Power converter for a thermal system

A thermal system comprising:

• a heater having a plurality of resistive heating elements, wherein each of the resistive heating elements is operable to emit heat and operable as a sensor;
• and
• a control system comprising:
• a plurality of power converters, each of the plurality of power converters being a step-down voltage converter that includes a power switch, wherein a given power converter from among the plurality of power converters is electrically coupled to one or more resistive heating elements from among the plurality of resistive heating elements, wherein the given power converter is operable to apply an output voltage that is adjustable to the one or more resistive heating elements;
• a plurality of sensor circuits, wherein each of the plurality of sensor circuits includes a current sense resistor, a given sensor circuit from among the plurality of sensor circuits is electrically coupled between the given power converter and the one or more resistive heating elements from among the plurality of resistive heating elements and the given sensor circuit is configured to measure at least one of a voltage and an electric current of the one or more resistive heating elements from among the plurality of resistive heating elements;
• and
• a controller connected to the plurality of power converters and the plurality of sensor circuits, wherein, for the given power converter, the controller is configured to determine the output voltage applied to the one or more resistive heating elements based on an input parameter and a desired setpoint and to operate the power switch of the given power converter to apply the output voltage to the one or more resistive heating elements, wherein the input parameter includes a temperature of the one or more resistive heating elements that is determined based on the at least one of the voltage and the electric current measured by the given sensor circuit, and the desired setpoint is based on an operational state of the heater.