A self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap) is a type of 3-D printer capable of printing many of its own components in addition to a wide assortment of products from high-value scientific or medical tools to household products and toys. There is some evidence that these printers could provide low-cost distributed manufacturing in underprivileged rural areas. For the most isolated communities without access to the electric grid, a low-cost alternative energy is needed. Solar energy can be harvested through a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) power system specifically designed to match the needs of the RepRap. The voltage and current requirement for the printer demands the use of buck along with a bidirectional DC converters to ensure proper operation. This paper provides the design for a stand-alone PV—lithium ion battery power system with an efficient controller. Robust and agile PI controller schemes are utilized to efficiently maintain the distribution of energy through the power system. The system was defined with ordinary differential equations, simulated and tested for two operational conditions in MATLAB/Simulink. The results showed that the controller developed operates the system in a stable condition and the simulation shows steady acceptable behavior that makes this system highly suitable for hardware implementation.

中文翻译：

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3D打印机的自给自足：利用独立的太阳能光伏发电系统

自复制快速原型开发器（RepRap）是一种3-D打印机，除了从高价值的科学或医疗工具到家用产品和玩具的各种产品外，还能够打印其许多组件。有证据表明，这些打印机可以在贫困的农村地区提供低成本的分布式制造。对于无法接入电网的最偏僻的社区，需要低成本的替代能源。可以通过专门设计用于满足RepRap需求的独立光伏（PV）电源系统来收集太阳能。打印机的电压和电流要求要求使用降压器以及双向DC转换器，以确保正常运行。本文提供了具有有效控制器的独立PV-锂离子电池电源系统的设计。强大而灵活的PI控制器方案可用于有效地维持通过电力系统的能量分配。该系统由普通的微分方程定义，在MATLAB / Simulink中针对两个操作条件进行了仿真和测试。结果表明，开发的控制器在稳定的条件下运行系统，并且仿真显示稳定的可接受行为，这使得该系统非常适合于硬件实现。在MATLAB / Simulink中针对两个操作条件进行了仿真和测试。结果表明，开发的控制器在稳定的条件下运行系统，并且仿真显示稳定的可接受行为，这使得该系统非常适合于硬件实现。在MATLAB / Simulink中对两个操作条件进行了仿真和测试。结果表明，所开发的控制器在稳定的条件下运行该系统，并且仿真显示出稳定的可接受行为，这使得该系统非常适合于硬件实现。