Patent ID: 7378808

Claim:
An electric drive system, comprising: a power source; a generator operatively connected to the power source and configured to produce a power output; at least one capacitor configured to store a supply of power; a common bus configured to direct the power output to the capacitor; at least one motor configured to receive power from the common bus; a controller in communication with the at least one motor and the generator, the controller configured to receive at least one input associated with the motor, to determine a requested motor power as a function of the at least one input, and to operate the generator to produce the requested motor power; and a voltage sensor configured to measure a voltage level of the common bus, wherein the at least one capacitor has a desired voltage range including an upper voltage limit and a lower voltage limit and wherein the controller is configured to operate the generator to increase a power output rate when the voltage level drops below the lower voltage limit and to decrease a power output rate when the voltage level exceeds the upper voltage limit.