The DriveLab kit includes four different motor types: DC, AC induction, BLDC and DC generator.
Motors can be coupled (as shown) or left separate. The image below shows a typical configuration.
Motors are connected to other devices using various types of cables: banana jack cables, custom 40 or 50 pins to DB37 or round 5 or 8 pin encoder cables.
Note: Only the BLDC motor uses the 8-pin encoder (pins 6, 7, and 8). The DC generator and the AC Induction motor both use the 5-pin encoder. Therefore, if the DC generator and the AC Induction motor are used in the same experiment, users can only monitor one encoder. The encoders’ resolution is 1000 pulses per revolution.
DC Motor
The DriveLab kit is equipped with a third party (COTS) DC motor that can be connected to the DriveLab box. Follow the connection instructions provided in Table 2 to connect this motor to the DriveLab box inverter connectors.
Connections
The DC motor has two connectors:
- Phase 1 (red) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the red connector on the DC motor.
- Phase 2 (yellow) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the black connector on the DC motor.
| DC Motor Connectors | DriveLab Box Connectors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Location | Color | Type | Connector | Color | Type |
| Phase 1 | Side | Red | Banana plug | A1 or A2 | Red | Banana plug |
| Phase 2 | Side | Black | Banana plug | B1 or B2 | Yellow | Banana plug |
Here is an example of connections in which the DC motor is connected to inverter circuit 2.
Model
Opal-RT provides a basic control and feedback open-loop model for users who do not have their own DC motor RT-LAB model. The DriveLab RT-LAB Simulink model contains control, I/O interface and feedback subsystems to run the DC motor. The control is a simple DC voltage slider that offers -36V to 36V voltage range with bi-directional control. The model also provides fault clearance control. The I/O interface allows the user to run the DC motor using inverter circuit 1 or inverter circuit 2 depending on the desired application. The feedback returns the currents on phase 1 and phase 2, fault status and the DC bus voltage.
DC Generator
The DriveLab kit is equipped with a third party (COTS) DC generator that can be connected to the DriveLab box. Follow the connection instructions provided in Table 3 to connect this generator to the DriveLab box inverter connectors.
Connections
The DC generator has three connectors:
- Phase 1 (red) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the red connector on the DC generator.
- Phase 2 (yellow) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the black connector on the DC generator.
- Encoder 2: see below
| DC Generator Connectors | DriveLab Box Connectors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Location | Color | Type | Connector | Color | Type |
| Phase 1 | Side | Red | Banana plug | A1 or A2 | Red | Banana plug |
| Phase 2 | Side | Black | Banana plug | B1 or B2 | Yellow | Banana plug |
| Encoder 2 | Side | n/a | 5 pin | Enc_2 | n/a | 5 pin |
Here is an example of connections in which the DC generator is connected to inverter circuit 1.
Model
Opal-RT provides a basic control and feedback open-loop model for users who do not have their own DC generator RT-LAB model. The DriveLab RT-LAB Simulink model contains control, I/O interface and feedback subsystems to run the DC generator.
The control is a simple DC voltage slider that offers -36V to 36V voltage range, with bi-directional control. The model/subsystem also provides fault clearance control.
The I/O interface allows the user to run the DC generator using inverter circuit 1 or inverter circuit 2 depending on the desired application. The feedback returns encoder-based quantities (speed, angle and direction), currents on phase 1 and phase 2, fault status and the DC bus voltage.
BLDC Motor
The DriveLab kit is equipped with a third party (COTS) BLDC motor that must be connected to the DriveLab box. Follow the connection instructions provided in Table 4 to connect this motor to the DriveLab box inverter connectors.
Connections
The BLDC motor has three phase connectors:
- Phase 1 (red) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the red connector on the BLDC motor.
- Phase 2 (yellow) must be connected to the yellow connector on the BLDC motor and
- Phase 3 (blue) must be connected to the blue connector of the BLDC motor.
| BLDC Motor Connectors | DriveLab Box Connectors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Side | Color | Type | Connector | Color | Type |
| Phase 1 | Side | Red | Banana plug | A1 or A2 | Red | Banana plug |
| Phase 2 | Side | Yellow | Banana plug | B1 or B2 | Yellow | Banana plug |
| Phase 3 | Side | Blue | Banana plug | C1 or C2 | Blue | Banana plug |
| Encoder 1 | Side | n/a | 8-pin | Enc_1 | 8-pin | 8-pin |
Here is an example of connections in which the BLDC motor is connected to inverter circuit 2.
Model
Opal-RT provides a basic control and feedback open-loop model for users who do not have their own DC generator RT-LAB model. The DriveLab RT-LAB Simulink model contains control, I/O interface and feedback subsystems to run the BDLC motor.
The control is a simple slider that a 0 - 100% duty range, with a single directional control. The model/subsystem also provides fault clearance control.
The I/O interface allows the user to run the BLDC motor using inverter circuit 1 or inverter circuit 2 depending on the desired application. The feedback returns encoder-based quantities (speed, angle, and direction), currents on phase 1 and phase 2, fault status, Hall effects (U, V, W) and the DC bus voltage.
AC Induction Motor
The DriveLab kit is equipped with a third party (COTS) AC Induction motor that can be connected to the DriveLab box. Follow the connection instructions provided in Table 3 to connect this AC Induction motor to the DriveLab box inverter connectors.
Connections
The DC generator has three phase connectors:
- Phase 1 (red) on the DriveLab box must be connected to the red connector on the AC Induction motor.
- Phase 2 (yellow) must be connected to the yellow connector on the AC Induction motor and
- Phase 3 (blue) must be connected to the blue connector of the AC Induction motor.
| AC Motor Connectors | DriveLab Box Connectors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Side | Color | Type | Connector | Color | Type |
| Phase 1 | Side | Red | Banana plug | A1 or A2 | Red | Banana plug |
| Phase 2 | Side | Yellow | Banana plug | B1 or B2 | Yellow | Banana plug |
| Phase 3 | Side | Blue | Banana plug | C1 or C2 | Blue | Banana plug |
| Encoder 2 | Side | n/a | 5-pin | Enc_2 | n/a | 5-pin |
Here is an example of connections in which the AC Induction motor is connected to inverter circuit 2.
Model
Opal-RT provides a basic control and feedback open-loop model for users who do not have their own AC Induction RT-LAB model. The DriveLabKit RT-LAB Simulink model contains control, I/O interface and feedback subsystems to run the AC Induction motor.
The control is a simple current frequency slider allowing -120Hz to 120Hz frequency range with bi-directional control. The subsystem also provides fault clearance control.
The I/O interface allows the user to run the AC Induction motor using the inverter circuit 1 or the inverter circuit 2 depending on the desired application. The feedback returns encoder-based quantities (speed, angle, and direction), the currents of phase 1 and phase 2, the fault status and the DC bus voltage.