Frequently Asked Questions
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1) What are Saminco's in-house electrical design and development capabilities, including hardware and software. What type of software packages are used?  Please list all outside resources used for design and development.

2) Detail in-house component assemblies capabilities, i.e. magnetics, inductors, circuit assemblies, system assemblies, etc.

3) What is Saminco's experience with the following: Hybrid-Electric Systems; Fuel Cells Systems; Inverters/Converters; Power Conversion Projects.

4) Please describe Saminco's system controls development capabilities, (software, hardware, FPGAs types, micro-controllers types, etc.) .

5) Please list Saminco's experience in developing / integrating systems involving data acquisition and data processing.

6) Please indicate the types of I/O communication Saminco has experience with?  (i.e. analog, digital, CAN, PWM).

7) Has Saminco developed any liquid cooled power electronics?  If so please list all that apply.

8) With specific detail, i.e. equipment, labs, personnel, etc; please indicate what are Saminco's power electronic testing capabilities, include supply voltage and current levels and loading voltage and current levels.

9) With specific detail, i.e. equipment, labs, personnel, etc; please indicate Saminco's EMC and environmental testing capabilities, clarify response with in-house vs. external resources.

10) Please, describe in detail, Saminco's in-house prototyping capabilities, clarify your response with in-house vs. external resources.  (i.e. Volume capabilities, in-house equipment and maximum annual volumes).

11) What are Saminco's manufacturing capabilities, clarify your response with in-house vs. external resources. (i.e. Volume capabilities, in-house equipment and maximum annual volumes).

 

1) What are Saminco's in-house electrical design and development capabilities, including hardware and software. What type of software packages are used?  Please list all outside resources used for design and development.

A.   SAMINCO has 15 Design Engineers on staff, many with over 20 years of hardware and software design / development experience. In addition, we also have two full time PCB Designers, two Mechanical Design Engineers, one Mechanical Designer, and Manufacturing/Operations Engineers.

 

B.     SAMINCO utilizes the following software packages to aid in our designs;

 

Electrical Design Packages

·           Innoveda (PADS) Power Logic
·           Innoveda (PADS) Power PCB
·           Electronic Work Bench EDA
·           Math CAD

 

Software Design Packages

·           Tasking C166/ST10 V 7.0   C Cross Compiler
·           Tasking C166/ST10 V 7.0   Cross-Assembler & Linker
·           Tasking C166/ST10 V 7.0   Cross-View Pro Debugger
·           Microchip MPLAB C18 C Cross Compiler
·           Microchip MPLAB ICE 2000 Development Environment
·           Analog Devices ADSP-21XX Assembler
·           Analog Devices Motion Control Debugger
·           Microsoft Visual C++   
·           Microsoft Visual Studio 
·           Microsoft Visual Source Safe

 

Mechanical Design Packages

·           AutoCAD 2000 2D & 3D
·           Auto Desk Inventor 3D Solids Modeling

 C.    Following is a list of outside resources used to aid in our design and development.

· Jim Hendershot – Retained by Saminco

Renowned Motor Designer, Author of textbooks on Brushless and Switch Reluctance Motors. Has designed SR and Brushless Motors for SAMINCO’s Traction Drive and Spindle Drive Systems.

 

· Keith Billings – Retained by Saminco

Designer of switch mode power supplies. Author of book “Switch Mode Power Supplies” - McGraw Hill.

 

· John Edwards - Retained by Saminco

Inverter and Switch Mode Design Engineer.

 

· George Fisher - Retained by Saminco

Electrical Design Engineer with over 25 years experience designing Mining Control and Radio remote control system.

 
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2) Detail in-house component assemblies capabilities, i.e. magnetics, inductors, circuit assemblies, system assemblies, etc.

 SAMINCO has full design capabilities for  component assemblies. However we have adopted the policy of using qualified outside sources with proven quality systems to manufacture and assemble these electrical components when ever possible. This has proven to increase consistency and quality of these components. It also provides us with closer production ready components for our prototyping and validation process.

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3) What is Saminco's experience with the following: Hybrid-Electric Systems; Fuel Cells Systems; Inverters/Converters; Power Conversion Projects.

A.     Hybrid-Electric Systems

1994 – 1995: FP&L S10 Pick-up Truck        
              BR-250 Brushless Motor Traction Drive

1994: Kaman Elect Hawaii Transit Bus        
              120kW Battery Regulator

1995: General Motors EV1 Prototype          

                    40kW Switched Reluctance Controller and Motor    

1995: Solar Car Corp Ford Festiva               

                    B400 144VDC 400A DC Traction Motor Controller

1999 - 2001:  Allison Electric Drives     (80+ systems delivered)  

                    M601 250kW APU / M602 250kW Traction Inverter  

B.     Fuel Cell Systems (Transportation)

1991 – 1993: Ballard Power Phase I Bus        

                    240VDC 600A DC Motor Controller

                          144VDC 200A Battery Charger

1993 – 1994: Georgetown U. Gen I Bus  (3 Buses)

                    216VDC 600A DC Motor Controller

                  60kW DC Boost Chopper

1994 – 1995: Energy Partners Green Car        

                    BR100 Air Compressor Controller

1994 – 1995: Ballard Power Phase II Bus        

                    265kW Boost Chopper

                    12,000rpm BRDC Air Compressor Controller

                    Brake Chopper

1995 – 1997: Ballard Power Phase III Bus   (6 Buses)     

                    215Hp Traction Inverter

                    265kW Boost Chopper

                    60Hp 12,500rpm Air Compressor Controller

                    60Hp 460VAC Accessory Inverter

                    40Hp 460VAC Inverter for Pumps

1997 – 1999: dbb Phase IV Bus          

                    M500 250kW Traction Inverter

1998: dbb Ford P2000 Car        

                    M64 Air Compressor Inverter

1999 to present: Ballard Phase V Bus  (30+ Buses))      

                    M502 250kW Traction Inverter

                    1kW 10,000rpm Hydrogen Pump Controller

1999 to present: Daimler-Chrysler NECAR4

                    DI Water Pump Inverter

2000 to present: TH!NK FCV; D-C NECAR4

                    M1-20 Air Compressor Inverter (retrofit)

C.    Fuel Cell Systems (Stationary)

1999: Ballard Power

                    1.4kW Step-up Converter

2000: Ballard/Coleman Powermate

                    165W DC/DC Regulator

2000: Cellex Power

                    3.2kW DC/DC Converter

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4)  Please describe in detail your system controls development capabilities, (software, hardware, FPGAs types, micro-controllers types, etc.)

 

A.     SIEMENS 80C167 PROCESSOR FAMILY

In-house development tools, tasking C Compiler. Two man years of system development experience. Projects executed consist of DC motor controllers for battery-powered mining vehicles.

B.     MICROCHIP PIC MICRO-CONTROLLER FAMILY

In-house development tools, MPLAB C18 C Compiler. Eight man years of development experience. Used for motor controllers, data acquisition and displays.   

C.    ANALOG DEVICES ADMC DSP FAMILY

Experimental systems for brushless motor control and induction flux vector control. High efficiency modulation method developed. One man year of system development experience.

D.    YASKAWA G5+ CASE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

Implementation of customer-specific algorithms linked with Yaskawa G5 code on general-purpose industrial AC drives. Used on inverters for hybrid diesel vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and haulage systems for mining machinery.

E.     DELTA TAU MOTION CONTROL SYSTEMS  

Implementation of user-interface functions for motion control cards used on high-speed brushless spindle motors.

F.     PULSEWIDTH MODULATION SCHEMES  

Unique 3-Level PWM systems with combination of two 3-phase bridges to give effective PWM frequency of 30kHz. Applied to high-speed spindle drives.

G.    PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICES  

Programming tools in-house. Used to implement several logic functions in various products.

H.     ADDITIONAL SKILLS  

The following skills are possessed by SAMINCO engineers through previous experiences.

Microprocessors:
·        MOTOROLA 68MC11 FAMILY
·        MOTOROLA 683XX FAMILY
·        INTEL 80X86 FAMILY
·        INTEL 8051 FAMILY
·        HITACHI 64180 FAMILY
·        GATE ARRAYS

Operating Systems:
·   Microsoft Windows^â CE, NT, 2000 and XP
·   AMX real-time operating system

      In addition, we have access to system developers of proven expertise outside the company.

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5) Please list Saminco's experience in developing / integrating systems involving data acquisition and data processing.

SAMINCO’s data acquisition and data processing development and integration experiences have been generally test related. We utilize two systems for in-house data collection, Virtual Bench and Fluke Hydra Systems. We are presently developing a data acquisition system for an automotive customers environmental test program.

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6) Please indicate the types of I/O communication Saminco has experience with?  (i.e. analog, digital, CAN, PWM).

A.     RS232/RS485

Links over short distances up to 19,200-baud rate. Various applications. MODBUS Protocol.

B.     CAN

Implementation of SAE J1936 compatible devices for hybrid and fuel cell and Battery powered inverters.

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7) Has Saminco developed any liquid cooled power electronics?  If so please list all that apply.

A.     Following is a list of liquid cooled power electronics SAMINCO has developed.

 

1995: Solar Car Corp Ford Festiva

B400 144VDC 400A DC Traction Motor Controller

1997 – 1999: dbb Phase IV Bus

M500 250kW Traction Inverter

1998: dbb Ford P2000 Car

M64 Air Compressor Inverter

1999 - 2001:  Allison Electric Drives

M601 250kW APU

M602 250kW Traction Inverter

1999 to present: Ballard Phase V Bus

M502 250kW Traction Inverter

2000: USA – NASA - Space Shuttle SBR Vector Control

BR150 80kW Brushless DC Controller

2000 to present: TH!NK FCV/DC NECAR4

M1-20 Air Compressor Inverter (retrofit)

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8) With specific detail, i.e. equipment, labs, personnel, etc; please indicate what are Saminco's power electronic testing capabilities, include supply voltage and current levels and loading voltage and current levels.

SAMINCO’s Test Department includes a Test Manager, two Test Engineers and three Test Technicians. During the development stage of a prototype project the testing is conducted by the Design Engineers with the assistance of a Test Engineer. When prototype designs have been validated, the Test Engineer will prepare a detailed procedure to be followed by the test department when the product is handed over to production. Saminco has over 500kVA of power available for testing, including DC supplies in excess of 1000Amps from 120V to 600V, AC supplies up to 600Amps 3 phase from 120V to 575V. We have load stands and dynamometers for testing AC, DC and Brushless DC controllers from 5Hp to 350Hp.

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9) With specific detail, i.e. equipment, labs, personnel, etc; please indicate Saminco's EMC and environmental testing capabilities, clarify response with in-house vs. external resources.

A.     SAMINCO engineers and technicians have an extensive background in designing to and meeting various US and International Environmental and EMC/EMI standards.

B.     Our present in-house EMC and Environmental test equipment includes Electric Field Probes from 60 Hz to 100 MHz and Magnetic Field Probes from 40 Hz to 300 kHz in range in addition to our 3g vibration table.

 

C.    Our in-house EMC and Environmental test needs are supplemented from time to time by a select number of certified test consultants and equipment rental sources.

 

We also have a large number of certified external EMC and Environmental test houses we contract for larger test programs.

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10) Please, describe in detail, Saminco's in-house prototyping capabilities, clarify your response with in-house vs. external resources.  (i.e. Volume capabilities, in-house equipment and maximum annual volumes).

A.     SAMINCO’s Engineering R&D Department has three highly skilled full time Electro-Mechanical technicians in addition to the R&D Coordinator to build and develop prototype and special projects. They also assist in the transfer of products from R&D to our production department.

 

B.     Prototype Production volume will be dependent on the level of development, complexity of design and testing required.

 

C.    Following is a list of in house manufacturing equipment

·    Quick Circuit 7000 Programmable PCB Prototype system

·    18” Horizontal Mill

·    Variable Speed Drill Presses

·    Hand Drills

·    14” Band Saw

·    10” Cut-Off Saw

·    Saws-Alls

·    “MIG” Welder

·    Arc Welder

·    Acetylene Torch

·    Hand Grinder

·    Bench Grinder

·    Brake Press

·    Arbor Press

·    Air Compressors

·    Spray Guns

D.    We contract Qualified External Resources to fulfill most of the following manufacturing requirements:

·    PCB fabrication

·    PCB assembly

·    Metal forming

·    Metal stamping

·    Metal machining

·    Powder Coating

·    Tin & nickel plating

 

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11) What are Saminco's manufacturing capabilities, (in-house vs. external resources).  

A.     SAMINCO’s Production Department consists of two areas, Main Assembly and Prep.

·    The main assembly area has twelve technicians and produces most of our high volume standard products. These products are generally complex, high power units for the mining and automotive industries.

·    The Prep Area has four technicians responsible for preparing wire harnesses, cables, PCB and subassemblies. The Prep Area also assembles some of our smaller products such as operator stations, hand held operators, digital displays and power supplies.  

B.     SAMINCO’s Production Department output volume varies with the type of product being produced. We maintain a high on time delivery rate. Adjustments to work force size and hours are made to accommodate different project requirements.

 

Refer to answers C. & D. of Prototype Capabilities above, for SAMINCO’s in-house equipment list.

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