Fuel cell based domestic power supply-a student project

The paper describes our participation in a student competition to design and build a fuel cell based domestic power supply. Various aspects of the educational experience are examined such as the educational goals of the project, project organization, and outcomes. Innovative educational approaches are described such as brainstorming sessions and discussion with students of high-level design choices described by a decision tree. In the second part of the paper the design solution that was adopted is described: this includes an active filter that compensates for the slow dynamics of the fuel cell. The active filter control strategy is described.