What is DriveConstructor?

DriveConstructor is the online educational software. It was created to support professors teaching design of power conversion systems. It is possible to use the software for sketching solutions for the real world problems. However, it was developed first of all for the educational purposes. The software together with the Textbook and the Exercize book form the integral online course in power conversion system design. The knowledge can be acquired in a structured way through solving the tasks proposed in the Exercize book.

A task can be for example driving a mechanism, like pump or conveyor, by using electric power from the grid. Such a task requires conversion of the energy from electric into mechanical whereby the electric machine, being the "heart" of the power conversion system, works as a motor. Another example of a task can be delivering power extracted from the water flow by a tidal turbine into the grid; here conversion takes place from mechanical energy into electric energy whereby the electric machine works as a generator.

The system between the mechanism and the grid can include various components; both electrical, such as frequency converters and transformers, and mechanical, such as gearboxes. The components, put together into the power conversion system, can be called a drive train or a drive system (this is, by the way, why this online software is called DriveConstructor)

Providers of the equipment often call the tasks Applications.

In DriveConstructor it is possible to design systems for the four applications: pump, conveyor, winch (or winder) and wind (or tidal) turbine. The applications have different load profiles and operational modes.

Navigating through the Textbook and solving the tasks one can learn how to specify the mechanisms and the system components for the proposed applications and how to design optimal systems.