Voltage Conversion and Regulation Techniques Employed in the Prime Converter for the Anchored Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (AIMP) Spacecraft

This paper describes the major design concepts considered in the development of a DC to DC prime converter for the Anchored Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (AIMP) Spacecraft. This static converter is used to transform the power from the solar array and battery into suitable levels for the instrumentation and experiment electronics. The design approach chosen incorporates a duty cycle switching pre-regulator controlled by saturable reactors, a DC to DC converter synchronized at the basic operating frequency of the pre-regulator, and series dissipative regulators exhibiting short circuit protection. A breakdown of the power losses in the pre-regulator is presented. Of particular note are the procedures followed to achieve a low magnetic field disturbance.