From the Editor

From the Editor: Exploring Wired and Wireless EV Charging Technologies

June 20, 2022 by Ashok Bindra

Despite global efforts, CO2 emissions, along with other harmful gases, continue to rise and transportation is a big contributor to this global warming concern. As a result, to reduce these harmful emissions, governments and policymakers around the world are pushing the adoption of electrified vehicles (EVs) via a variety of incentives. Subsequently, for passenger vehicles only, … [Read more...] about From the Editor: Exploring Wired and Wireless EV Charging Technologies

From the Editor: Utilizing Energy Harvesting to Power IoT Devices

September 1, 2021 by Ashok Bindra

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly and so also the need to power electronic devices that enable IoT. Concurrently, the emerging 5G network is further improving the performance of connected devices to further drive the growth of IoT in emerging applications. Billions of connected devices must be powered reliably. Collectively, the load on utility power will be huge. … [Read more...] about From the Editor: Utilizing Energy Harvesting to Power IoT Devices

From the Editor: Realizing Digital Replica of Megawatt Converters With Small-Scale Real-Time Simulators

June 1, 2021 by Ashok Bindra

As computational power rises and cost goes down, more and more designers are opting for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation for their high power converters and systems. It is providing the means for high-fidelity real-time simulation of the converter hardware. In short, HIL is enabling a risk-free environment for development and testing of control schemes, which is especially … [Read more...] about From the Editor: Realizing Digital Replica of Megawatt Converters With Small-Scale Real-Time Simulators

From the Editor: Making Power Electronic Systems Smarter With AI

March 1, 2021 by Ashok Bindra

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not new and has evolved for last several decades. However, in the power electronics world it is gaining momentum now and is advancing rapidly in modern power electronic systems (PES). It is providing very powerful tools for design, simulation, control, estimation, fault diagnostics, and faulttolerant control of PES, thereby enabling modern smart … [Read more...] about From the Editor: Making Power Electronic Systems Smarter With AI

From the Editor: Robotics Power Systems Present Many Challenges

December 1, 2020 by Ashok Bindra

Designing and developing a power delivery system for a robot, both static or mobile, is challenging as there are several factors that must be taken into consideration. Besides powering a broad variety of loads that could be part of a typical robot, such as high-power artificial intelligence (AI) computing systems, motor drives, sensors, RF communication systems, logic boards, … [Read more...] about From the Editor: Robotics Power Systems Present Many Challenges

A technology revolution is unfolding around us as every major mode of transportation is in some stage of electrification, whether on land, sea, or in the air. All of these transportation modes depend on electric machines that play critical roles in both propulsion systems as well as in a wide variety of accessory equipment. Fuel economy and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants are major driving forces for electrified transportation. Despite the significant differences between these varied transportation modes, they all share strong motivations to make their electric machines and adjustable-speed drives smaller, lighter, and more efficient. An excellent example of this trend for the power electronic drives is provided by comparing the drive units in the Tesla S (2012) and Tesla 3 (2017). As shown in the side-by-side views provided in Figure 1, the drive unit shrank in size from an enclosure that matched the size of its main traction motor to a much smaller unit that, at first sight, appears to be a non-descript end-bell attached to one end of the motor. Rather than focusing here on how this impressive reduction in mass and volume was achieved (addressed later in this article), the key point here is that similar technology trends are under way in many of the other transportation modes as well, making electrified transportation increasingly appealing and competitive in the process.