Motor control topology for airborne power generation and systems using same

A system comprising:

• a plurality of drive units coupled to a plurality of propellers, wherein each drive unit comprises a single motor/generator and a single motor controller, and wherein the plurality of drive units form a plurality of drive-unit pairs;
• a tether;
• a high-voltage bus connecting the motor controllers in a first drive-unit pair of the plurality to the tether;
• a low-voltage bus connecting the motor controllers in a second drive-unit pair of the plurality to the tether;
• and
• an intermediate-voltage bus configured to connect the plurality of drive-unit pairs in series via the motor controllers in each of the plurality of drive-unit pairs;
• wherein the motor controllers in the first drive-unit pair of the plurality are connected in parallel via the high-voltage bus and the at least one intermediate-voltage bus;
• and
• wherein the motor controllers in the second drive-unit pair of the plurality are connected in parallel via the at least one intermediate-voltage bus and the low-voltage bus.

A system comprising:

• an aerial vehicle comprising a plurality of propellers;
• a plurality of drive units coupled to the plurality of propellers, wherein each drive unit comprises a single motor/generator and a single motor controller, and wherein the plurality of drive units includes a first drive-unit pair and a second drive-unit pair;
• and
• a high-voltage bus connecting the motor controllers in the first drive-unit pair to a tether,
• a low-voltage bus connecting the motor controllers in the second drive-unit pair to the tether, and
• an intermediate-voltage bus connecting the motor controllers of the first drive-unit pair in series with the motor controllers of the second drive-unit pair;
• wherein the motor controllers in the first drive-unit pair are connected in parallel via the high-voltage bus and the intermediate-voltage bus;
• and
• wherein the motor controllers in the second drive-unit pair are connected in parallel via the intermediate-voltage bus and the low-voltage bus.