Hardware Lab

The benches behind my training and research

Every programme I run comes from hardware I have built and measured: SiC and GaN converters, real-time digital control, and battery and PV simulation.

Research benches

Converters on the bench

SiC dual active bridge with high-frequency transformer, gate-driver boards and real-time controller

SiC dual active bridge (DAB)

Bidirectional isolated DC-DC converter built with SiC MOSFET bridges and a 1:1 high-frequency transformer, switching at 100 kHz under single-phase-shift control on an FPGA real-time controller.

Switching: 100 kHz
Transformer: 1:1 high-frequency
Control: Wavect Tru-Control WCU300
Used in: EV charging demo, bidirectional DC-DC sessions

Converter test bench with live switching waveforms on the oscilloscope and control PC

Test bench with live waveforms

The same bench seen from the control side: switching waveforms on the Tektronix MDO34, the control PC, programmable supplies and the dSPACE MicroLabBox on the shelf.

Measurement: Tektronix MDO34 with power analysis
Rapid control: dSPACE MicroLabBox
Supply: Programmable DC source
Used in: Measurement and troubleshooting sessions

Converter hardware connected to an ITECH bidirectional supply used as a battery simulator

GaN CC-CV charging on a battery simulator

A GaN synchronous buck converter charging into the ITECH IT6012C-500-80, used as a battery simulator, to demonstrate the change from constant-current to constant-voltage charging.

Simulator: ITECH IT6012C-500-80
Converter: GaN synchronous buck
Demonstrated: CC to CV charging
Used in: Smart Solar Charger programme

Two-phase SiC interleaved boost

180° interleaved phases with current balancing
Digital control on the WCU300
Used for current-sharing and efficiency studies

PV MPPT testing

PV array simulation on the ITECH supply
MPPT firmware tested on repeatable PV curves
Partial-shading cases

Measure before trusting

Probe ratios, deskew and offsets checked first
Efficiency from measured input and output power
The same habits taught in every programme

Instruments

Equipment in the lab

Power electronics research bench at NMIT with real-time controller, oscilloscope, programmable supplies and converter prototypes — Power electronics research bench, NMIT, Bengaluru

Real-time control	Wavect Tru-Control WCU300 FPGA real-time controller; dSPACE MicroLabBox
Measurement	Tektronix MDO34 with power-analysis option; current and differential probes
Sources and loads	ITECH IT6012C-500-80 bidirectional supply (battery and PV simulation); programmable DC supplies and electronic loads
Converters	SiC dual active bridge; two-phase SiC interleaved boost; GaN synchronous buck
Microcontrollers	TI C2000, dsPIC33, ESP32, TM4C123, Arduino, Raspberry Pi
FPGA and tools	Artix-7, MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW, Python, KiCad

Teaching and computing labs

Where students build

Product Design and Development Lab

30 student seats, Department of EEE, NMIT
PCB design in KiCad, fabrication and SMD assembly
Hardware testing and troubleshooting
In-house internships for students

PARAM Shavak supercomputer

Department of EEE, NMIT
Faculty in charge and system administrator
Used for simulation and computing work

Kits for your venue

Consumable kits built from these benches
Carried to your venue, or sent before online sessions
See the programmes →

Dr. Singaravelan Arumugam at a converter test bench in the Energy Lab, POSTECH, South Korea — Energy Lab, POSTECH, South Korea

Earlier lab · POSTECH, South Korea · 2024–2025

Postdoctoral research at POSTECH

Partial-shading MPPT on a TI F280049C controller, demonstrated on a 10.5 kW interleaved boost converter
Solar inverter performance testing
Inverter, PV and grid simulator communication checks for Korean certification

Research and collaborations →

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