University of Utah
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Labs for ECE 5671/6671 -- Electric Generators

Return to the class web page: http://www.ece.utah.edu/~bodson/5671

Labs are held in the Analog Lab (MEB 2365)

Acknowledgment: funding for the labs was received through the Clinic Program from the Intermountain Power Agency, Pacificorp Energy, Questar, Reliable Controls Corporation, and Williams. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. We are also thankful for additional donations received specifically for these labs from the Intermountain Power Agency and Rocky Mountain Power Foundation. The electrical machines and the power electronics boards used in these labs were developed at the University of Minnesota, and we are thankful to Professor Ned Mohan for his leadership in power engineering education.

SAFETY
Everyone must read the safety information in the document from the University of Minnesota labs (safety.pdf).
The document also includes information about the Hirel Power Electronics Drives Board (PEDB).

HANDLING OF THE EQUIPMENT

Handle the equipment with care. Tthe equipment is fragile and some is very expensive to fix or replace. Be sure to properly align connectors when attaching cables. Do not apply excessive force to attach a cable and do not pull carelessly on a cable to detach it. Hold the connector.

Be careful when carrying the equipment from the stockroom. Do not take more than you can carry safely at one time. Make two trips if needed.

Any equipment that you find to be defective (or possily defective) should be returned to the lab staff with a note explaining the problem as clearly and as completely as possible. Use one of the tags made for this purpose. Preferably, confirm the problem with the TA before returning the equipment. In the case of the Hirel and dSPACE boards, use the test procedures described below to check the boards.

After getting a box of cables, check its content using the list cables.pdf. There should be 15 cables numbered 1 to 15 and 6 BNC T connectors. You should not need any other cable for the labs. You will also not need all the cables until Lab 7. When you return the box, check that all the cables are there and that there is no cable from another box or from the racks in the lab.

It is VERY IMPORTANT not to hold down the reset button on the Hirel board (PEDB) if there is a motor fault on the board. If you get a motor fault, press the button once to clear it. If it does not clear, there is a problem with your setup. If you are unable to fix the issue by yourself, ask the TA for help.

USEFUL INFORMATION

We again transition to a version of dSPACE different from those used previously for this course. Some issues may be encountered.
If you encounter a problem with a lab, check the list of common problems and solutions checklist.html.

List of cables in the cables box (cables.pdf)

Useful Simulink generator blocks (generators_blocks.mdl)

Test program for dSPACE A/D's, D/A's, and encoder inputs (dspacetest.mdl, dspacetest.lay, and dspacetest_info.pdf )

Test program for Hirel PEDB board (hireltest.mdl, hireltest.lay, and hireltest_info.pdf).
The safety document safety.pdf also includes information about the PEDB Board.

EQUIPMENT USED IN THE LABS

See the pictures at the end of the page.

Analog Lab Equipment Documentation and Tutorials

Dual 50V power supply (manual)

LAB EXPERIMENTS

Students are expected to read the handouts BEFORE coming to the labs. The TA is authorized to take points off the lab grades of students that come unprepared to the lab.