An overview of the LS0 Lightbar Slim and the X96 controller, the products I mainly worked on during my time at Lutron.
During summer 2023, I interned with the electrical hardware engineering team at Lutron Electronics in downtown Boston. During my internship I largely worked in the field of power electronics, as my main project focused on optimizing power draws in standby mode for a shipping LED linear, Ketra's LS0 Lightbar Slim, and its power supply/controller, the X96.
The power draws for the product were not fully understood before my internship, so I worked on investigating and modelling many of the loss mechanisms in the power supply to build a better understanding of the product's architecture. This included extensive testing of the power supply's PCB to develop a detailed power budget and to identify components and traces to optimize to reduce power draw. I also modelled the internal losses for one of the power supply's main power converters, a flyback, and designed and spun new flyback transformers to further reduce power draw.
By the end of the internship I implemented a lower power mode for the power supply to operate in while in standby mode, reducing the power drawn from the attached LEDs. This low power mode in addition to my component optimizations throughout the PCB resulted in a reduced power draw from 2.5W to 600mW in standby mode from the product.
I really enjoyed my time at Lutron, as I was able to build a lot of hands on experience working with integrated circuits and making design decisions to increase power efficiency. I enjoyed working with everyone on the hardware team and am glad I got to spend the summer with them!