Electrical and Electronic Engineering Research Collection

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Browsing Electrical and Electronic Engineering Research Collection by Type "Technical Report"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Electrical and Thermal Characteristics of Household Appliances: Voltage Dependency, Harmonics and Thermal RC Parameters
    (2016-02)
    McKenna, Killian 
    ;
    Keane, Andrew 
    Detailed bottom-up load modelling of the residential sector has become increasingly important to examine the network impacts of both changing load composition due to the introduction of sustainable technologies, and changing load behaviour with increased levels of demand response. An important aspect of these models is the electrical and thermal behaviour of household loads. This paper examines the fundamental electrical and thermal characteristics of common household appliances. Methods to obtain the voltage de endency and equivalent resistive-capacitive (RC) circuit parameters for mode ling thermostatically controlled appliances (TCAs) are presented. The paper also presents the results of laboratory experimental determination of voltage dep endency coefficients, subjecting common appliances to a range of voltages within +/- 10% of the standard supply voltage. The thermal behaviour of TCAs are examined by use of thermocouples and plug-load monitoring devices. Appliances are grouped into into five distinct categories; lighting, motor, power electronic, resistive and wet appliance loads, and both their characteristics and operational behaviour is presented.
      2770
  • Publication
    A foldable, all-terrain tracked electric wheelchair
    (2020-01-07)
    Cuffe, Paul 
    ;
    Higgins, Robert 
    Many existing wheelchairs design are bulky, ugly, slow and confined to flat surfaces. While tracked wheelchairs do exist, such as the Action Trackchair, they are large and expensive (~€10k). Likewise, while folding wheelchairs also exist (see e.g the Zinger) these are often not suited to all-terrain performance. The significance of this project is to harness the technology underpinning the ongoing emergence of urban transport ridables and use this to produce an exciting new wheelchair form factor. A key differentiator is that our tracked platform uses commodity polyvee belting which is standard method for industrial power transmission. This means that our tracks can be simpler and cheaper than more elaborate, custom solutions. The vision is to create a collapsible chair design that exploits the tidy flatness of our platform to allow the whole device to fold down to a briefcase size and shape. Portable and folding wheelchair designs tend to struggle with neatly accommodating the large wheels. As shown in the Appendix, using the flat tracked base platform provides the perfect frame for a chair superstructure to fold into. This will allow the folded-up tracked wheelchair to be stowed in the boot of a car, or easily brought along on the bus or train. Such an affordable and portable device should materially enhance the autonomy and mobility of people with physical disabilities.
      112