article

A novel piezoresistive cantilever microprobe (PCM) with an integrated electrothermal or piezoelectric actuator has been designed to replace current commercial PCMs, which require external actuators to perform contact-resonance imaging (CRI) of workpieces and avoid unwanted “forest of peaks” observed at large travel speed in the millimeter-per-second range. Initially, a PCM with integrated resistors for electrothermal actuation (ETA) was designed, built, and tested. Here, the ETA can be performed with a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge, which converts mechanical strain into electrical signals by boron diffusion in order to simplify the production process. Moreover, a new substrate contact has been added in the new design for an AC voltage supply for the Wheatstone bridge to reduce parasitic signal influence via the EAM (Electromechanical Amplitude Modulation) in our homemade CRI system. Measurements on a bulk Al sample show the expected force dependence of the CR frequency. Meanwhile, fitting of the measured contact-resonance spectra was applied based on a Fano-type line shape to reveal the material-specific signature of a single harmonic resonator. However, noise is greatly increased with the bending mode and contact force increasing on viscoelastic samples. Then, to avoid unspecific peaks remaining in the spectra of soft samples, cantilevers with integrated piezoelectric actuators (PEAs) were designed. The numbers and positions of the actuators were optimized for specific CR vibration modes using analytical modeling of the cantilever bending based on the transfer-matrix method and Hertzian contact mechanics. To confirm the design of the PCM with a PEA, finite element analysis (FEA) of CR probing of a sample with a Young’s modulus of 10 GPa was performed. Close agreement was achieved by Fano-type line shape fitting of amplitude and phase of the first four vertical bending modes of the cantilever. As an important structure of the PCM with a PEA, the piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge had to have suitable doping parameters adapted to the boundary conditions of the manufacturing process of the newly designed PCM. Full article

This study introduces a novel uninterruptible power supply (UPS) configuration that integrates active power filter (APF) capabilities within a single-phase matrix converter (SPMC) framework. Power disruptions, particularly affecting critical loads, can lead to substantial economic damages. Historically, conventional UPS systems utilized dual separate converters to function as a rectifier and an inverter, without incorporating any power factor correction (PFC) mechanisms. Such configurations suffered from diminished power density, compromised reliability, and spatial limitations. To address these issues, this research proposes an enhanced UPS design that incorporates APF features into the SPMC. The focus of this investigation is on the efficiency of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) conversion and the reverse process utilizing this advanced UPS model. The SPMC is selected to supplant the rectifier and inverter units traditionally employed in UPS architectures. A novel integrated switching strategy is formulated to facilitate the operation of the UPS in either rectifier (charging) or inverter (discharging) modes, contingent upon the operational state. The performance and efficacy of the devised circuit design and switching technique are substantiated through simulations conducted in MATLAB/Simulink 2019 and empirical evaluations using a test rig. The findings demonstrate that the voltage generated is sinusoidal and synchronized with the supply current, thereby minimizing the total harmonic distortion (THD) and enhancing both the power factor and the transition efficiency of the UPS system between its charging and discharging states. Full article

The modern distribution network system is gradually becoming more complex and diverse, and traditional fault location methods have difficulty in quickly and accurately locating the fault location after a single-phase ground fault occurs. Therefore, this study proposes a new solution based on the Markov transfer field and deep learning to predict the fault location, which can accurately predict the location of a single-phase ground fault in the distribution network. First, a new phase-mode transformation matrix is used to take the fault current of the distribution network as the modulus 1 component, avoiding complex calculations in the complex field; then, the extracted modulus 1 component of the current is transformed into a Markov transfer field and converted into an image using pseudo-color coding, thereby fully exploiting the fault signal characteristics; finally, the Darknet-19 network is used to automatically extract fault features and predict the distance of the fault occurrence. Through simulations on existing models and training and testing with a large amount of data, the experimental results show that this method has good stability, high accuracy, and strong anti-interference ability. This solution can effectively predict the distance of ground faults in distribution networks. Full article

Single-phase solid-state transformers (SSTs) have the advantages of a compact structure, higher reliability, and multiple functions, and have been widely studied. However, bulky energy storage elements and inherent ripple power with double-grid frequency issues are the main disadvantages of conventional single-phase SSTs. This paper presents a single-phase matrix-type AC-AC SST eliminating ripple power with double-grid frequency. The presented SST consists of a line-frequency-commutated rectifier without bulky DC-link capacitors, an LLC resonant converter, a buck converter, and a line-frequency-commutated inverter. The LLC operates efficiently with a fixed voltage gain, and the buck converter provides a voltage regulation function. As a result, high conversion efficiency, high power density, and potentially high reliability are achieved. A 1 kW SST prototype is developed and tested to validate the feasibility and functionality of the proposed methods. Full article

In the study of non-intrusive load monitoring, using a single feature for identification can lead to insignificant differentiation of similar loads; however, multi-feature fusion can pool the advantages of different features to improve identification accuracy. Based on this, this paper proposes a recognition method based on feature fusion and matrix heat maps, using V-I traces, phase and amplitude of odd harmonics, and fundamental amplitude. These are converted into matrix heat maps, which can retain both large and small eigenvalues of the same feature for different loads and can retain different features. The matrix heat map is recognized by using SE-ResNet18, which avoids the problem of the classical CNN depth being too deep, causing network degradation and being difficult to train, and achieves trauma-free monitoring of home loads. Finally, the model is validated using the PLAID and REDD datasets, and the average recognition accuracy is 96.24% and 96.4%, respectively, with significant recognition effects for loads with similar V-I trajectories and multi-state loads. Full article

The popularity of multiphase drives is increasing due to the growing interest in drives with more than three phases. One promising topology is the multiphase matrix converters, which enable the implementation of a single-stage AC/AC power conversion system with bidirectional power flow capability. In this paper, we present the implementation of indirect control for a practical sample of the direct matrix converter. To reduce the overall cost of the control solution for these types of converters, we utilized low-cost FPGA and DSP. The usage of only DSP itself was not possible due to low number of available PWM output needed for 3 × 5 MxC driving. Another reason is commutation, which must be precise and fast to avoid any hazardous states in the converter. Due to these problems, the authors decided to implement an algorithm of a combination of DSP and FPGA, where FPGA is used for time critical operations. The indirect algorithm treats the converter as two separate parts, the rectifier and the inverter, with the DC-LINK being fictitious. The matrix converter is composed of compact modules, and the entire system is verified. The practical verification demonstrates that matrix converters can produce a wide range of output frequencies and achieve input power factor control. Finally, we compare and review the practical model with the simulation model, examining efficiency and other parameters. Full article

To extract the phase information from multiple receivers, the conventional sound source localization system involves substantial complexity in software and hardware. Along with the algorithm complexity, the dedicated communication channel and individual analog-to-digital conversions prevent an increase in the system’s capability due to feasibility. The previous study suggested and verified the single-channel sound source localization system, which aggregates the receivers on the single analog network for the single digital converter. This paper proposes the improved algorithm for the single-channel sound source localization system based on the Gaussian process regression with the novel feature extraction method. The proposed system consists of three computational stages: homomorphic deconvolution, feature extraction, and Gaussian process regression in cascade. The individual stages represent time delay extraction, data arrangement, and machine prediction, respectively. The optimal receiver configuration for the three-receiver structure is derived from the novel similarity matrix analysis based on the time delay pattern diversity. The simulations and experiments present precise predictions with proper model order and ensemble average length. The nonparametric method, with the rational quadratic kernel, shows consistent performance on trained angles. The Steiglitz–McBride model with the exponential kernel delivers the best predictions for trained and untrained angles with low bias and low variance in statistics. Full article

The development of single-phase symmetrical bipolar voltage gain matrix converters (MC) is growing rapidly as they find their application in power systems for dynamic restoration of line voltages, high voltage AC–DC converters, and variable frequency controllers for many industrial processes. However, the existing trend in matrix converter technology is a buck–boost operation that has inherently serious issues of high voltage and current surges or stresses. This is a big source of the high voltage and current rating of semiconductor switching devices. There is also a problem of high ripples both for voltage as well for current, requiring large size of filtering capacitors and inductors. The non-symmetrical control of the voltage gain increases the control complication. A large count of operating transistors is critical regarding their cost, size, and power conversion losses, as the space and cost required by their gate control circuits are much larger than the size and cost of the switching transistors. Thus, in this research work, a new single-phase MC is introduced only employing six fully controlled switching devices, ensuring similar operation or outputs as is obtained from the existing topologies that require the use of eight or more fully controlled switching devices, and the reduction by two or more switching transistors helps to compact the overall size and lower the overall cost. The separation in its voltage buck and boost operation enables smooth control of the voltage gain through duty cycle control. The low values of the voltage and current surges reduce the power rating and losses of the switching devices. The flow of the current in the filtering inductor is kept unidirectional to avoid the current interruption and reversal problem once the operation of the converter is abruptly switched from inverting to non-inverting and vice versa. All these factors are comprehensively detailed through the circuit’s description and comparative analysis. Simulation and practical results are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the developed circuit topology. Full article

In traditional power systems, a dedicated communication channel is utilized to transfer the frequency measurements. With the deregulation and reconstruction of power systems, the information is sent through a shared communication network that makes time delays unavoidable in load frequency control (LFC) systems. With the existence of time delays, the LFC system becomes a standard time delay system that complicates the stability analysis and controller synthesis. In this paper, we present a new approach for analyzing the stability and determining the delay margin of the LFC system. By introducing a new variable, the transcendental equation is converted to nonlinear equations. To find the crossing frequencies, the nonlinear equations are solved, which is simpler than solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. A single-area and a multi-area LFC system are selected as case studies. The new method accurately determines the delay margin of the LFC system with phase and gain margin. The effect of the PI controller gains on the delay margin is also considered. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to discover the effects of the system parameters on the delay margin, and it is found that the primary loop parameters have a powerful influence on the delay margin. The stability region of the LFC system is also clearly identified through the proposed method. The influence of the system parameters on the stability region is studied. Compared to the published methods in the literature, the proposed method has a simpler structure while giving more accurate results. Full article