KI - Power
Open Innovation Challenge

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, embedded systems play a pivotal role in driving innovation across various industries. Therefore, the KI-Power project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is developing a powerful real-time computing platform for research, development and rapid control prototyping of power electronics and drive systems, called UltraZohm.

www.elektronikforschung.de/projekte/ki-power

Open Innovation Competition

We're inviting engineers and enthusiasts to participate in this challenge, which focuses on developing solutions for all aspects of embedded systems related to power electronics, electric drives, and their control. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a newcomer to the field, this competition offers an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of sustainable technology. Join us in exploring the intricacies of embedded systems and make your mark on the future.

Organization

• Duration:   01.07.2024 - 01.07.2025 (1 year)
• Only individuals can participate
• UltraZohm and other platforms are permitted
• Topics around all aspects of embedded systems related to power electronics, electric drives, and their control (e.g. the development of hardware, respectively software functionality for processors or IP-cores for FPGAs, Open-source implementation of published scientific work)

See the competition rules for more details on eligibility and project requirements.

Competition Rules (PDF Link follows)

Prizes

Prizes are sponsored by industry partners of the research project KI-Power and are handed to the winners at the end of 2025 during an award ceremony:

• Every participant receives one UltraZohm cup
• Apple IPad 64GB
• Guided tour: Insights into the production of e-drives at the ZF Schweinfurt site
• Apple Watch SE

Additional prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the organizer.

Judging criteria

Please pay careful attention to the judging criteria. Projects will be judged equally across all the following categories:

• Technical Complexity (20%)
• Implementation (20%)
• Marketability/Innovation (20%)
• Documentation and Written Report (20%)
• Re-usability (20%)   

Entry submission

Participants should upload complete source code and project files, documentation, and a short project report written (2-4 pages) in English. The contributions must be published using the FOSS (Apache 2.0) license.

Registration respectively final project submission closes on 01 July 2025.