MOC900X is a series of high power density motor drivers which I am designing for the University of Pennsylvania’s Formula SAE Electric team, Penn Electric Racing. This project was started in late 2019, and is currently ongoing.

The goal of this project is to design a high voltage (~600V), high power (~60kW) motor controller for the 2021 season, with strong priorities placed on weight and efficiency. Due to these goals, high performance GaN transistors were selected and evaluated on a custom insulated metal substrate half bridge test board controlled by an FPGA:

Photo of the half bridge test board

The half bridge design has been validated both electrically and thermally, and performs at over 99% efficiency at 500V, 100A. The current design iteration puts three half bridges together, and is on target to achieve extremely high whole system specific power, on the order of 170kW/kg including cooling, enclosure and connectors

CAD shot of the 3 phase test board currently in development