To achieve sustainable development of human society, electrified transportation including electrical vehicle, all/more electric aircraft and ship has become an important trend in the transportation industry. Advanced electrical machines are a key technology in electrified transportation, where high efficiency, high power density, high torque density, high reliability, and low cost are required. Through innovations in machine topology, cooling technology, materials, manufacturing and optimization algorithms, advanced electrical machines will effectively promote the development of electrified transportation. The aim of the proposed special session is to report recent research advances in electrical machines for electrified transportation.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Machine topology innovation

• Thermal management and modelling

• Loss and efficiency

• Optimization design

• Vibration and noise

• Advanced materials

• Fault tolerant topology and design

• Advanced manufacturing for electrical machine

Transportation electrification is an inevitable trend towards a low-carbon world, and merging technologies in new materials, power electronics, and control systems bring new opportunities and challenges to electrified transportation. The session aims to improve the efficiency, reliability, and performance of electric vehicles and other forms of electric transportation. New converter topologies, data-enabled controllers, and new wireless and wired drive systems are crucial for improving the efficiency and robust performance of electric traction systems. The session presents the latest advancements in these areas, including modeling, integration, and control strategies.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Integrated motor drive technologies for transportation electrification

• Advanced power electronics for electric energy conversion system

• Wireless charging and propulsion technologies

• Modeling and optimization of electric devices for electrified transportation

• Data-driven technologies in electrified transportation

• Integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for fault diagnosis, prognostics, and health management of electric machines and power electronics in transportation electrification

Organizer         Hang Zhao       The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

                         Zaixin Song      The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

                         Can Wang        Shenzhen University

The operation characteristics and requirements of robots and autonomous systems have become increasingly sophisticated in recent times. As a crucial actuation component, the performance of motor drives directly affects the facilitation of these complex functions, ranging from soldering, coating, and delivery to conducting surgeries. Currently, the actuators implemented in scenarios involving robots and autonomous systems have evolved towards achieving higher power density and control accuracy, gradually approaching the physical limits of the materials used. This development has been expedited by novel motor technologies from design, control, and drive aspects. Consequently, the advancement of cutting-edge research relevant to this area is highly encouraged in this special session.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Direct-drive motor topology for robot joints

• Integrated motor drive for legged robots

• High-precision motor drive for surgical robots

• In-wheel motor topology for low-speed unmanned vehicles

• Linear motor for industrial autonomous assembly lines

• Multi-physics analysis and structural optimization of actuators

• Machine-learning-based actuator design and optimization methods

• Advanced motor control strategy by using machine-learning-related methods

• Compact and reliable inverter design using wide-band-gap power electronics

• Integrative design of actuator with mechanical structure (reduction gear, screw rod) for wearable devices

• Advanced parameter identification and tuning for robotic motor drives

• Flexible load control methods for robot actuators

• Self-detection and self-tuning algorithm of robot joint servo system

• Nonlinear analysis and compensation for robot actuation systems

Superconducting technology offers great opportunities for advanced electrical machines with much higher power density, higher efficiency, lower losses and smaller size compared with their conventional counterparts, which has a greatly promising perspective in the fields of transportation electrification and new energy power generation. However, there are still some challenges that delay the commercialization of superconducting electrical machines, such as the productivity and cost of superconducting wires/tapes, technical issues related to AC losses, the topology and structure of superconducting electrical machine, the complexity of cooling system, the critical temperature, excitation methods of superconducting coils, and manufacturing related issues, among others. The aim of the proposed special session is to report recent research achievements in design, manufacturing and operation, fault detection and condition monitoring of superconducting electrical machines. This session will help to push the superconducting machines closer to commercialization.  

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Innovation of superconducting electrical machine topologies

• Fault detection, monitoring and protection

• AC Losses and efficiency

• Ultra-low temperature cooling system

• Vibration and noise

• Advanced superconducting materials

• Advanced manufacturing for superconducting apparatus

• Excitation methods of superconducting coils for machines

• Simulation methods for superconducting machines

With the establishment of general airgap field-modulation theory for electrical machines, a new type of field-modulation machine has been drawing an increased attention for the applications of wind power generation, electric vehicle traction and ship propulsion due to their advantages of slip ring and brush-free topology, high torque density and characteristics of direct-drive operation. Compared with the permanent-magnet (PM) excitation mode, the electric-excitation mode can realize low manufacturing cost and flexible regulation of airgap field. Through innovations in machine topology, optimization design, analytical calculation, condition monitoring, fault diagnosis, manufacturing process and advanced control, it will effectively promote the applications of electric-excitation field-modulation machine in modern industry. The aim of the proposed special session is to report the latest research advances in electric-excitation field-modulation machine system and its applications.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Machine topology innovation

• Analytical modeling and optimization design

• Loss and efficiency

• Multi-field coupling analysis

• Vibration and noise

• Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis

• Advanced control strategy

• Fault tolerant topology

• Advanced manufacturing for electrical machine

• Renewable-energy based applications

Organizer      Liang   Yan         Beihang University

                      Hongfeng Li      Tianjin University

The current multi-degree-of-freedom drive system consists of multiple cylindrical rotary or linear motors coupled with complex mechanical transmission mechanisms, with low performance indicators such as torque density, control accuracy, reliability, and efficiency. A spherical motor with a single axis can achieve three degrees of freedom (pitch, yaw, and rotation) motion, greatly simplifying the mechanical transmission system, and is a typical representative of the high-quality development of multi-degree-of-freedom drive systems. In order to meet the three-degree-of-freedom movement requirements in the mechanical structure of a spherical motor, the stator core is designed as a spherical shell, the rotor is designed as a spherical structure, and the rotor is built into the stator. However, the cost of simplifying the mechanical structure of a spherical motor is greatly increasing the complexity of the air gap magnetic field and attitude description. Therefore, spherical motor is a new topic in the field of new electrical machines, which have attracted many scholars at home and abroad from Georgia Institute of Technology, Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Anhui University, etc to carry out research on body structure design, electromagnetic field analysis, position detection, trajectory planning, power-on strategies, and other aspects. The aim of the proposed special session is to share and promote the latest research results of spherical motors.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Electromagnetic analysis and optimization design of spherical motor

• Magnetic field modeling and simulation of spherical motor

• Torque analysis of spherical motor

• Magnetic field reconstruction technology of spherical motor

• Structural optimization methods of spherical motor

• Position sensorless detection of spherical motor

• Attitude detection includes contact and non-contact detection of spherical motor

• Motor control algorithm of spherical motor

Organizers        Ze Li                       Hebei University

                         Sheng Huang         Hunan University

                         Jinhui Xia               Southeast University

The roots of multiphase variable speed drives can be traced back to the late 1960s, the time when inverter-fed ac drives were in the initial development stage. Over the years, many beneficial features of multiphase electric machines and drives have become recognized. Multiphase machines have received considerable interests in industrial applications due to the merits of high reliability, superior fault tolerance, high efficiency, and high-power output capacities. Extensive efforts have been made to investigate the advanced control technologies for multiphase machines to meet the desired objectives set for each application. This special session is intended to encourage the dissemination of new concepts and ideas on the latest topology design, modulation, and high-performance control methods for multiphase electric machines.

Topics of interest include, but not limited to:

• Winding structure design methods for multiphase machines

• Optimized space vector modulation schemes

• Novel model predictive control (MPC) methods for current or torque control

• Position-sensorless control technologies

• Machine parameter identification strategies

• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based control methods

• Fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control in multiphase machine operation

Organizer          Chunhua Liu            City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 

                         Chaoqiang Jiang      City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 

                         Shuangxia Niu          The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China 

                         Yunhe Hou               The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 

Toward automation and digitization in the Smart Factory and Industry 4.0, mobile robots keep spreading in factories globally with a 10% increase despite the pandemic, revealed by Tesla and Amazon, who announced ''employment of thousands of humanoid robots'' and ''first fully autonomous mobile robot'' in their factories and warehouses, in September and June 2022. With more advanced technologies of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, mobile robots consume more energy along the motions. Currently, most fast wired charging process for mobile robots requests manual or automatic connection to tethered plugs, leaving operators or metal contacts in possible hazards. Aiming to eliminate the galvanic connection and alleviate the costly downtime for charging, wireless power transfer (WPT) offers an unobtrusive and hassle-free charging solution. The WPT technique recently has attracted more and more attention due to the rapid development of power electronics. This session aims to provide a timely opportunity for academic researchers and industrial engineers to present, discuss, and exchange the latest results and findings of WPT technologies on the robotics applications, power electronic topologies, compensation network design, electromagnetic field theory, as well as the future development of dynamic charging for mobile robots.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Dynamic charging for mobile robots

• Novel SiC and GaN converters for WPT

• Wireless charging systems for robots and smart home appliances

• Electromagnetic compatibility and safety designs

• New materials and topologies for magnetic core

• Multiple-frequency multiple-objective WPT applications

• Emerging applications such as wireless motor, lighting, heating, etc.

• Review paper on WPT techniques and development