IN Brief:
- element14 has launched a smart electromobility design challenge for engineers.
- Participants will prototype transport systems using AMD, Avnet, and ST development hardware.
- The programme reflects rising demand for embedded, sensing, and power design skills in EV platforms.
element14 has launched the Smart Electromobility Transportation Design Challenge, inviting engineers to develop prototype systems for electric vehicles, intelligent mobility, and next-generation transport electronics.
The challenge will provide selected participants with development hardware from AMD, Avnet, and ST. Projects are expected to focus on areas including vehicle safety, obstacle avoidance, battery optimisation, energy efficiency, and intelligent transport systems.
Applications are open until 7 June, with selected challengers expected to complete their projects by 16 August. Engineers receive a kit, build a working concept, document the design process, and compete for prizes based on technical execution and project quality.
The design brief spans a wide range of transport electronics, but its centre of gravity sits firmly in embedded systems. Electromobility is moving beyond traction inverters and battery packs into a more distributed set of electronics challenges, with vehicles and supporting infrastructure relying on sensing, edge processing, power management, communications, safety monitoring, and energy-aware control.
Development boards and reference platforms remain a practical starting point for that work. Automotive-grade products require extended validation and qualification, but early-stage design exploration often begins with accessible embedded hardware that can prove algorithms, sensor interfaces, communications links, and power-management concepts before a dedicated board is built.
Battery-related development is especially active. WireFlow’s modular battery monitoring platform reflects the same demand for flexible electronics around battery packs used in automotive, energy storage, and industrial systems. In smart transport projects, battery visibility and energy optimisation sit close to safety and reliability.
The opportunity for embedded designers extends beyond the vehicle. Charging infrastructure, fleet systems, condition monitoring, and connected maintenance tools all require electronics that can process data locally, communicate securely, and operate in environments where temperature, vibration, and electrical noise affect system behaviour.
With AMD, Avnet, and ST involved, participants are likely to work across processing, development platforms, and semiconductor building blocks. Practical projects may combine sensor fusion, motor-control logic, communications, power measurement, and edge decision-making, depending on the supplied hardware and design approach.
Open design challenges do not replace formal automotive development, but they can expose real integration problems early. A concept that appears sound in simulation can behave differently once timing constraints, analogue noise, sensor calibration, power transients, and software latency arrive together in a physical prototype.
As electrified transport platforms become more software-defined and sensor-heavy, the boundary between vehicle electronics and industrial embedded design continues to narrow. Strong prototypes will treat smart mobility as a complete electronics problem, with sensing, processing, power, safety, and maintainability designed as connected functions rather than separate blocks.
