Consultancy
Important functional and non-functional design decisions have to be made early in the application development cycle. Dedicated power converter specification items and a first order architecture have to be set-up as early as possible. Benefits of timely consultation of a skilled power engineer definitely pay-off in the later stages of the development trajectory.
Power technology assessment and due dilligence
For start-up companies or investors it is important to judge the effectiveness and profitability of certain innovations. An in-depth technology assessment eliminates any uncertainties.
Custom power converter design
Starting from the specification a power converter architecture will be designed, analyzed and dimensioned. Safety, EMI and thermal management provisions are taken into account upfront. Hardware components are selected from a range of distributors. Special attention will be paid to key components like (digital) control IC's and dedicated power components. In some cases custom magnetic components are required. Prototypes of these components can be developed in-house and/or in close cooperation with partner magnetic material suppliers. Prototype PCB realization - being schematic entry, layout and assembly - is done in-house or handled by the customer. The resulting hardware boards are debugged such that adequate evaluation can be done. Customer requested design documentation will be provided. System design-in support is optional.
The whole development trajectory will be carried out in close alignment with and as a virtual member of the customer application team.
Proof-of-concept development
New ideas are explored by means of literature research. The exploration results in specified functionality. A prototype with the requested functionality can be build with existing components complemented with either a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device, a Micro Controller Unit (MCU) or both. The prototype gets debugged and evaluated. Customer requested design documentation will be provided.
Topical literature study
Specific topics might require an in-depth search for and interpretation of globally available knowledge. The literature study will cover an extensive range of IEEE papers, a patent search, a generic Internet scan and if applicable dedicate marketing intelligence information.
Failure analysis
In some cases power converters break down without apparent reason. Goal of the failure analysis is to investigate the failure in the actual hardware and pin-point the root cause such that appropriate measures can be taken.
