Automotive Power Electronics
by Dennis L. Feucht
Innovatia Laboratories
As power electronics matures it is becoming a major aspect of automotive
design. As a design engineer, how would you approach some of the challenges
those in the automotive industry face? This article covers some "driving"
design issues, how they have been addressed, and the relative merits of
electronic design trends in the industry.
Automotive design has been heading in a direction parallel to aircraft design, toward higher reliability, bussed interconnections, strong but lightweight frames, and streamlined airflow. The automotive sector of electronics is driven by the same enabling technologies as other sectors, but is interdisciplinary. This requires that automotive electronics engineers not only keep up with electronics advances but be able to combine them with the latest in drive train and body ideas to achieve an optimal overall design. One of the most dynamic areas in automotive electronics is power conversion and motion control, involving not only electrical-mechanical but also chemical-mechanical power conversion.
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