Webinars

 

Upcoming Webinars - 

Smart Battery Energy Management and Health Conscious Fast Charging for Future Transport

Joint Webinar with IEEE Power Electronics Society
Presenter:  Dr. Sheldon Williamson, Ontario Tech University
Date:  Tuesday, June 2, 2020, 10:00am New York Time

Abstract: It has become imperative to find a solution to manage energy production and usage accurately, especially within the context of future electric energy storage for aerial vehicles and autonomous transportation systems. Enhancing the life of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs has been the topic of much interest. In this framework, the role of on-board cell voltage balancing of Li-ion batteries will be highlighted in this talk. This is a very important topic in the context of battery energy storage cost and life/state-of-charge, SOC/state-of-health, SOH monitoring. Li-ion batteries, although popularly proposed for electric transport, have been highly uneconomic for energy storage, overshooting cost requirements by a large margin.

This talk will also introduce a first-of-its-kind closed-loop cell charge (voltage) balancing and extreme fast charging technique. The technique uses instantaneous cell voltage and/or temperature rise (ΔT) as a control parameter. Existing charging techniques for Li-ion batteries use a largely open-loop approach, where the charge profile is pre-decided, based on apriori knowledge of cell parameters.  There is a need for closed-loop charging techniques that use instantaneous cell voltage and/or temperature to modulate the charging current magnitude. This seminar addresses this gap by proposing for the first time ever a constant-temperature constant-voltage (CT-CV) charging technique, considering cell temperature as a key degradation metric. This talk will also establish the benefits of the proposed CT-CV charging at cell level and increases the possibility of extending it to the pack level by integrating it with battery management systems.

This presentation will also highlight the current status and future opportunities within Ontario Tech University’s research program on transportation electrification and electric energy storage systems. The above-mentioned research initiatives will be described in the presentation and industry-specific projects within the STEER group will be highlighted. The NSERC Canada Research Chair (CRC) program includes several novel initiatives in the areas of transportation electrification and is built upon the expertise and knowledge of the STEER group in a number of promising interdisciplinary areas related to power electronics and motor drives.

Biography:

Sheldon S. Williamson (S’01–M’06–SM’13–F’20) received his Bachelor of  Engineering (B.E.) degree in Electrical Engineering with high distinction from the University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India, in 1999. He received the Masters of Science (M.S.) degree in 2002, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree (with Honors) in 2006, both in Electrical Engineering, from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, specializing in automotive power electronics and motor drives, at the Grainger Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory.  Currently, Dr. Williamson is a Professor at the Smart Transportation Electrification and Energy Research (STEER) group, within the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering, at Ontario Tech University, in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He also holds the prestigious NSERC Canada Research Chair position in Electric Energy Storage Systems for Transportation Electrification. His main research interests include advanced power electronics and motor drives for transportation electrification, electric energy storage systems, and electric propulsion. Prof. Williamson is a Fellow of the IEEE.

 

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Energy Storage and Electric Vehicle Technology

Presenter:  Prof. Ka Eric Cheng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Date:  Tuesday, June 9, 2020, 12:00pm New York Time

Abstract: The key components of an Electric Vehicle are the battery and the motor drive.  Energy storages such as batteries and super-capacitors are now the major units.  Energy cell packaging is now a new direction.  The use of energy cells to integrate with the vehicle body has been reported and suggests good potential for energy management.  The energy management and balance is now a necessary component to manage the energy cells.   Besides the energy storage and the traction motor and drives, there are numerous motors and actuators used in modern electric vehicles.  One of them is an active suspension system to replace the conventional hydraulic system.  The In-wheel motor is based on integrating the motor and wheel into a single unit that increase the power density and presents a real 4-wheel drive.  The skid steering can, therefore, be realized.  Also, the anti-lock braking (ABS) is an all-electric braking system, and replaces the conventional hydraulic system in ABS.   

In this webinar, I will give an extensive overview of the latest electric vehicle technology that could be used in the present and the future. The talk covers the major advanced components of an electric vehicle and the technology and research related to the development.  Finally, I will conclude the webinar with an outlook on future vehicles.  The webinar is suitable for researchers or engineers with a deep knowledge of electric vehicles and is also suitable for someone who is new to the field.

Biography:

Prof Ka Eric Cheng received the B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Bath, Bath, U.K., in 1987 and 1990, respectively.  Before joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, in 1997, he was with Lucas Aerospace, London, U.K., as a Principal Engineer. He is currently a Professor and the Director of the Power Electronics Research Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has authored or co-authored over 400 papers and 7 books. His research interests include all aspects of power electronics, motor drives, electromagnetic interference, electric vehicles, battery management, and energy saving. Dr. Cheng was a recipient of the Institution of Electrical Engineers Sebastian Z De Ferranti Premium Award in 1995, the Outstanding Consultancy Award in 2000, the Faculty Merit Award for Best Teaching in 2003 from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Faculty Engineering Industrial and Engineering Services Grant Achievement Award in 2006, the Brussels Innova Energy Gold Medal with Mention in 2007, the Consumer Product Design Award in 2008, the Electric Vehicle Team Merit Award of the Faculty in 2009, the Geneva Invention Expo Silver Medal in 2011, the Eco Star Award in 2012, the Gold prize at Seoul International Invention Fair in 2015, the iCAN Gold Medal at Canada in 2016, and Gold Award of HK Innovation and Technology in 2017.

 

 

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Wireless Charging for Autonomous Electrified Micro-mobility Devices:  A Real-world Solution for Smart Cities to be Pandemic-ready

Joint Webinar with IEEE Power Electronics Society
Presenter:  Dr. Sheldon Williamson, Ontario Tech University
Date:  Tuesday, June 30, 2020, 10:00am New York Time

Abstract: Driverless, autonomous electrified means of micro-mobility were already touted to bring progressive lifestyle changes in numerous aspects of civilization. Examples of highly touted solutions pre-COVID included: E-bikes, drones, large/medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles, electric scooters, and electric skateboards, just to name a few. With the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, humankind around the world are desperately seeking rapid commercialization of smart autonomous micro-mobility solutions, especially to avoid human interface during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clear that electrified autonomous means of micro-mobility will become an essential support for humans in fighting COVID-19, by satisfying essential services and needs, without the necessity for human contact or engagement, thus respecting social distancing guidelines. 

One of the key issues, however, with micro-mobility devices, is that their batteries do not last too long (in terms of distance on a single charge). Therefore, they have to be recharged ever so often, and this may take anywhere between 45-60 minutes (using fast charging rates). In addition, more often than not, micro-mobility based transportation have major cargo restrictions, whereby they just cannot afford to carry bulky battery packs. In general, e-micro-mobility uses electric motors that maintain speeds below 31 mph (50 km/h).

This seminar will present innovative solutions to these issues in the form of completely autonomous, weatherproof, wireless rapid recharging infrastructures. Wireless charging systems are capable of providing rapid recharge within ~2-3 minutes, making e-micro-mobility almost entirely autonomous and quite literally, allowing their on-board batteries to juice-up “on-the-move.” This presentation will cover the design, testing, and implementation of practically developed inductive power transfer (IPT), capacitive power transfer (CPT), and hybrid IPT/CPT charging solutions for future autonomous e-micro-mobility devices. Designs of IPT, CPT, and hybrid IPT-SPT couplers with power ranging between 500 Watts to 7.7 kW will be presented. The results derived from these designs will contribute specifically to the process of enhancement of wireless charging research for future emicro-mobility, as well as for e-transportation, in general. Alternatively, the lessons learned will, at the very least, facilitate the generation of new ideas.

Biography:

Sheldon S. Williamson (S’01–M’06–SM’13–F’20) received his Bachelor of  Engineering (B.E.) degree in Electrical Engineering with high distinction from the University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India, in 1999. He received the Masters of Science (M.S.) degree in 2002, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree (with Honors) in 2006, both in Electrical Engineering, from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, specializing in automotive power electronics and motor drives, at the Grainger Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory.  Currently, Dr. Williamson is a Professor at the Smart Transportation Electrification and Energy Research (STEER) group, within the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering, at Ontario Tech University, in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He also holds the prestigious NSERC Canada Research Chair position in Electric Energy Storage Systems for Transportation Electrification. His main research interests include advanced power electronics and motor drives for transportation electrification, electric energy storage systems, and electric propulsion. Prof. Williamson is a Fellow of the IEEE.

 

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Conductive Charging of Electrified Vehicles:  Challenges and Opportunities

Joint Webinar with IEEE Power Electronics Society
Presenter:  Dr. Haoyu Wang, Shanghai Tech University
Date:  Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 8:00am New York Time

Abstract: The transportation sector consumes approximately 28% of the total energy consumption. The most prominent sustainable solution to profoundly reduce both oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions lies in grid-enabled electric vehicles (EVs). These vehicles are propelled either partially or fully by electricity through energy storage systems such as electrochemical batteries, which need to be charged from the grid. One of the most important realities that will facilitate the adoption of grid-enabled plug-in EVs (PEVs) is the method by which these vehicles will be charged. Currently, conductive charging is the dominant charging technology in commercially available PEVs. 

In this webinar, I will give an extensive overview of the conductive charging technology of PEV from the perspective of a power electronics professional.  The background review covers the charging power levels, PEV charger architectures, charging profiles of Lithium-ion batteries, as well as the challenges and opportunities. Followed by is a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art emerging solutions to those technological challenges. The advanced topics include innovative circuit topologies, advanced control strategies, integrated architectures wide bandgap devices, and boosted power density with high switching frequency. Furthermore, I will give an introduction to our recent related research works. Finally, the webinar concludes with an outlook on future technology trends. 

Biography:

Dr. Haoyu Wang is an assistant professor and the director of Power Electronics And Renewable Energies Lab (PEARL) at Shanghai Tech University. Dr. Wang received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and distinguished honor degree in Mixed Class at Chu Kochen Honors College, from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. He received his master's and Ph.D. degrees both in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. He joined the School of Information Science and Technology at ShanghaiTech University as a tenure-track assistant professor in September 2014. He received the Outstanding Bachelor's Thesis Award from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China and the Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. His research interests include power electronics, plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles, the applications of wide band-gap semiconductors, renewable energy harvesting, and power management integrated circuits. Dr. Wang is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Senior Member of China Power Supply Society. He serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, and an Associate Editor of CPSS Transactions on Power Electronics and Applications. He also serves as the Track Chair for IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC).

 

 

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