The PowerizeD research project aims to develop new technologies in the field of digitalized and intelligent power electronics. Its goal is to enable sustainable and resilience-enhancing energy generation, transmission, and applications. The project combines interdisciplinary research with innovative technological approaches and Europe-wide collaboration to shape the future of power electronics. PowerizeD addresses three megatrends: independence, sustainability, and digitalization.
Project Objectives
PowerizeD pursues specific objectives that will enable significant progress in solving technological challenges in power electronics:
- Increase in design productivity by 50%.
- Reduction of chip sizes by 20% while maintaining the highest quality.
- Development of competitive products with efficiency increases of up to 50% and volume reductions of 30% compared to the current state of the art.
- Promotion of digitalization at all levels to enable more flexible and functionally rich power electronic systems.
AIT’s Role in Advancing Power Electronics
- Improving the estimation of remaining useful life (RUL) for industrial drives by adaptively handling dynamic aspects of RUL estimation based on measurement data and enhancing fault analysis through AI models for more precise RUL predictions.
- Developing and prototyping an automated testing and reporting environment for DC/DC or AC/DC converters using Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HIL) systems. To achieve this, AIT examines specific requirements and relevant testing standards.
- Addressing challenges in the increasing use of AI technologies for development, monitoring, predictive maintenance, digital twins, and highly automated/autonomous decision-making. These considerations are already being integrated into the development of general as well as domain- and application-specific standardization efforts.
Technological Innovations
Integration of New Technologies
The project promotes the integration of new drivers in power electronic systems, aiming for comprehensive optimization of functionalities, particularly power switches.
Secure Data Exchange via Federated Learning
The innovative method of federated learning is used to enable intrinsically encrypted transfer of confidential data along the value chain. This ensures secure data processing without directly disclosing sensitive information.
Real-Time Monitoring with Digital Twins
The use of detailed electro-physical models in digital twins enables real-time monitoring and control of power electronics. These models contribute to optimizing system efficiency and reliability.
European Collaboration
The project is supported by a consortium of 21 large enterprises, 17 small and medium-sized enterprises, and 23 research partners from 13 EU countries. This consortium covers the entire value chain, from materials to complex systems, to ensure the most comprehensive development and implementation of technologies across various industrial sectors.
Involvement of Austrian partners
Austria is involved in the project with five partners, including Infineon Technologies Austria as the consortium leader, the industrial company Hellpower, and the research institutions AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Silicon Austria Labs, and Virtual Vehicle.
Funding
The project is supported by the Chips Joint Undertaking and its members, including the top-up funding by the national Authorities of Germany, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Greece, Latvia, Finland, Hungary, Romania and Switzerland, under grant agreement number 101096387. Co-funded by European Union.
