Description

The webinar on "Power Electronics for Aerospace Applications" held on December 27, 2023, was a notable event, drawing a keen audience. Dr. Joseph P. Kozak led the session, offering deep insights into the challenges and innovations in aerospace power electronics. Hosted online via Zoom, the event fostered rich discussions on high-reliability space applications, leaving attendees with enhanced knowledge and understanding in this specialized field. While the field of power electronics trended towards designs with higher power densities, aerospace applications had difficulties achieving terrestrial metrics due to limitations on reliability and radiation-hardened components. In the most recent New Frontiers, Dragonfly (DF), a rotorcraft system designed to fly on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, required both a high reliability and a high-power-density design for its electric power subsystem. The talk provided an overview of the design challenges, considerations, and preliminary results for the electrical and thermal management systems of the rotor drive inverter, which transitioned power from the battery to the motors. Additional design considerations for high-reliability space applications were also discussed.