Hands-On Power Electronics Course - deep understanding by combination of simulation, calculation and practical measurements

This document presents the educational methodology of a hands-on power electronics course. The aim of the course is, to establish a practical context within the subject area of power electronics and to inspire students for this wide ranging area. Furthermore, the course aims to expand the understanding of power electronic circuits and to deepen the handling of measuring instruments and circuit simulation. For this purpose, a practical course in power electronics was developed, which covers the circuit calculation, the measurement on evaluation boards as well as the simulative consideration. The circuits, which are treated intensively within the practical course, are based on buck and flyback converter topologies, as they are frequently used in switching power supply applications. The course takes place over a complete semester and is accessible as an elective module for master students from faculty of electrical engineering of the University of Applied Sciences Fulda (Germany). The lecture is held by a professor from the field of power electronics and a laboratory engineer assists the students during the practical course. After development and preparation of the theoretical and practical course components, 6 master students performed and evaluated the course for the first time. In addition the results from the practical coaching by the laboratory engineer were summarized.