Innovation responds to global pandemic: Vicor's 2021 forecasts

Vicor, in the words of some of its managers, outlines its forecasts for 2021 in the automotive, aerospace and defence, data centre and robotics sectors, starting from the observation that the 2020s were characterised by a rapid acceleration in innovation induced by the pandemic

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Vicor 2021
Vicor 2021

What will 2021 be like for Automotive, High Performance Computing, Aerospace & Defence and Robotics? Vicor, in the words of some of its managers, He draws a forecast for these four areas, starting from the observation that the 2020s were characterised by a rapid acceleration in innovation induced by the pandemic: not only did we change our habits quickly, but the very fact that more vaccines were made in record time is a sign of an unprecedented speed-up in technological development. In the four areas mentioned, according to Vicor there will be an increasing emphasis on the use and development of efficient, compact and modular power distribution networks.

Automotive: Electricity accelerates

According to Nicolas Richard, Director of EMEA Automotive Business Development at Vicor, Covid has accelerated the transition to electric vehicles and the migration to 48V systems: "Transport has been among the hardest hit by the global pandemic. Fewer people are moving and travelling long distances. The automotive industry has seen a rapid decline in sales and forecasts show that this slowdown will continue into 2021. However, manufacturers have responded by focusing more on growth segments, particularly electric vehicles and, given surveys showing that people feel safer using their cars, we will see an acceleration in the need for affordable electric vehicles. In 2021, the demand for 48V battery systems will increase, particularly for light hybrids, and more 48V systems will need to be converted to 12V to support car safety, comfort, infotainment and navigation systems. The voltages of the primary batteries used to power electric vehicles and hybrids will also increase: 800 V will become much more common, as they allow faster charging times. These changes will require a new class of power components.

Data centres in search of energy efficiency

As Lev Slutskiy, Regional Manager at Vicor, explains , the pandemic has accelerated demand in data centres: more people are working at home, more students are attending school at home and, with fewer outdoor leisure options, more people are streaming video and playing games online. Users are heavily dependent on the metropolitan data centre backbones that enable the telecommunications infrastructure. "In 2021, not only will the datacenter industry purchase more renewable energy than in previous years, but more datacenters will move away from alternating current (AC) in favour of direct current (DC) infrastructure solutions to meet the increased demand for power for high-performance computing. This rapid and unforeseen acceleration in demand is outstripping the ability to expand physical capacity in data centres, so data centre operators will need to put more capacity into existing rack space. This has significant implications for power delivery: you need to be able to deliver power more efficiently and in the same rack footprint with excellent thermal management. AI, cloud and big data are driving the demand for much higher processing power, with higher power consumption and higher currents, which in turn lead to higher electricity losses due to conversion and transformation processes. In addition, power delivery and energy efficiency at cabinet and rack level will have to cope with the increased computing power required to enable cloud, AI and Big Data applications. A more efficient way to manage power is to increase the voltage within these systems and use DC power after rectifying AC power or directly from a renewable energy source. The task of converting the high voltage (normally 260 - 410 V DC) to the values used at the input of modern computing units (12V or better 48V) could be done by bus converters. System designers will make more use of solutions such as Factorized Power Architecture (FPA) and converters to reduce the distance between the high-current module and the point of load, to reduce grid resistance and power losses'.

Aerospace and Defence: doing more with less resources

"In 2021, there will be strong pressure on governments to redirect funds from traditional areas of the budget, such as defence, towards supporting national economies and social welfare. However, this is a change that is in direct contradiction to the geopolitical pressures born out of growing nationalism," says Teo DeLellis, who is in charge of Business Development for the Aerospace sector at Vicor. "We believe that technology and innovation must bridge the gap between these contradictory pressures, enabling governments to do much more with less, while maintaining military readiness with new technologies. In the US, the hypersonic missile threat from Russia and China has boosted offensive missile and missile defence programmes, while 'drone swarm' attack scenarios are stimulating the integration of AI into defence systems and the deployment of lasers. And drone technology will continue to dominate the reconnaissance landscape.

Robotics takes off

Henryk Dabrowski, VP Sales at Vicor in EMEA, says that as a result of the pandemic, by the end of 2021, for every woman, man and child in Europe there will be at least one robot or drone tasked with delivering packages or disinfecting public spaces. Not only that, companies are increasingly looking to robotics to safely interact with customers and perform tasks without exposing people to the coronavirus. To meet demand, developers will need to leverage existing designs, using them as platforms, rather than designing new solutions from scratch. These scalable platforms will require scaling of power to meet different sizes and capacities of robots, so a modular and scalable approach to power delivery will also be required. "Key factors in expanding automated delivery services will be the range and weight of the robot or drone. Vicor allows designers to lighten their drones and manage power so that they can fly further and more reliably than ever before." In Europe, Tescos, Amazon, DHL and UPS have started trials with delivery drones, just as in China drones have already started deliveries to remote parts of the country.

 

 

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