Experiments

Experiment materials, Spring 2026. Due dates are posted on the schedule page. All assignments submitted as a pdf through Canvas

• Experiment 1
  Experiment Procedure

  • Experiment 1 Procedure

  
  Safety Training

  • All students must complete the Safety Training before using any lab equipment

  
  Altium Licensing

  • All students must obtain an Altium License through EECS. This will be used in Experiment 2, but may take a few days. Initiate the process before starting this experiment.

  
  Recorded Lectures

  • Battery Modeling
  • (Optional Review) Basic Magnetics
  • (Optional Review) Gapped Magnetics
  • Motor Modeling

  
  Reference Materials

  • Lab Report Guidelines
  • LTSpice Simulation Files
  • Note that additional materials on BLDC modulation may be found on the materials page
• Experiment 2
  Experiment Procedure

  • Experiment 2 Procedure
  • Altium Starter Files
  • Altium Default Libraries

  
  Recorded Lectures

  • PCB Layout
  • Power Loop Layout
  • (Optional) FET Gate Driving
  • (Optional) Switching Parasitics
  • (Optional) General Layout Tips
  • MSP Programming
  • MSP Programming Demonstration
  • Example code from demonstration
  • Example code from demonstration (G2553 Equiv)
  • (Optional) BLDC Motor Construction

  
  Reference Materials

  • EECS Altium Licensing Information
  • Using the UTK EECS Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (Remote Access to Altium)
  • OSHpark Altium Support
  • Altium fabricaiton file generation (see Gerber and NC Drill Sections)

  Documentation - MSP430G2553

  • Launchpad MCU Development Board
  • MSP430G2553 Product Webpage
  • MSP430G2x53 Datasheet
  • MSP430G2553 User's Guide
  • MSP430G2553 Errata
  • MSP430G2x53 Example Codes

  Power Layout Reference Materials

  • Evaluation module for UCC27712 Gate Driver (incl. half bridge PCB layout)
  • App note on layout from EPC
  • App note on layout from GaN Sysetms
  • App note on layout from Linear Technologies
  • App note on layout from Rohm
• Experiment 3
  Experiment Procedure

  • Prelab Assignment
  • Experiment 3 Procedure

  
  Recorded Lectures

  • Probe Grounding
  • Converter Loss Modeling
  • Loss Modeling and Design Introductions
  • (New) Overview of Synchronous Switching
  • (Recommended) Overview of Synchronous Switching
  • (Recommended) Overview of Switching Loss
  • Loss Mechanisms
  • Slides For all loss mechanisms
  • (Optional) Kg and Kgfe Design Methods
  • (Optional) Magnetics Core Loss
  • (Optional) Magnetics Fringing Loss
  • (Optional) Gate Charge Loss
  • (Optional) Overlap Loss
  • (Optional) Approximating Reverse Recovery

  
  Experiment 3 Components

  • Contents of the Experiment 3 Parts Kit
  • Contents of the Magnetics Library
  • Breakout Board Schematics and Layout (pdf)
  • Breakout Board Schematics and PCB Layout (Altium)

  Reference Materials

  • Designing Bootstrap Networks
  • Power Converter Layout
  • Reduction of Ringing in Power Converters (TI App. Note)
  • RMS Values of Commonly Observed Waveforms

  LTSpice Example Files

  • Examples of power semiconductor modeling using custom or manufacturer models
  • Example Switching and Averaged Boost LTSpice Models

  Magnetics Design

  • Filter Inductor Design Notes
  • Kg Method Step-by-Step
  • Kgfe Method Step-by-Step
  • Overview of Empirical Core Loss Calculation Techniques
  • Overview of Empirical State of Core Loss Prediction
  • Magnetics Design Tables
  • AWG Chart
• Experiment 4
• Experiment 5
• Experiment 6
• Experiment 7