Integrated Motor Drive Systems (IMDS)

Leader: Thomas M. Jahns, University of Wisconsin

The vision of the Integrated Motor Drive Systems (IMDS) thrust is to develop the necessary technology so that adjustable-speed drive capabilities can be economically embedded inside future electric motors with minimal impact on their size, weight, and environmental robustness. The long-term goal is to develop electric motors with adjustable-speed capabilities that, from their external appearance, show minimal evidence of the internally-packaged drive electronics. Equally important, these integrated motor drives must be manufacturable with a minimal cost premium while demonstrating environmental robustness and reliability characteristics that match those of conventional motors today. Consistent with these minimal impact objectives, the input power quality and EMI characteristics of future integrated motor drives must approach those of the motor excited directly from the utility grid.

One of the most important rewards accompanying the success of future integrated motor drives will be major energy savings resulting from the system efficiency improvements made possible by introducing adjustable-speed capabilities into applications that use fixed-speed motors today. As the cost of electrical power inevitably increases during coming years, the lifetime cost savings generated by the introduction of integrated motor drives will make them increasingly attractive for new applications.

If the demanding technical challenges associated with the development of integrated motor drives can be successfully surmounted, the day will arrive when motors will be sold with the baseline expectation that they have adjustable-speed capabilities. Since the drive electronics will be embedded inside the machine, many customers may not even be aware that it is there. That is, adjustable-speed capabilities will become an assumed inherent feature of electric motors. Development of mature, low-cost integrated motor drives will greatly accelerate the penetration of adjustable-speed drives into a wide variety of applications ranging from home appliances to automobiles to aircraft. Early steps towards achieving this vision can already be seen in industry today, and the objective of IMDS is to develop technology that will accelerate the practical realization of this ambitious vision.