Name of Sponsoring Organization: University of South Florida (EE)
Sponsor Point of Contact (name): Dr. Zhixin Miao
Email Address:
Name of Technical Mentor (i.e. Subject Matter Expert):
TM Email Address:
Project Title: Impedance Measurement of a three phase Grid Connected System voltage source converter
Required EE Area(s) of Expertise: (1) Electrical Circuits (2) Digital Signal Processing (4) Embedded Systems (5) Power Electronics (6) Power Systems.
Brief Project Description: The project is designed to enable students to learn about real-time measurements to obtain the characteristics properties of a power system, especially power electronics interfaced renewable energy resources, such as PV, wind, etc. The project is about designing an algorithm to measure the impedance (admittance) of a network by capturing the current and voltage measurements at some specific location. The impedance characteristics are an essential tool to study the system under consideration, especially for understanding the stability margins and power system protections. Here, the project aims to obtain the impedance of a 3 phase grid-connected voltage source converter (VSC). The system and the impedance measurement algorithm will be implemented using Texas Instruments microcontrollers and Raspberry Pi. First, proper simulations will be performed to outline the algorithm before moving to the hardware implementation. A team of 4 students has been envisioned: 1) Simulation modeling, 2) Microcontroller Implementations, 3) Raspberry Pi programming, 4) Result analysis.
Major system products expected from this project: 1) A series of electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations for grid connected VSC, 2) Algorithm to obtain impedance of the network in microcontroller 3) Interfacing two different signal processing devices to work as one unit.
Parts of the project that “Engineering Design” is expected (e.g., mathematical calculations and/or verification simulations): 1) The developed system is expected to have the capability to measure the impedance of the grid connected voltage source converter. 2) The results obtain from the hardware implementation should be within acceptable error limit with the simulations.
The level of support (Time: technical guidance, materials, computing, financial, etc.) for the project. If no financial support will be provided, please offer an estimate of the Materials Cost: 1) Technical guidance by Dr. Miao (weekly for 1 hours minimum); 2) Access for necessary simulation software; 3) Access for required hardware components; 4) In case no financial support is not provided, a budget towards project implementation may be offered.