Design of a versatile Half-Bridge Converter Able to Drive 6x6, 6x4, 8x6, 12x8 Switched Reluctance Generators and Motors Using Arduino

Abstract

This paper presents the studies required for the design and construction of a versatile Half-Bridge converter. This converter can drive a wide variety of machines -from one to four phases. The converter was designed mainly to drive Variable Reluctance Machines in 6x4, 6x6, 8x6 and 12x8 topologies, working as both motor and generator. The versatility of the proposed converter is its main advantage, as in both academic and industrial applications, this feature can generate financial and production time savings. An analysis was carried out among the main converter topologies to justify the choice of the Half-Bridge topology followed by a project detailing of the chosen converter. For the design and construction of this converter, only commercially available devices were considered. To control the triggering keys, the Arduino platform was used due to its easy access and low cost. After the converter power circuit definition, the circuit for communication between the sensor (encoder), the controller (Arduino), and the switches (IGBT) is presented, and the project assembly is shown at the end.