eDrive on Genesis

As decarbonisation of society slowly takes place, so does electrification of various equipment. On fixed plants for example, small steam turbines driving pumps or fans are regularly replaced by motors. In the automotive industry, the transition is faster with the number of hybrid and electric vehicles now rapidly increasing.

Like most transitions, this brings threats and opportunities to both private and public organisations. In the private transportation sectors, various Australian organisations have started designing, marketing, and manufacturing electric motorcycles (Savic Motorcycles, Fonz, etc.), electric buses (Custom Denning, Nexport, etc.), electric special vehicles, electric boats, etc. In the academic sector, research on the matter increases, defence and aerospace being driving sectors.

From a technical standpoint, the development of electric drivetrains presents specific challenges. It requires combining electrical and mechanical knowledge beyond mechatronics, while most professionals have experience mainly in one discipline. This lack of integration is also reflected in the test and measurement technologies traditionally available, with electrical and mechanical quantities often measured by completely different systems.

To be successful, organisations need to close this gap as:

• The competition is intense due to a growing global market.
• Vehicle autonomy remains a key selling point, a differentiator, and a hurdle to larger market adoption.
• Increase in vehicle autonomy cannot be addressed only by battery improvement. Drivetrain efficiency across the operating spectrum must play its part.
• Uncontrolled torque variations have the potential to negatively impact user experience and reliability.

To support efficient and value-adding test and measurement of electric drivetrains, HBK has developed specific packages, appropriately named eDrive.

It replaces the traditional acquisition systems below:

And it offers an integral, precise and powerful system as shown below:

This combination enables engineers to perform highly dynamic and precise tests on inverters and electric motors. Continuous measurements of up to an hour with a maximum of two million measurements per second per channel are not a problem. The data recorders are of the Genesis HighSpeed family and provide maximum sampling rates and continuous direct-to-disk storage at up to 200 MB/s. Being modular, they work with 3, 6, 12 or 18 current/voltage channels or, alternatively, with an additional temperature measurement module.

Sensors for torque, current and voltage can also be supplied to facilitate the roll-out of new test benches.

Data analysis are extremely powerful and include:

• Space vectors in time and xy domain to understand modulation
• Multiple efficiency maps for motor / inverter / drive in real time
• Vectorscope for amplitudes and phases in 3ph systems
• Live scope displays for raw data
• User definable system maps to automatically generate formulas and displays for complex configurations like hybrid drives.

For more information or to explore how such a system could benefit your organisation contact our team at sales@nvms.com.au today

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Author: Christian Ebel (MEng, MBA, MIEAust) – Business Manager, Test & Measurement

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