Farmington Hills’ Drive System Looks to Speed EV Motor and Inverter Development

Drive System Design (DSD), a Farmington Hills-based company specializing in the engineering and development of electrified propulsion systems and associated technologies, has developed a new method and strategic plan to better support clients in designing and developing electric motors and inverters.
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A new method and strategic plan from Farmington Hills’ Drive System Design is meant to better support clients in designing and developing electric motors and inverters. // Stock Photo

Drive System Design (DSD), a Farmington Hills-based company specializing in the engineering and development of electrified propulsion systems and associated technologies, has developed a new method and strategic plan to better support clients in designing and developing electric motors and inverters.

DSD officials say that numerous motor and inverter manufacturers, as well as system integrators, often take their electrification development programs directly to a dynamometer (dyno) test cell, only to uncover critical issues that need to be overcome, which can stop the program in its tracks.

With this seemingly direct approach, months are added to the project timelines to find and fix unforeseen integration issues.

“Too often, a push to be first-to-market ends up incurring more cost and time,” says Jon Brentnall, president of DSD.

To help save its customers months of time and tens of thousands of dollars while ensuring a more robust, reliable concept before ever touching a dyno test cell, DSD has created a new Motor Control Development Method consisting of four phases that it will implement for most electric motor and inverter development projects.

“Ultimately, this approach will enable our customers to be first-time capable, meaning they will be set up for a successful pairing of the inverter and motor once the product reaches the dyno test cell,” says Brentnall. “This will speed up final validation and significantly reduce the risk of needing extra hardware iterations, saving our customers both time and money while delivering a more high-quality product.”

The phases are as follows:

Phase 1 — Concept evaluation and design with advanced co-simulation. During this phase, control algorithms, finite element analysis (FEA) motor models and the power electronics model are designed and developed. A closed loop advanced co-simulation of the entire system will then be performed.

By driving the system model with more representative control signals rather than simpler idealized inputs, early-stage identification of electromagnetic challenges along with accurate early-stage data for larger system analysis activities like noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), can be achieved.

Phase 2 — Detailed design and validation with control hardware-in-the-loop (C-HIL). DSD will utilize inverter control board hardware with deployed software and a real-time simulation of the motor model.

The C-HIL hardware emulates motor behavior and sensor feedback such that a large proportion of the software and low voltage hardware validation can be performed. This phase allows for development and validation of safety monitoring and fault handling without risking hardware failures. Software development time is reduced for subsequent phases through bug fixing at this stage.

Phase 3 — Component level testing with power hardware-in-the-loop (P-HIL). At this stage, a large proportion of the inverter validation will take place by running full power through the inverter with deployed software and utilizing a battery and a high voltage motor emulator. The motor is modeled but real current and power is being pushed through real inverter hardware to validate its power stage and control.

When a novel motor design is in the manufacturing stage, DSD can leverage its open platform inverter, to develop, calibrate, and validate the motor controls for that application in this phase of testing quickly and efficiently.

Phase 4 — System level testing and validation on a dyno test cell. The motor will enter the dyno test cell at this stage as a final system validation and characterization utilizing inverter and motor hardware as well as the battery emulator. Going through the previous stages ensures this phase will be as short, cost effective, and efficient as possible.

“Real-world issues can now be predicted or reproduced and solved prior to — or in parallel with — dyno or test cell work,” says Brentnall. “This new approach and equipment will further advance DSD’s turnkey capability of delivering motor controls and electrification across a range of markets.”

As an initial investment to fulfill its new motor development strategy, DSD has acquired a C-HIL rig, which will be housed at its technical center in Farmington Hills. Additionally, DSD will be partnering with the Auburn Hills-based rig supplier to have access to their P-HIL rig and motor emulator, with plans to invest in one of its own next year.

Through DSD’s method, customers will now be able to better optimize their time, as a large proportion of the inverter software and hardware can be developed and validated through Phase 2 and 3 while the motor hardware is being made. Further, the method is adaptable for various vehicle types, including automotive, trucking, off-highway, defense, and aerospace.