April 27, 2010
Power and Control Design and Actel Team Up for Motor Control Solutions
San Jose, CA at the Embedded Systems Conference 2010 - PCD and Actel today announced they are partnering to deliver Motor Control Solutions based on PCD's motor control expertise and intellectual property and Actel's SmartFusion FPGA. The companies have been working for months leading up to ESC 2010 and will soon announce the availability of the SmartFusion Motor Control Development Kit. PCD has developed a 4-axis motor control that will be on display in Actel's booth (#930) at ESC 2010 showcasing the SmartFusion FPGA concurrently controlling four brushless motors while communicating via Ethernet to a PC with a real-time parameter display (virtual scope) for each axis.
April 19, 2010
Power and Control Design, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Arshan Khan, PhD to our team.
Dr. Khan received his Bachelor’s Degree at Aligarh University in India and his Masters Degree from Illinois Tech where he was the first to implement digital wavelet filters and predictive methods to optimize windmill control algorithms. He received his PhD from Florida International University where he focused on high frequency current injection for high-saliency PMSM machines to approximate rotor magnet position at or near zero speed.
“We are excited that Dr. Khan has decided to join our team and we look forward to his contribution to our efforts.”, said Swami Ramanathan, Power and Control Design’s Chief Controls Engineer.
April 16, 2010
Power and Control Design, Inc. launches new website.
April 12, 2010
Power and Control Design, Inc. is Awarded Contract from Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide.
PCD received a large contract for integration of the Company’s proprietary motor control software into a hardware platform from a European Automotive Inverter OEM. The Company successfully demonstrated efficiency performance with its proprietary control methods that substantially exceeded performance of commercially-available products from large suppliers.
The software will be onboard a new hybrid electric vehicle from a California startup that has significant government DOE backing and is slated for production in early 2011. The Company’s control software will be responsible for vehicle propulsion, regenerative charging during braking and the vehicle’s internal combustion engine generator.
The contract also provides long-term residual income to the Company through royalties on a per shipment basis. According to Brad Landseadel, the Company’s President, “These agreements are consistent with PCD’s vision of building value through Intellectual Property (IP) licensing in the electrification of the automotive market.”
January 15, 2010
Power and Control Design, Inc. Controls Onboard AMP’s Electric Sky at the Detroit Auto Show
Detroit, MI – Power and Control Design’s SKEVC-I Series automotive traction controllers were onboard the Saturn Sky from AMP Electric Vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show 2010. The show featured some of the world’s most advanced automotive concepts, including a plethora of electric vehicle entrants from familiar and unfamiliar names from various corners of the globe.
AMP Electric Vehicles stood out with their model of developing conversion kits for practical commuting vehicles for real consumers. The company and the Saturn Sky were featured on many media outlets showcasing their “X-Prize” vehicle entrant. Power and Control Design was proud to be onboard the Saturn Sky providing the electric propulsion to the vehicle’s 2 rear-mounted electric traction motors.
December 21, 2009
Power and Control Design, Inc. Awarded Inverter Hardware Design Contract for European Automotive Inverter OEM
Newbury Park, CA – Power and Control Design, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a contract by a major global supplier of power electronics and inverter products targeting automotive applications. The contract calls for PCD to specify, design and implement key features for deployment in electric vehicle traction propulsion systems requiring ISO 26262 compliance. PCD will select processors, logic and power electronic components, develop the inverter control board and test and validate the product for manufacturing in high volume.
“We accept the challenge of developing this product for our client to deliver ASIL-D compliance for ISO 26262 functional safety.”, said Brad Landseadel, Power and Control Design’s President. “The electrification of the automotive market provides a significant opportunity to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, but it requires new paradigms for understanding what functional safety and redundancy mean. With our client, we plan to forge ahead with these new paradigms to develop a product that delivers green performance, reliability and superior functional safety for automotive electric propulsion applications.”
October 18, 2009
Power and Control Design, Inc. Receives Contract From Marvin Land Systems
Newbury Park, CA – Marvin Land Systems (MLS), a major supplier to military customers around the world, awarded Power and Control Design (PCD) a contract to integrate key PCD motor control technologies into a package suitable for MLS military products and systems. The contract defines key specifications and criteria required for MLS to deploy PCD’s motor control technology in harsh, military applications.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to work with MLS”, said Brad Landseadel, PCD’s Founder and President. “MLS has a history of innovation, reliability and product development that we are absolutely thrilled to be a part of.”, added Landseadel.
October 2, 2009
Power and Control Design, Inc. closes on Series A Fundraising
Newbury Park, CA – Power and Control Design, Inc. today announced the completion of the Company’s Series A equity offering. The offering for a minority stake in the Company was completed by and between Power and Control Design, Inc., Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide and Wilson, Wilson and Wilson, a general partnership in California. The Company plans to use the capital to fund continued development of automotive traction technologies for use in EV/HEV/PHEV products for use in the next generation of vehicles. A representative from both Quantum and Wilson, Wilson and Wilson will take seats on the Company’s Board of Directors. Brad Landseadel, the Company’s Founder, President and Chief Executive, will remain the Chairman of the Board.
September 23, 2009
Power and Control Design, Inc. Receives Order from AMP Motor Works for Traction Controls for the Saturn Sky Electric Vehicle Program
Newbury Park, CA – PCD today announced the receipt of orders for its SKEVC-I Series Traction Controllers for use with Semikron SKAI I inverters to be integrated for the propulsion systems for AMP Electric Vehicle’s Saturn Sky conversion. The initial order is for 3 vehicles and is expected to be delivered with AMP’s first products, including AMP’s X-Prize vehicle.
“We are pleased that AMP has placed their trust in our technology and most importantly, in our people.”, said Brad Landseadel, the Company’s President. “We look forward to a long-term relationship with AMP Electric Vehicles.”, added Landseadel.
September 7, 2009
Power and Control Design, Inc. Awarded Contract from Actel Semiconductor
Newbury Park, CA – PCD was awarded a contract from Actel Semiconductor today to develop a Motor Control Development Kit for Actel’s new SmartFusion FPGA product line. The SmartFusion chip integrates an ARM™ Cortex-M3 hard processor core and Actel’s Flash Configuration Cell based FPGA technology on a single die, along with an Analog Computing Engine, or ACE, that includes 24 ADC channels. The Cortex-M3 communicates with the FPGA fabric via a high-speed AHB or APB bus.
Swami Ramanathan, the Company’s Chief Controls Engineer said, “Actel’s progressive approach allows system engineers to implement computationally-intensive C routines in HDL, which can parallelize the processing of data to minimize delays in control systems. While this has been before with soft processors, we are not aware of anyone doing it with a hard processor.”
The Company will manufacture and sell the Motor Control Development Kit on its website and through national and international distribution channels, such as Avnet and Future Electronics.