Patent ID: 8901896

Claim:
An electrical generator comprising: a stator including a plurality of fractional-slot concentrated windings; a rotor positioned within the stator and configured to rotate relative thereto, the rotor having field windings electrically coupled thereto configured to generate a rotating magnetic field in an air gap between the stator and the rotor responsive to a current applied thereto; and a drive having an input connectable to a power source and an output connectable to the field windings, the drive comprising: a circuit configured to control current flow to the field windings; and a controller connected to the circuit and programmed to: input an initial DC field current demand signal to the circuit to cause the circuit to output an initial DC field current; receive feedback on the rotating magnetic field generated by the initial DC field current; generate a modified DC field current demand signal based on the received feedback; and input the modified DC field current demand signal to the circuit to cause the circuit to output a desired DC current waveform.