Design and Validation of a Backstepping Controller for Energy Storage Systems in EVs

The paper presented a nonlinear control design for a buck-boost converter, which is commonly used for energy storage in supercapacitors in electric vehicles. The main focus of the study was to develop a controller that could accomplish two key objectives: (i) accurately track the supercapacitor’s state of charge to its reference signal, and (ii) ensure the system’s asymptotic stability. To achieve these goals, the researchers employed a backstepping control approach. The effectiveness of the proposed method was validated through the construction of an experimental prototype. The nonlinear control algorithm was implemented using a dSPACE platform, specifically the MicroLabBox controller board DS1202. The results obtained from theoretical analysis, computational simulations, and practical experiments provided compelling evidence of the exceptional performance exhibited by the designed controller. It successfully achieved the desired objectives by ensuring system stability and maintaining the state of charge at the desired reference level. These findings indicate that the proposed controller is highly effective and can be implemented in practical supercapacitor-based energy storage systems for electric vehicles.