Cascaded bidirectional flyback converter driving DEAP transducers

For the control of Dielectric Elastomer Generators (DEGs) a special high voltage power-electronic (HVPE) is necessary, driving this kind of novel generators at high voltages and typically low currents. In order to supply the generator with initial charges and to harvest the generated energy, the HVPE must also enable a bidirectional energy transfer. After introducing the functional principle of DEGs and significant equations for the energy gain, the requirements to the HVPE are derived. The HVPE is based on a bidirectional flyback converter concept, which is cascaded to achieve the necessary voltage level. The converter is analyzed and modeled to describe the average current, which is used for the controller design. The performance of the converter is demonstrated based on simulations.