Electrification

MATLAB and Simulink for Power Conversion Control

Design digital controller for power converters

power conversion

Develop Power Conversion Control Algorithms

Use Simulink and Simscape Electrical to model analog electronic components and digital control algorithms in the same simulation environment. Closed-loop simulation of the power stage and the controller lets you evaluate and verify design choices before implementing the controller.

Use simulation to:

  • Model a power stage using circuit components or a pre-built power converter block
  • Simulate the converter model at different levels of power electronics switching fidelity: average-value, ideal, or detailed nonlinear
  • Design, simulate, and compare different controller architectures, including voltage mode control and current mode control
  • Apply classical control techniques and design supervisory control logic for mode switching
  • Autotune controller gains in a single or multiple feedback loops using automated tuning tools

“One of our goals in designing the power converter controller was to verify our design through simulation before performing tests on actual hardware. We started by creating a plant model of the power supply’s three-phase AC/DC converter and chopper using Simulink, Simscape, and Simscape Electrical. We then created a complete system model of the controller and plant.”

Yoshinori Kurimoto, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)

Try Examples


Test and Verify Control Algorithms

Simulink accelerates the process of testing and verifying the control design of power converters. 

  • Generate control code for the power converter for real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation
  • Test real-time execution of your power converter controls before verifying it on a hardware prototype
  • Identify and correct common errors in control design by generating test cases with Simulink Design Verifier and prevent potential damages to expensive hardware prototypes
  • Check model and code coverage with Simulink Coverage to ensure test completeness and support requirement traceability

“The transition from design model to real-time software was very fast thanks to the complete compatibility between MATLAB & Simulink and Speedgoat.”

Piotr Dworakowski, SuperGrid

Generate Production Code

With Simulink and Embedded Coder, you can reduce and eliminate the need for manual coding.

  • Use Fixed-Point Designer to model, optimize, and generated code for fixed- and floating-point algorithms in low-cost, low-power converter applications
  • Generate optimized and stable C/C++ control code for implementation on microcontrollers or synthesizable HDL code for FPGA programming or ASIC prototyping
  • Automatically regenerate new, updated code to reflect the changes in the control design of the power converter

All generated C/C++ and HDL code is fully portable, optimizable with a range of options, bidirectionally traceable to the Simulink model, and certifiable with certification kits.

“The code we generated with Embedded Coder does just what it is supposed to do. Writing code with nine PI loops in it by hand and then debugging it on hardware would have added six months or more to the schedule.”

Brad Landseadel, Stem