Rotonix Hong Kong Limited

The Penn State Research Foundation

Tesla Motors, Inc.

Pentadyne Power Corporation

Other

University of Michigan

Lightning Packs, LLC

Beaver Aerospace & Defense, Inc.

Pentadyna Power Corporation

Heath Fred Hofmann

Claude Michael Kalev

Claude Khalizadeh

Andrew David Baglino

Troy Adam Nergaard

Lawrence Craig Rome

Robert W M Smith

Christopher Mark Rogan

Greg Grant Solberg

Karl Martin Reichard

Elisha M Hughes

Nathaniel John Hobbs

Tony L Shearer

Guanghui Wang

A brushless, self-excited synchronous field winding machine is presented. The AC stator is configured with four or more phases to produce independent magnetic fields at different spatial harmonics. Windings in the rotor are configured to magnetically couple to the different spatial harmonics produced by the AC stator. More specifically, an oscillating field generated by the stator magnetically couples to the excitation winding on the rotor. This induces an AC voltage which results in current flowing through the field winding of the rotor. The magnitude of the field current is therefore controlled by the magnitude of the oscillating field. The AC stator also produces a magnetic field at a different spatial harmonic which magnetically couples to field winding of the rotor. This component will interact with the field current to produce torque. With this approach, the power density of the electric machine is significantly increased as compared to conventional field winding designs.

Brushless, self-excited synchronous field-winding machine

An electromechanical flywheel machine includes a flywheel mass and a motor-generator having a rotor rotatable about a stationary inner stator having stator windings.

Electromechanical flywheel device

Advances in robot performance have been limited by a lack of advances in the mature field of battery technology. The focus of robotic power systems must expand from the use of single energy devices to the inclusion of multiple devices which can be optimized for a robotic platform. The challenge lies in the development of the hardware and control algorithms for a scalable power delivery architecture which satisfies the power and energy requirements of most unmanned ground vehicles. This invention is directed to an architecture which is easily scalable and facilitates the use of a wide variety of energy storage/generation devices, while focusing on the system control algorithm and its stability. The experimental results for an example system are presented demonstrating that the architecture functions properly when faced with real world robotic power demands.

Hybrid power and energy for robots

An electromechanical flywheel machine includes a flywheel mass and a motor-generator having a rotor rotatable about a stationery inner stator having stator windings.

Electromechanical flywheels

A motor-generator utilizes a multi-part rotor encircling a stator, the rotor including a plurality of rotor segments.

Homopolar motor-generators

Electromechanical flywheel

Homopolar motor-generator

A flywheel power supply includes a motor-generator having a polyphase stator.

Three plus three phase flywheel electric power supply

An electricity-generating backpack that is substantially lighter in weight, has the multiple springs replaced with one large spring whose spring constant can be adjusted in the field in seconds, and replaces a DC generator with a brushless AC generator that permits approximately 70% generator efficiency and the generation of up to 20 W of electrical power by converting mechanical energy to electrical power. A device is provided that always removes some electricity, but not too much, as necessary to extract large levels of the electricity while controlling damping by providing electrical damping circuits including a DC-DC converter designed to emulate a desired load at its input terminals. Additional electricity generating E-MOD devices may be used for generating additional power by hooking an E-Mod device to a generator and to the backpack belt at the wearer's hip and includes a wand that fits against the wearer's femur so as to move through a range of motion as the patient walks. The system also provides multiple possibilities of electricity generation when not walking including a light-weight bicycle ergometer which can be mounted to the backpack frame and generate very high power levels (100 W). The electricity generated and stored by the backpack may be used to charge batteries and to power a number of devices that may be carried by the backpack, such as a Sterling Cooler System that is powered by the backpack's stored power to provide cooling power for cooling items carried by the backpack.

Backpack based system for human electricity generation and use when off the electric grid

A motor in an electric vehicle can be controlled by receiving a torque command value, calculating a first flux value corresponding to a determinable efficiency of the electric vehicle at the torque command value, calculating a first torque-producing current value as a function of the torque command value and of the first flux value, and using the first flux value and the first torque-producing current value to control the motor to propel the electric vehicle.

Varying flux versus torque for maximum efficiency

A voltage estimation system for motor control feedback is described. The system may include one or more control modules which may generate voltage commands. An overmodulation or 'clipping' module receiving a voltage command can generate a clipped voltage. Rather than measuring directly, a voltage estimator may estimate the clipped voltage based on the duty cycle command to the inverter. This estimated voltage may then be used by a flux estimator to estimate a flux value. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Voltage estimation feedback of overmodulated signal for an electrical vehicle

Three plus three phase flywheel power supply

The present invention provides an electro-mechanical energy exchange system with a variable speed synchronous reluctance motor-generator having an all-metal rotor. A bi-directional AC-to-DC electric power converter interconnects the motor-generator with a DC bus. First and second hybrid controllers provide current regulation for the motor-generator and voltage regulation for the DC bus. Use of both feedback and feedforward control elements provides a controller particularly suited for operating high speed devices.

Feedforward controller for synchronous reluctance machines

The present invention provides an electromechanical energy exchange system with a variable speed synchronous reluctance motor-generator having an all-metal rotor. A bi-directional AC-to-DC electric power converter interconnects the motor-generator with a DC bus. First and second hybrid controllers provide current regulation for the motor-generator and voltage regulation for the DC bus. Use of both feedback and feedforward control elements provides a controller particularly suited for operating high speed devices.

Growing community of inventors

State College, PA, United States of America

Heath Fred Hofmann