1. Getting started¶
1.1. Home page¶
After a successful authentication to https://powerforge.powerdesign.tech/, the GUI displays the home page 🏠 where projects can be managed and where the different libraries of components and materials can be consulted.
To create a new project click the ➕ button, enter a name for the new project, select your converter type and confirm. Your browser will automatically load the newly created project’s page.
1.2. Project details¶
The first section of the project page allows different project management actions:
Rename the project by clicking on the 🖉 icon next to the project name.
Share the project with another user of PowerForge by specifying an email address and a role. The actions allowed for each role are summarized in the following table:
Role |
See designs |
Create designs |
Share |
Manage project libraries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Admin |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
Designer |
✓ |
✓ |
||
Readonly |
✓ |
Delete the project, by clicking on the cog icon.
1.2.1. Multi-parameter sweep¶
This button allows you to create a new or previously saved multi-parameter sweep specification, to explore a large set of power converter solutions.
All details on specifying and launching a multi-parameter are available in a section dedicated to multi-parameter sweep.
1.2.2. Benchmark space¶
This first tab allows you to explore, sort, compare and filter all successfully evaluated designs, through customizable data table and graphs.
All details on benchmarking are available in a page dedicated to benchmarking.
1.2.3. Sweep history¶
The second tab allows you to rename, explore or delete previously launched multi-parameter sweeps. Within each sweep section is stored a short summary of all designs each sweep evaluated, or tried to evaluate.
This space also allows you to regerenate a previously launched sweep specification.
1.3. Design dashboard: the conversion stage layout¶
The layout includes the following panels:
The main panel: where evaluated results, visualizations and potential evaluation report (On System-level) are displayed.
The navigation tree (left side), to explore the design’s subsystems, or get a global view of the whole system (System-Level)
The navigation header (top), to get back to home, project, or edit / delete current design.
The toolbar (Under navigation header), to toggle navigation tree panel visibility, or export the design.
1.4. Auto and manual design mode¶
Each subsystem can be selected in auto or a manual design mode:
Auto: the user only knows the desired behaviour of the sub-system and needs to find the dimensions… to meet certain specifications.
Manual: the user knows all the dimensions of the component and needs to verify what the behaviour of this component is under certain conditions or wants to design the rest of the conversion stage sub-systems.
1.5. Conversion stages & operating points¶
PowerForge supports designing different types of bidirectional non-isolated conversion stages, i.e. systems performing power conversion between two different buses / sources / loads with different properties.
PowerForge designs one of these conversion stage and evaluates its performance at a precise operating point, that is an ambient temperature as well as a combination of voltages, currents, powers and other parameters that entirely define a steady-state point of operation for the conversion stage.