Adapter provides better view of power system performance

The device has been designed for use during the development and commissioning of new systems, allowing engineers to observe and analyse critical parameters such as temperature and voltage and to use this information to improve overall switching performance. The device can also be used with existing systems to identify the cause of faults and failures and to identify solutions more quickly. Marketing director Richard Ord said: "Why do you see wind turbines standing still? Mainly because power electronics have dropped. Until Amantys came along, engineers couldn't tell why it was happening using a pc. with Power Insight, they can find out what happened and what changes can be made to increase up time. We want to make systems easier to design." The adapter sits between the host control system and the igbt module, exporting switching performance parameters. The company says that, when combined with an Amantys Power Drive, design times will be reduced, along with the need for costly reengineering. Ord said the system allowed engineers to measure a signal in the power module, digitise it and export the data over fibre optic cables. "Before, if you wanted to measure gate drive temperature, for example, you needed a wire from the thermistor wire to the control domain and this picked up interference." Ord added the Adapter will be offered as a module, but may be made available in the future as a reference design.