SBIR Phase II: High-speed, precision wire plotting for electromechanical sensors and actuators

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的广泛影响使可再生能源发电和储存的成本效益得以扩大。到2050年，电力需求预计将增长80%或更多，智能电网技术的复合年增长率为20%，市场估计为350亿美元。电网的一个重要组成部分是变压器，它是大规模车辆到电网技术的关键推动者，这是更多电动汽车采用所必需的。该项目推进了一种新的变压器制造技术，将降低电网基础设施的硬件成本，并降低施工和许可成本，这可能占总成本的85%。这个小型企业创新研究二期项目使用精密增材制造技术为下一代电网提供固态变压器。通过在更高的频率下工作，固态变压器提供功率转换和电网服务，具有高功率密度和较低的硬件和项目成本。目前，固态变压器受到其绕线电磁元件的限制，这些元件在高频下表现不佳且生产成本高。该项目将使新型设备的性能提高10倍。该项目将生产一种功率转换产品的技术演示原型，并计划进行大规模的翻译。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impacts of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project enables a cost-effective expansion of generation and storage of renewable electricity. Electricity demand is expected to grow by 80% or more by 2050, and smart grid technologies have a compound annual growth rate of 20% with a market estimated at $35 B. One important element of the grid is the transformer, a critical enabler of large scale vehicle-to-grid technology necessary for greater electric vehicle adoption. This project advances a new transformer manufacturing technology that will lower hardware costs of grid infrastructure and decrease construction and permitting costs, which can account for as much as 85% of total costs.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project uses precision additive manufacturing to enable solid state transformers for the next-generation electric grid. By operating at higher frequencies, solid state transformers provide power conversion and grid services with high power density and lower hardware and project costs. Currently, solid state transformers are hampered by their wirewound electromagnetic components that perform poorly at high frequencies and are costly to produce. This project will enable new classes of devices with 10x improvements in performance. This project will produce technology demonstration prototypes of a power conversion product and plan for translation at scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.