SBIR Phase I:Power Component Evaluation System (PCES)

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will address the need to of power component performance as a function of system design to reduce the overall risk associated with integration. The project focus is the development of a Power Component Evaluation System (PCES) which improves on traditional methods of system evaluation. PCES couples actual power hardware to a virtual simulation of a system through a Simulation-Stimulation (Sim-Stim) interface which sources and sinks power to the Hardware Under Test (HUT) as well as measuring variables. Since PCES should replicate the HUT's performance just as if connected to a physical system, the Sim-Stim interface will be transparent to the overall operation. The objective is to develop a methodology to design Sim-Stim Interface parameters for a wide range of power system types, operating modes and phenomena so the HUT operates as if it were in a physical system within a prescribed level of accuracy. The anticipated result of the research is a metric to perform trade offs between implementation complexity and accuracy. PCES will enable the development of new all electric and/or hybrid-electric systems as well as quantifying the effect of new/prototype hardware components on such issues as power quality, vulnerability and power transients. The potential commercial benefits of the PCES system will be a faster, cheaper and more effective method for the design, development and commercialization of new electric power products and services.