In power electronics, magnetic components are fundamental, and, unfortunately, represent one of the greatest challenges for designers because they are some of the components that lead the opposition to miniaturization and the main source of losses (both electrical and thermal). The use of ferromagnetic materials as substitutes for ferrite, in the core of magnetic components, has been proposed as a solution to this problem, and with them, a new perspective and methodology in the calculation of power losses open the way to new design proposals and challenges to overcome. Achieving a core losses model that combines all the parameters (electric, magnetic, thermal) needed in power electronic applications is a challenge. The main objective of this work is to position the reader in state-of-the-art for core losses models. This last provides, in one source, tools and techniques to develop magnetic solutions towards miniaturization applications. Details about new proposals, materials used, design steps, software tools, and miniaturization examples are provided.

Magnetic cores for inductive wireless power transfer (WPT) have many applications and regularly uses E, U, pot and planar/circular shape coils. The systems for wireless energy transfer are not conveniently in the power levels required for some applications, as for the Electric Vehicle (EV) for instance, and there is a necessity to study different coil geometries to improve its efficiency and decrease its volume and weight. In this paper, is presented a new hexagonal-geometry coil design placed in the secondary of a WPT, and the tests demonstrate that a Type-II system compliance requirements (SAE J2954) can be accomplished with greater efficiency and lighter weight compared to circular coil. Finite element analyses accurately allow predicting the mutual inductance and achieving the optimal coil parameters and an experimental setup allows obtaining a rated power output of 7.7 kW operating at 85 kHz. The experimental testbed comprises a series-series resonance compensation circuit, a spiral coil used as primary, the proposed hexagonal pad for the secondary coil, and an AC-output, half-bridge inverter as source, achieving a lighter and efficient system in a realist scenario.

Currently, the design of power electronic converters (PECs) is in a stage which looks increasing its efficiency and reducing its dimensions from basic topologies through precise analysis of losses in each device that conforms. Although there have been important advances to improve the active components of PECs, passive components, particularly inductors, have changed very little since several decades ago, and those begin a limiting factor, when a high efficiency at very high power and switching frequency, are required. It is for the foregoing that this paper reviews new ferromagnetic materials to construct inductors and achieve a substantial increasing in efficiency through magnetic permeability and hysteresis improvements. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to position the reader in the state of the art of advanced ferromagnetic materials used in PECs. Details about how they are constructed and qualitative comparison of their dynamic behavior are provided. Also, estimation methods of energy losses, applications for different types of material, and its influence on the performance of some basic PECs are presented.

In the last years, low pressure ozone UVC mercury germicidal lamps have been widely used to decontaminate air, surfaces, and water. This technology is mature, and it has been widely used during the pandemic as a measure against SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19; because the exposure of this virus to the wavelength wave of 254 nm has been proven to be an effective way to eliminate it. However, the Minamata Convention in 2013 decided to limit mercury lamps by 2020; therefore, the development of new technology devices based on UVC-LEDs (short-wave ultraviolet, light-emitting diodes) are receiving a lot of attention. Today, this technology is commercially available from 265 to 300 nm peak wavelengths, and recently up to 254 nm. Notwithstanding, due to the characteristics of these LEDs, arrangements with a precisely dosed power supply are regularly required to provide effective decontamination. Thus, this paper reports the design and implementation of a power electronic converter for an array of 254 nm UVC-LEDs, which can be used to decontaminate from SARS-COV-2 in a safe way.

In this paper, the approximation of a fractional-order PIDcontroller is proposed to control a DC–DC converter. The synthesis and tuning process of the non-integer PID controller is described step by step. A biquadratic approximation is used to produce a flat phase response in a band-limited frequency spectrum. The proposed method takes into consideration both robustness and desired closed-loop characteristics, keeping the tuning process simple. The transfer function of the fractional-order PID controller and its time domain representation are described and analyzed. The step response of the fractional-order PID approximation shows a faster and stable regulation capacity. The comparison between typical PID controllers and the non-integer PID controller is provided to quantify the regulation speed introduced by the fractional-order PID approximation. Numerical simulations are provided to corroborate the effectiveness of the non-integer PID controller.

Local path planning is a key task for the motion planners of autonomous vehicles since it commands the vehicle across its environment while avoiding any obstacles. To perform this task, the local path planner generates a trajectory and a velocity profile, which are then sent to the vehicle’s actuators. This paper proposes a new local path planner for autonomous vehicles based on the Attractor Dynamic Approach (ADA), which was inspired by the behavior of movement of living beings, along with an algorithm that takes into account four acceleration policies, the ST dynamic vehicle model, and several constraints regarding the comfort and security. The original functions that define the ADA were modified in order to adapt it to the non-holonomic vehicle’s constraints and to improve its response when an impact scenario is detected. The present approach is validated in a well-known simulator for autonomous vehicles under three representative cases of study where the vehicle was capable of generating local paths that ensure the security of the vehicle in such cases. The results show that the approach proposed in this paper is a promising tool for the local path planning of autonomous vehicles since it is able to generate trajectories that are both safe and efficient.