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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Converter Circuits by University of Colorado Boulder

4.8
stars
1,337 ratings

About the Course

This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5701, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. This course introduces more advanced concepts of switched-mode converter circuits. Realization of the power semiconductors in inverters or in converters having bidirectional power flow is explained. Power diodes, power MOSFETs, and IGBTs are explained, along with the origins of their switching times. Equivalent circuit models are refined to include the effects of switching loss. The discontinuous conduction mode is described and analyzed. A number of well-known converter circuit topologies are explored, including those with transformer isolation. The homework assignments include a boost converter and an H-bridge inverter used in a grid-interfaced solar inverter system, as well as transformer-isolated forward and flyback converters. After completing this course, you will: ● Understand how to implement the power semiconductor devices in a switching converter ● Understand the origins of the discontinuous conduction mode and be able to solve converters operating in DCM ● Understand the basic dc-dc converter and dc-ac inverter circuits ● Understand how to implement transformer isolation in a dc-dc converter, including the popular forward and flyback converter topologies Completion of the first course Introduction to Power Electronics is the assumed prerequisite for this course....

Top reviews

AG

May 22, 2020

A really good course on converter circuits. The way Dr. Erickson synthesized inverters from buck converters was eye opening. Many lectures overlook such basic aspects of power electronics synthesis.

JK

Aug 27, 2023

Great follow on to the Introduction to Power Electronics. Provides a great logical deepening of understanding and practical impacts that can help to understand real-world behaviour and problems.

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1 - 25 of 292 Reviews for Converter Circuits

By Tarun S

Apr 5, 2019

This is very awesome course which had cleared my concept and it's assignment had helped me out to implement theory while design related problems. Thank you so much Coursera and Prof.

By I.D

Jul 17, 2020

Good and straight forward. This is what education should be like. A more rigorous way of teaching does not necessary convey valuable information. Thank you and please keep it up

By Branko M

Jan 13, 2020

Amazing course in designing converters that will work in the real world with an approach that is organized, efficient and systematic. Excited to start the next course.

By saurabh v

Mar 29, 2019

Great course, well presented. Goes over basics and the HW is complex and interesting enough to keep you hooked. Hope the rest of the series is like this as well

By Faheem A

Nov 26, 2016

Aim to complete this specialization course. My interest and work both aligns perfectly with this course, and its immensely helping me out.

By Venkatesh B

Jul 3, 2017

No words describe it,just Awesome.............

By Deleted A

Mar 12, 2019

Power Electronics Rocks

By Jay B

May 16, 2019

Good stuff here, Homework really have you thinking.

Lots of pros & cons:

Math formulas are either wrong or right, no partial credits. So, you could actually have the correct answer on paper but its not inputted how the website would detect it then its graded as incorrect.

Good news is you get multiple re-sits.... bad news is if you have a concept wrong and/or input is incorrect then the re-sits are of no use until you figure out the typo or whats wrong with your reasoning.

Bad news - understanding is limited to what the video says, no matter how many times you repeat it. Good news, supplemental reading on google is fair enough to help you get over most hurdles.

Bad news - some homework questions aren't exactly straightforward from the notes.... but, SUCH IS LIFE. Its the same as you local college so dig in and go figure it out, somehow and make use of the re-sits.

Overall, good job. I have learnt a lot and hope I can make it to the end. Looking forward to the design project, nothing beats putting it to life in a "real world application" after torturing with so many formulas and theories.

By Asif H

Apr 8, 2017

Overall, I enjoyed the class and the content. However, I found it difficult to get feedback on the homework assignments and there isn't a way to review what you missed on submitted assignments after the course is over. Students should be able to get a copy of the solutions for the weekly graded problem sets once the course is over to keep for their records and to review what they missed.

By SAN V

May 20, 2021

This course along with the first one is perfectly sculpted for a noob like me as well as a professional candidate alike. This course takes us to a different level of understanding in the field and provides yet another vantage point in looking at devices we use every day.

This course is really an eye-opener for me. Now I can make sense of electrical circuits with a bit more confidence than earlier. I am delighted to have participated in this journey of self-transformation and feeling so overwhelmed. I have been targeting a promotion or pay raise before taking this course but, now I want to take more such course to expand my horizon of knowledge and improve my skills on this newfound platform.

By Khalid E

Dec 10, 2016

This is one of the best courses available on Coursera, it's very professionally presented and covers the topic from an academic point of view.

This is not a cook-course that gives you circuits that are ready to implement, instead this course focus more on the design (from scratch) and the trade-offs involved.

Also the details provided here is very deep in the topic, if you are expecting a nice easy intro course this one might not be the good choice.

ISA I'm going definitely to continue the specialization and I'm looking forward to the knowledge and concepts I'll learn :)

By Piyas C

Aug 1, 2020

The course is excellent and the Professor has given nice explanations of each topic in the lecture video. But I think the assignment is too tough for those who only take this course for a non-credit certificate as like me and not for masters course because it is difficult for me to manage enough time for this online course besides our professional job. I believe that it would be proper justification for a non-credit certificate there should be different assignment options that would be affordable and affable.

By SRIKRISHNA.Y.HUNSWADKAR

May 7, 2020

The course was very informative and with Hands On experience of Simulation of Converters. I could learn Many things about Converters such as selection of Switches based on Quadrant Operation, Switching Losses, Discontinuous Mode of Operation and Working of Forward Converter and Flyback Converter. I'm Very very thankful to Coursera for Providing such a Great Course from such an Esteemed Institute. I'm very thankful to Dr.Robert Erickson sir, he's taught course very well. He's just Amazing Professor.

By MAHENDRA C B

May 21, 2020

I have learned to analyse the steady state behavior of various converter circuits. The professor has explained the converter circuits extraordinary . Its been a challenge to attempt the assignments. The questions developed was to a great level. by doing this Assignments i updated my knowledge to a next level. Thank you professor and coursera platform for this wonderful course.

By Carlos F H P

Feb 26, 2016

It has been one of my favorites MOOCs, I would say a top 3 of the best courses i have taken.

Even though you have to work so hard to deal with the homeworks, you are going to learn a lot. Professor Erickson is a great master in his field and he explains so clear. I really recommend this course to those who love electronics and want to develop their own projects.

By Davide C

Feb 17, 2021

This course was very interesting because it explained many topologies of DC/DC converters, analyzing not only the operation, but also how the internal switching devices are made, and how switching losses can be calculated. The videos have very poor quality, unfortunately, but the PDF material is also available, which is very good.

By Rubem P

Aug 3, 2017

Absolutely fantastic, I'm learning from a relatively basic level to a level of excellence! My efficiency in learning the course is close to 100%, there are few things that I could not understand. I will use my knowledge acquired in this course to elaborate my final project course in Electronic Engineering. Thank you Erickson! :)

By Raúl

Mar 13, 2016

Superb. Learnt a ton of new things. First lessons on semiconductor physics were a bit challenging but detailed enough to get a hold of the operation of semiconductor switches. It's great to repeat converter analysis techniques week after week so one becomes fluent with those tools.

By Claudio C

Mar 18, 2017

This course was a very interesting and challenging. I highly recommended to anyone who wants to start with power electronics. The quality of the course was outstanding and the instructor really knows how to teach it. Looking forward to participate in the following courses.

By Michael B

Jul 22, 2017

Very thorough course. Glad it contains very realistic and well explained examples. One suggestion (maybe this would be a better comment for Coursera programmers) would be to allow the homework assignments to auto-complete answers you have already gotten right.

By Andrew T H

Mar 28, 2023

This course is a well paced and explained course. In another course, Bob wasn't the greatest at communicating ideas, but in this course he did a great job at explaining all the concepts. Moreover it was easy to find supporting information in his book.

By Sandra C

Sep 8, 2019

Great material, a little challenging for me and took me longer than I anticipated. However, I learned a lot through this course that has helped me a lot at work -thanks again to Coursera and University of Colorado-Boulder for organizing this.

By Arnak A

Feb 20, 2017

Excellent course. Great professor. Homework was very helpful.

Would highly recommend to any electronics student. Even if you have

a PhD. in E.E., this course is a must because you will definitely learn something

new! Thank you for teaching!

By zeeshan H

Oct 11, 2017

This course is really great. The teaching method of Dr. Erickson is always great. The course was delivered in an efficient manner. It clears many of the basic concepts. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Power electronics.

By boggarapu y b

Aug 18, 2020

Teaching was great! Assignments were insightful and helped in improving the understanding concepts. I would like to make one suggestion that, proper solutions should be provided for all the assignments and other homework problems.