Plenary Speech 2

Plenary  Speech 2 : Predictive Control of Power Converters and Drives – Control Concept for the Future?

Ralph Kennel (IET Fellow) received the Diploma and Dr.-Ing. (Ph.D.) degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, in 1979 and 1984, respectively. From 1983 to 1999, he was with Robert Bosch GmbH, Gerlingen, Germany. Until 1997, he was responsible for the development of servo drives. From 1994 to 1999, he was a Visiting Professor with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. From 1999 to 2008, he was a Professor of Electrical Machines and Drives with Wuppertal University, Wuppertal, Germany. From 2008 to 2021, he was a Professor of Electrical Drive Systems and Power Electronics with the Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. His main research interests include sensorless control of ac drives, predictive control of power electronics, and hardware-in-the-loop systems. Dr. Kennel is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Chartered Engineer in the U.K. Within IEEE, he is a Treasurer of the Germany Section.

Abstract: Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a conceptually simple yet powerful methodology to control power converters, electric drives, and large systems, such as electrical power grids. MPC provides many advantages in comparison to traditional controllers including the capability to intuitively handle a large variety of control problems by considering different modes of operation and directly incorporating system constraints and additional requirements. Furthermore, there is no need to linearize the models – whatever is known about the system to be controlled, can be used for the model – even tables. The underlying concepts are intuitive, the resulting controllers are inherently stable and, once calculated, easy to implement. Research works have demonstrated that it is possible to use Predictive Control to control electrical energy with the use of power converters, without using modulators and linear controllers. This keynote will introduce the basic principles of MPC, and it is going to point out in which areas further progress of MPC can be expected. Meanwhile, the circumstances under which MPC is superior to conventional (linear) control and the possibilities for the future of MPC will also be discussed.