SIMULATION AND CONTROL OF FUTURE SPACECRAFT POWER SYSTEMS

RECENT TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND POWER CONDITIONING TECHNOLOGIES HAVE LED TO SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN TERMS OF SIZE, WEIGHT, EFFICIENCY AND POWER QUALITY OF THE POWER CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT WHICH IS BEING CONSIDERED FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS. WITH THESE ADVANCEMENTS COMES AN ABUNDANCE OF DESIGN CHOICES AND INCREASED DEGREES OF FREEDOM WITH RESPECT TO POWER SYSTEM CONTROL. THESE DEGREES OF FREEDOM MAY BE USED ADVANTAGEOUSLY TO DEVELOP CONTROL STRATEGIES WHICH IMPROVE THE RELIABILITY AND DYNAMICCHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTEGRATED POWER SYSTEM BY MAKING IT LESS SENSITIVE TO POSSIBLY LARGE AND ABRUPT CHANGES IN LOAD.THERE ARE TWO MAIN OBJECTIVES ASSOCIATED WITH THE PHASE I RESEARCH EFFORT. THE FIRST IS TO DEVELOP A HIGHLY DETAILED COMPUTER SIMULATION OF A POWER GENERATION, CONDITIONING AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS. THE SECOND IS TO INVESTIGATE SEVERAL INNOVATIVE CONTROL SYSTEM TECHNIQUES INVOLVING FEEDFORWARD VOLTAGE CONTROL AND LOAD SHARING STRATEGIES WHICH ARE AIMED AT MAINTAINING PRECISE REGULATION DURING STEADY STATE AND TRANSIENT CONDITIONS. THE VIABILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE STRATEGIES WILL BE TESTED BY INCORPORATING THEM INTO THE COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE INTEGRATED POWER SYSTEM DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE FIRST OBJECTIVE.