About the project

The future of actuators

Keeping up with the demand for manufacturing growth is the main challenge for the entire semiconductor industry. The Eindhoven Engine project ‘Advanced long-range piezo-electric wafer stage for next generation lithography and metrology application’ therefore aims to demonstrate the feasibility of an ultra-short stroke stage using lightweight and compact piezo-electric actuators. Unlike ‘force’ actuators, these are stiff and non-linear, requiring breakthroughs in materials, electronics, control, mechatronic implementation and sensor systems.

A collective system goal

The goal of this project is a proof-of-concept for a relatively large-range (>10 um) piezo-electric stage and an integrated measurement system with an uncertainty of <100 pm. ASML is driving this research towards alternative wafer stage concepts and actively contributes expert application knowledge and technology regarding lithographic wafer stages and state-of-the-art, high-precision mechatronics and system engineering. NTS group, VDL ETG and TNO have also expressed in interest in joining. Work is carried out via four PhD research projects which are co-located at TU/e’s Multimedia Paviljoen.

Important insights for future equipment

Besides its main goal, this project will open the door to various innovations within the semiconductor field. A metrology concept study into integrated photonics, for instance, will allow for new sensor layouts and position or deformation measurement principles. A study into forces and displacements, piezo stiffness, electronics inputs and parasitic behavior has also already provided valuable input for future system architecture studies.

About the project

A) Deep Learning for Embedded Automotive Platforms:
The goal is to:

1)  Research semi-supervised training methods in order to make neural networks more resilient to adverse imaging conditions, causing the performance drop (wrt. nominal imaging conditions) to decrease with one order of magnitude.

2)  Research inference methods that exploit spatio-temporal coherency in video streams, to increase computational efficiency by one order of magnitude.

All research results will be validated in real-world conditions using TU/e’s Highly Automated Driving research vehicle. NXP will make available its Bluebox automotive computation platform.

B) Spread-spectrum Modulated And interfeRence resilienT RADAR:

To develop novel nm CMOS 77-81GHz radars frontends that generate ultra-fast arbitrary radar waveforms that alleviate radar interference through spread spectrum techniques. To exploit smartness concepts in the front-ends such as instantaneous receive signal analysis, self-interference cancellation using known transmit signal properties, etc.  To design breakthrough performance building blocks such as beamforming receivers and GHz data converters that support reception of high rate long encrypt bitstreams for coding orthogonality with increased range and velocity resolution. Concepts will be demonstrate on NXP’s modulated radar demonstration platforms that will be made compatible and available for the test chips of this project.

About the project

Epilepsy affects roughly 120,000 patients in the Netherlands, making it the most common neurological disorder. In addition to seizures, it may cause cognitive problems and psychological complaints, putting a heavy burden on individual health, quality of life and society. As seizures are often hard to treat using traditional methods (30% of patients still experience them while on medication), a promising alternative is neurostimulation.

About the project

Of all mental disorders, depression is by far the most common, and about 15-20% of all patients end up in chronic depression. The costs of depression (direct and indirect) amount to three billion euros per year in the Netherlands alone. In order to reduce this burden of disease and the associated costs, there is an urgent need for objective diagnostic techniques, because the current diagnosis, based on subjective psychiatric tests, falls far short of being reliable.

The aim of this project is to arrive at a reliable objective diagnostic technique based on functional MRI scans of the patient, and ultimately to apply these in decision support systems for diagnosis, patient stratification and therapy selection. This can significantly reduce the burden of disease and costs, and can also create an important new market for MRI scanners.

About the project

This follow-up project to SmartONE investigates the possibilities of achieving a more integral systemic framework for the previously established lines of research. This concerns the Internet of Things and the developments that place very high demands on fixed, wireless and the increasingly optical networks to transport substantial amounts of data efficiently and reliably. Developments in the field of IT make it possible for more and more devices to be connected to each other. In the future many billions of devices are likely to be connected via the internet and go way beyond the familiar smartphone apps that regulate your thermostat or home lighting system.

About the project

The need to reduce CO2 emissions makes energy in the built environment a key issue given that inefficient buildings represent around 35% of the total energy consumption. Continuous Monitoring (CM) and Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) are complex but important technologies in detecting inefficiencies in Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC). With a rise in demand for cooling caused by global warming, this project is developing a new approach based on data analytics and machine learning. This will enable resulting CM and FDD modules to be programmed in a state-of-the-art Building Management System (BMS) and become market-ready by the end of the project.

About the project

Towards an artificial womb

Following their birth, each child faces a physiological transition from mother-placental life support to (self-sufficient) life outside the womb. For some premature babies, this transition occurs too quickly. This places a heavy demand on the child’s immature vital organs, which is why extremely premature babies often experience serious, lifelong health problems with possible social consequences. As a trial in recent years, premature lambs have successfully been kept alive in a fluid-based environment, allowing them to develop in the same way as in the womb. The results are also promising for human application. The JUNO Perinatal Healthcare consortium will develop a medical device – an artificial womb – that supports the safe development of extremely premature babies outside of the womb. Ultimately, these infants will have better health prospects than premature infants with conventional care.

About the project

FITTing Persons’ vitality and optimizing their Work Environment

In an increasingly competitive global economy, physical inactivity and burnout rates are increasing. Sustainable employability based on good physical and mental health is therefore crucial, preventing absenteeism and also reducing healthcare costs. POWEr FITTing optimizes the relationship between vitality and the (home) office environment through the combination of data acquisition, integration and application for the validation and acceleration of user-oriented solutions. By taking into account individual, societal and contextual factors, this enables employees to remain both healthy and productive. This benefits companies, individuals and wider society.

About the project

The iHeat@Home project contributes to a breakthrough innovation in thermal energy storage: a heat battery which is better, cheaper, smaller and greener than any competitor. This will accelerate the energy transition, promote the development of renewable energy sources, reduce grid investments and create new business. This is all happening here in the Brainport region.

iHeat@Home focuses on solutions for real-time data on the heat battery’s state-of-charge and its optimal data management, with three coherent solutions:

1. The basis for a sensor which is robust and cheap
2. Communication protocols and data managemen
3. Integration in a validated, user-ready heat battery. The aim is to bring this technology to the market by 2023.

About the project

Installations in buildings are responsible for around 35% of all energy consumption, approximately 20% of which is due to inefficient operations. Inferior environmental conditions within classrooms can have both short- and long-term health effects, mainly due to the presence of particulate matter. With greater insights into sensors, data interpretation, trend signaling, continuous monitoring, fault detection/diagnosis and predictive maintenance, problems can be identified in the Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems of schools. The ECoS-IAQ project focuses on the creation of product development concepts for air handling manufacturers, air filter manufacturers, control companies and installers.