A building-block-based power electronics instructional laboratory

This paper describes a new power electronics instructional laboratory based on the building block (switching pole) methodology. This methodology provides a common basis for describing all practical converter topologies and gives the student a unified top-down presentation of power electronic converters. The novel features of this laboratory include: a unifying building-block methodology (the Power Pole), tight coupling with lectures, use of low voltages (<50V) for enhanced safety, and ease of use and low cost. A key component of the laboratory is the use of a reconfigurable circuit board (the Power Pole board) which contains the Power Pole circuit as well as on-board isolated drive circuits, PWM generation, fault protection, output filter, and switched load. The detailed circuit board layout is described and several examples of its use are presented.