Design Considerations for Low Voltage Claw Pole Type Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) Systems

Due to the need for improved fuel consumption and the trend towards increasing the electrical content in automobiles, integrated starter generator (ISG) systems are being considered by the automotive industry. In this paper, in order to change the conventional generator of a vehicle, a belt driven integrated starter generator is considered. The overall ISG system, the design considerations for the claw pole type AC electric machine and a low voltage very high current power stage implementation are discussed. Test data on the low voltage claw pole type machine is presented, and a large current voltage source DC/AC inverter suitable for low voltage integrated starter generator operation is also presented. A metal based PCB (Printed Circuit Board) power unit to attach the 4-parallel MOS-FETs is used to achieve extremely high current capability. Furthermore, issues related to the torque assistance during vehicle acceleration and the generation/regeneration characteristics are discussed. A prototype with the capability of up to 1000 A and 27 V is designed and built to validate the kilo-amp inverter.