Development and Implementation of a Low-Cost Switching Control Software for Multi-level Converter Emilienne Leugoue 1 *, Paul Gistain Ipoum-Ngome 2 , Zhang Jianhua 1 , Daniel L. Mon-Nzongo 2 1 North china Electric Power University, No.2 Beinong Road, Changping District, 100622, Beijing, China. 2 Institute of Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +8615652684721; email: emiliejolie90@yahoo.fr Manuscript submitted April 10, 2019; accepted June 21, 2019. doi: 10.17706/ijcee.2019.11.3.143-154 Abstract: Multilevel converters have been designed and implemented many decades ago in many countries around the word. However, in West Africa, these systems are difficult to implement because of lack of expertise and hardware which are usually very expensive. This paper proposes an implementation of an Embedded Switching Control Software (ESCS) code on Arduino 2560 hardware for multi-level systems using Model-Based Design (MBD) approach that Arduino 2560 control hardware platforms are low-cost system and locally available in many Africa countries. Thus, it can enable the validation of complex energy conversion systems using local components for research and education purposes. The paper provides detailed steps to reach such goals by proposing a Carrier Based Space Vector Pulse Wide Modulation (CB- SVPWM) for three-phase multi-level inverters. A simple model of CB-SVPWM is considered to automatically generate the ESCS code for a single-phase five-level Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverter then deployed on Arduino 2560 hardware conforming to On-Target Rapid Prototyping (OTRP) approach. The simulated and practical results confirm that MBD with Simulink offers a convenient approach to develop ESCS code for multi-level converters. Key words: Development, implementation, embedded switching control software, multi-level converter. 1. Introduction Nowadays, multi-level converter technology is playing an increasingly important role in power conditioning systems such as High Voltage DC transmission (HVDC) and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) systems [1]. The multi-level converters are power electronic circuits that can provide output voltage with more than two levels and be operated in inverter or rectifier mode [1], [2]. Multi-level converters are generally controlled by Space Vector PWM (SVPWM) or Carrier-Based Space Vector PWM (CB-SVPWM) [3]. SVPWM and CB-SVPWM called switching control scheme in this paper are actually implemented digitally. Digital implementation of switching control scheme is an Embedded Switching Control Software (ESCS) code deployed on an Embedded Control Hardware (ECH) by using Manual Programming (MP) or Model- Based Design (MBD) approach. MP method is the development of ESCS code by using Hand-programming and Integrated Development Environment (IDE) tools. However, due to the tedious error-prone hand- programming procedures, MBD has become more attractive than MP approach. Point of view of new designers, MBD is a possible procedure for making them more focus on control system design, implementation and evaluation rather than on time-consuming low-level programming [4]. International Journal of Computer Electrical Engineering 143 Volume 11, Number 3, September 2019