High Voltage Motor Controller

High voltage electrification of military ground vehicles enables improvements to vehicle size, weight, power, and fuel efficiency and enables the integration of advanced defense equipment and mission capabilities. To accommodate electrification of high-power loads, Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) will have a high voltage power architecture. Electrification of fans and pumps and the integration and control of these and other Brushless DC (BLDC) motors improve the vehicle system. One major challenge is that motor characterization and control is a complex and expensive engineering effort. This program will focus on the development of scalable high voltage, high temperature, Silicon Carbide based power control electronics and an industry-leading microcontroller and firmware which will result in a High Voltage Motor Controller (HVMC) which can characterize and control a wide variety of motors. For the Army, there is tremendous value in a solution that quickly and automatically characterizes and controls motors and that provides the ability to tune control parameters for optimal operation within the vehicle system. Such a solution will provide the Army with the ability to independently operate, integrate, and evaluate high voltage motors from multiple vendors, resulting in increased competition which will spur technology advancement and keep costs low.