High Performance Vehicle Computer and Communication System for Autonomous Driving (HiPer)

Autonomous Driving (AD) will be a key capability for future vehicle generations. However, AD cars require fundamental changes in the vehicle technologies with respect to connectivity, computational power, and safety. The objective of the project is to develop the concept of an automotive grade (Level 5) High Performance Vehicle Computer (HVPC) system in a passenger car. The technological obstacle in this project include 3 paths: i) Computation: Extraction of the dissipated heat from the HPVC, ii) Communication: High-speed data transfer to and from the HPVC, iii) Integration: Reliability and functional safety of the HPVC system in the harsh automotive environment.
Our contribution will be in two thermal integration paths: The COMPUTATION path will tackle the thermal challenges by new highly reliable automotive-grade cooling concepts based on advanced heat-path engineering with integrated spreader and heat-pipe technologies as well as novel 3D-printed micro channel and direct liquid cooling approaches. The system INTEGRATION path will improve the thermo-mechanical reliability and functional safety of the HPVC in harsh automotive environments. This includes the development of an innovative mold underfill technology, the application of new accelerated testing and qualification methods, functional safety by prognostics and health management (PHM), new design for reliability (DfR) simulations and reliability concepts developed necessarily in intense cooperation with the thermal innovation path.
HiPer is a project labelled by the PENTA – application field of Transport and Smart Mobility.