Introduction
This space is created to share information related to "ELECTENG 311: Electronics Systems Design" under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence. The site contains a collection of lectures along with extra information such as example designs from previous years, code examples, design ideas, etc. The presentations are written in Markdown.
About ELECTENG 311
Electronic circuits, found in applications ranging from medical devices to consumer products and aerospace, require energy sources conditioned to specific forms to operate safely. For example, to charge a mobile phone, we must connect a regulated 5V DC source to the charging port. The regulated voltage needed to power any electronic circuit is derived using a power converter. A power converter feeds from a raw energy source, like a battery or an AC power outlet, and generates a regulated output in a form accepted by the target circuit. Modern electronic devices employ complex circuitry requiring different voltage and power levels, and as such, utilize multiple power converters. While simple low-power circuits often use linear regulators, switch-mode power converters are widely used in more demanding, high-efficiency applications. Therefore, it is vital to learn how a switch-mode converter works and how to design one that meets a specific set of requirements.
To gain a fundamental understanding of power converters, you will design and develop a portable power bank with smart features during this project. The power bank will be charged using a standard wall charger outputting 5V via a USB 2.0 Micro-B port. Its 5V output will be made available via a standard USB Type-A port to charge mobile devices. The smart features include system protections (e.g., over-voltage, over-current, and over-temperature) as well as touch control. Through a debug port, historical and real-time information about the power bank can also be viewed to assist with diagnostics and performance verification.
The power bank, which uses hybrid supercapacitors as the storage element, can be divided into three sub-systems: the charger, the output generator, and the smart features. The charger consists of analogue electronics and control circuitry to provide constant current and constant voltage charging to the hybrid supercapacitors. The output generator is a boost converter, controlled using a digital controller implemented on a microcontroller. The smart features sub-system consists of sensors, digital logic and firmware, supervising the charger, storage element and the boost converter.
To complete this project, you will work as part of a design team of four to eight students. A standard team of four should attempt to complete the output generator subsystem (the boost converter) along with one of the other two sub-systems, with ideally a pair of students (a sub-team) working on each. Teams of up to eight members are permitted, provided the team commits to exploring design extensions or completing all three subsystems, including system integration, subject to approval by the course coordinator.
You will begin the project by developing a refined project proposal, followed by a paper design of each sub-system, which you will then validate using simulations. Next, you will develop prototypes of each subsystem to demonstrate that they meet the design specifications from your proposal. Finally, if outlined in your proposal, the subsystems will be integrated to create a complete prototype of your smart power bank. At the conclusion of the project, each team will participate in a technical interview with an assessor and demonstrate the performance of their design.