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Unit Synopsis
This unit is based on your knowledge on electronics you previously studied. In this unit you will learn about power semiconductors such as Diacs, silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR), metal oxide silicon field effect transistors (MOSFET), isolated gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBT), their symbols and theory of operation and limitations. You will also learn to calculate thermal dissipation requirements of power semiconductors and to choose suitable heat sinks. You will be introduced to the concepts of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), DC to DC, and DC to AC circuits, pulse width modulation (PWM) control, and chopper circuits. You will also learn about different types of motors and their control including DC motor control, AC motor control and stepper motor control schemes. You will learn to simulate power electronic circuits and develop power electronics solutions industrial problems. Students enrolled in distance mode are required to attend a compulsory Residential School.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisites: ENEX12002 Introductory Electronics OR ( ENEE13018 Analogue Electronics and ENEE13020 Digital Electronics) AND (ENEX12001 Electrical Power and Machines OR ENEE12015 Electrical Power Engineering) Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2020
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Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
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Term 2 - 2025 Profile
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Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 15% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 15% |
| 3. Practical and Written Assessment | 15% |
| 4. Practical and Written Assessment | 15% |
| 5. Examination | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
No previous feedback available
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: By email and in class.
Students enjoyed the new LabVolt practicums and the reinforcement of theory work.
It is proposed that more links between the theory work and practicums be pointed out in the laboratory instruction document and during the actual laboratory sessions.
It was implemented; however, there is scope for further improvement.
Source: Unit evaluation and emails.
Unit Evaluation feedback showed lower scores for 'Clear Unit Requirements', 'Useful Learning Materials' and 'Learnt From Assessments', possibly interconnected. The high study workload, coupled with many students having full-time jobs, seems to result in a survival-mode approach. Shortcomings in recent assessments show that some students do not know under which week the work is found in Moodle or where in the textbook to fetch relevant information.
It is proposed that weekly contact sessions should focus on: (i) Introducing students to the assessment questions and their technical content. (ii) Showing students where to find the required information in Moodle and the textbook. (iii) How to synthesise the information to overcome the challenge/s presented by the assessment questions.
It was implemented and seems to have been successful.
Source: In class.
Students enjoyed the LabVolt practicums and the reinforcement of theory work.
It is proposed that further work should be done to provide more links between the theoretical work and practicums, both in the laboratory instruction documents and during the actual laboratory sessions.
In Progress
Source: Unit evaluation.
Students felt that more useful feedback could be given on assignments.
It is proposed that more information on typical errors and corrections should be drafted before marking assignments, so that appropriate comments may be pasted for the student's benefit.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain power semiconductors and their principles of operation
- Analyse and model the operation of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), DC to DC, DC to AC power converters and inverters
- Analyse single phase and three phase rectifier circuits, inverter circuits, and different motor control schemes
- Compare and select power electronics drive components for a mechatronic system
- Design variable speed motor controllers for different types of electric motors and evaluate their performances
- Solve real life problems and communicate professionally using power electronic terminology
- Work collaboratively and autonomously and communicate professionally in presenting your solutions
Learning outcomes are linked to Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies and also discipline capabilities. You can find the mapping for this on the Engineering Undergraduate Course website.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||
| 3 - Practical and Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Practical and Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | ||
| 5 - Examination | • | • | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | ||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 3 - Practical and Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
| 4 - Practical and Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||
| 5 - Examination | • | • | • | • | |||||||