An alternator includes a housing and a rotary shaft. The alternator includes one or more brushes supported by the housing. The alternator includes a slip ring assembly coupled to the rotary shaft for rotating with the rotary shaft. The slip ring assembly includes one or more slip rings. The one or more slip rings include a body portion defining an outer surface. The one or more slip rings also include an oxide layer disposed on the outer surface of the body portion. The oxide layer is non-uniform. The oxide layer is formed on account of a thermal oxidation process of the one or more slip rings during an operation of the alternator. Further, the thermal oxidation process for formation of the oxide layer initiates when an operating temperature of one or more components of the alternator lies within a predetermined temperature threshold range.

An internal combustion engine-based system including an engine, a shutdown circuit coupled to the engine to shut down the engine, a controller in communication with the shutdown circuit, and a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor in communication with the controller. The controller communicates with the shutdown circuit to shut down the engine at a predetermined CO threshold concentration when the CO sensor provides the controller with signals that are representative of a CO level proximate the engine that indicate a trend of building CO levels over a set time interval.

A gas engine power generating system includes an electricity generating component including a gas engine, an alternating-current electricity generator, a cooling system portion, an exhaust system portion, an engine control unit, a battery, and an alternating current/direct current inverter, and a housing. A plurality of the electricity generating components are provided as electricity generating units, and are accommodated in the housing. Each electricity generating unit is configured to be capable of generating electricity independently, the plurality of electricity generating units are electrically connected together in parallel, operation, shut-down, and the amount of generated electric power for all the electricity generating units are managed by a total control unit, and direct-current power from each electricity generating unit is aggregated and converted to alternating-current power, and is supplied to the load side.

A starter-generator module for a vehicle includes a bulkhead wall, a module housing fixed to the bulkhead wall, an e-motor stator fixed to the module housing, an e-motor rotor disposed radially inside of the e-motor stator, and a power electronics unit fixed to the module housing. The module housing has a first opening and the power electronics unit covers the first opening. The e-motor rotor has a rotor carrier arranged for fixing to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. In an example embodiment, the rotor carrier includes holes arranged for receiving respective fasteners for fixing the rotor carrier to an engine crankshaft, and a bolt circle diameter of the holes is less than an inside diameter of the first opening. In an example embodiment, the rotor carrier is fixed to a crankshaft by a bolt, and the first opening is arranged for receiving a tool to secure the bolt.

An engine generator coupled to an external battery. The engine generator includes: an engine; a motor generator configured to apply a starting force to the engine at a start of the engine, and to perform power generation by a driving force of the engine during driving of the engine;

a first step-down section and an engine accessory, the first step-down section being configured to step down a voltage of the external battery to obtain a first stepped-down voltage, and supply the first stepped-down voltage to the engine accessory; and a power converter that converts power of the external battery and supplies the converted power to the motor generator.

UAV configurations and battery augmentation for UAV internal combustion engines, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A representative configuration includes a fuselage, first and second wings coupled to and pivotable relative to the fuselage, and a plurality of lift rotors carried by the fuselage. A representative battery augmentation arrangement includes a DC-powered motor, an electronic speed controller, and a genset subsystem coupled to the electronic speed controller. The genset subsystem can include a battery set, an alternator, and a motor-gen controller having a phase control circuit configurable to rectify multiphase AC output from the alternator to produce rectified DC feed to the DC-powered motor. The motor-gen controller is configurable to draw DC power from the battery set to produce the rectified DC feed.

A generator module includes a housing arranged for mounting to a rear face of an internal combustion engine, a generator stator fixed in the housing, a generator rotor arranged radially inside of the generator stator, and a bearing arranged to support a radial inside of the generator rotor on the housing. The generator rotor may include a rotor carrier and a plurality of stacked plates secured to the rotor carrier. The bearing may be at least partially radially aligned with the plurality of stacked plates.

A system and method that converts rotational movement of a crank shaft into electrical energy is provided. The crank shaft is caused to rotate using a series of electromagnets powered by a power source. The electromagnets are arranged to encircle and magnetically affect a central magnet coupled to the shaft. The system effectively amplifies the energy supplied from the power source and saves the resulting excess energy to an energy storage device.

A protective housing is formed of a set wall panels, a base panel, and a lid panel that interlock to form the housing, but may also be taken apart and stored as a stack of two-dimensional panels when not in use. The various panels interlock via configurations internal to the housing itself, so that once an external lock is placed to secure the access door to the front wall panel, it is completely self-contained and impossible to dismantle or otherwise take apart the individual components of the housing from the outside. The rear wall and/or a side wall are formed to include exhaust locations for an included generator, thus requiring no additional ventilation system to be separately constructed and included. The walls may be formed of steel, high density plastic, fiberglass, or other suitable rugged material appropriate for use in structures exposed to the environment.

Devices, systems, and methods to air cool a portable generator are disclosed. The devices include various air ducts to direct airflow over heated components within a cabinet of the portable generator to cool the components by convection. A damping fan draws ambient temperature air into the cabinet and directs the air into channels of an outflow duct.