2006-01-17 - A unique ABB tool that analyzes, measures and models electrical equipment failures so they can be identified and fixed quickly has won the Swiss Technology Award this year.
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SoFT – Simulation of Fast Transients – is an innovative measuring, modeling and simulation tool used to detect and solve electrical equipment failure. The ABB-developed hardware and software tool automatically performs measurements on arbitrary 3-phase components (e.g. motors, transformers, etc) and converts the raw measurement data to black-box models for use in power system simulations.
SoFT was one of 16 technologies nominated for a 2006 Swiss Technology Award - the country's most important technology prize. The winners were announced on Jan. 16 in Lenzburg, near Zürich. On Jan. 27, the jury panel will present gold, silver and bronze medals from among these winners. Overall this year 52 projects were submitted from across Switzerland, coming from large-scale enterprises to university start-ups.
Fine-tuned over six years
The SoFT tool was fine-tuned over six years and introduced by ABB commercially in the fall of 2004. ABB Corporate Research performed the main initial development work, while ongoing product development has been led by Zürcher Hochschule Winterthur and ABB Electrical Machines in Birr.
Some of the world’s top experts in the field of mathematical modeling were engaged to develop the best possible software algorithms for SoFT, including SINTEF Group, the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia and Hydro-Quebec TransÉnergie in Canada.
The measurement equipment and measurement-based simulations that are the core of the technology are so precise, SoFT is the most accurate tool in the world for electrical analysis of power systems.
Solving unseen problems
"SoFT can analyze and correct most kinds of electrical equipment failure, from room-sized motors to a bank of fuses," says product manager, Martin Tiberg. "That’s pretty much any customer of ABB. We have a unique instrument to quickly detect and solve problems that no one else can find."
The annual Swiss Technology Awards recognize projects that are technically ingenious but most of all marketable, and able to bring immediate benefits to customers. The idea is to encourage technology that has an immediate benefit and market. The Award means ABB's SoFT technology will be on display to an international public at the 2006 Hannover Fair, April 24-28.
Three step study
A SoFT study consists of three steps: on-site measurements, measurement-based modeling and in-depth analysis. From the on-site measurements, SoFT automatically generates simulation models of all network components of an electrical system. Simulation then reveals electrical weaknesses or the root cause of equipment failure. A SoFT study concludes with a set of recommendations to eliminate weaknesses and avoid failures in the future.
Last year, both entries from the ABB research centre in Dättwil, Switzerland - the fiber-optic current sensor and the StakPak IGBT-module - won Swiss Technology Awards. The fiber-optic current sensor project from the Klaus Bohnert team reached the finals.