DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PERSONAL-COMPUTER BASED AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR FOR A SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR

In recent years personal computers are being increasingly used for monitoring, data acquisition, etc. in electric power applications. The ever increasing capabilities of the personal computer coupled with the decreasing cost make it suitable for digital implementation of: (1) increasingly complex tasks, (2) combining various tasks, and (3) on-line updating of data and decision making. As an example, a straightforward designing method for a digital voltage regulator for a synchronous generator is presented in this paper. The design is carried out directly in the z-domain using the root locus method. Simple software routines are written in assembly language thereby making it suitable for on-line computer control. Digital simulation studies are also carried out to test and compare the design and its dynamic results. The design is implemented on a laboratory size 5 KVA generator with an IBM personal computer acting as the digital controller. Results from the experimental set-ups reinforced the theoretical expectations very well.