Category: Company News

In the refrigeration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industry, the safe and efficient operation of equipment depends heavily on accurate detection of refrigerant leaks. Even minimal leaks can compromise energy efficiency, reduce system performance, and pose environmental and safety risks.

Traditionally, sensor selection focused primarily on sensitivity and cost. However, in real-world operations, additional factors—such as false alarms, missed detections, chemical aging, and environmental interference—can significantly affect sensor performance.

Sweden-based Senseair, a global leader in NDIR gas sensing technology, has over 30 years of experience in the field. Based on extensive field applications, the company has summarized five essential criteria for selecting refrigerant sensors: cross-sensitivity, self-diagnostics, chemical aging and poisoning, environmental adaptability, and technology and supplier reliability. This guide aims to help businesses make informed, data-driven decisions to optimize operations and reduce risks.

1. Cross-Sensitivity: The Key to Accurate Detection

Sensors often respond not only to target refrigerants but also to other gases. Common issues include:

• Positive interference: For example, carbon dioxide can cause elevated readings, increasing the risk of false alarms.

• Negative interference: Methane or helium may reduce sensor signals, increasing the chance of missed detections.

Humidity fluctuations and other environmental factors can exacerbate these effects. Thermal conductivity sensors, for instance, may experience signal drift under high-humidity conditions.

Selection Strategy:

• Request detailed cross-sensitivity reports from suppliers.

• Conduct lab or field tests to verify real-world performance.

Senseair NDIR sensors use spectral optimization and algorithmic compensation to reduce cross-sensitivity, ensuring accurate refrigerant measurements in complex environments.

2. Self-Diagnostic Functions: Maintaining Data Reliability

Modern refrigerant sensors are increasingly intelligent. Active sensors with self-diagnostics monitor their own status, detect drift or anomalies, and provide real-time alerts. Sensors lacking this functionality require additional monitoring, which increases operational complexity and long-term maintenance costs.

Senseair’s active NDIR sensors include full diagnostic logic, monitoring drift, power consumption anomalies, and environmental interference, ensuring reliable performance over their operational life.

3. Chemical Aging and Poisoning: Ensuring Long-Term Stability

Chemical-based sensors, such as electrochemical or semiconductor types, may degrade over time due to aging or environmental exposure. Unintended substances in the air may also cause sensor poisoning, permanently reducing sensitivity.

Selection Tip:

• Consider sensor lifespan and calibration intervals.

• In environments with complex or unknown gases, prioritize NDIR sensors like Senseair, which provide superior long-term stability and resistance to chemical interference.

4. Real-World Environmental Performance

Laboratory testing provides controlled results, but actual applications are far more demanding. Dust, vibration, temperature swings, condensation, water vapor, chemical residues, electromagnetic interference, and acoustic noise can all compromise sensor performance.

Senseair conducts rigorous environmental testing during development, including high/low temperature cycling, vibration testing, and condensation resistance. Field validation ensures that sensors maintain accurate readings under diverse operational conditions.

5. Supplier and Technology Reliability: Partnering for the Long Term

Choosing a sensor also means selecting a reliable technology partner. Mature, proven technologies provide rich field data, well-defined performance boundaries, and consistent reliability. Senseair, with three decades of NDIR experience, offers continuous R&D investment, lifecycle support, and technical guidance—making it a trusted long-term partner for HVAC and industrial applications.

6. Industry Applications and Value

Senseair sensors are widely deployed in:

• Commercial buildings: Detect refrigerant leaks to improve air conditioning energy efficiency.

• Industrial cold chains: Maintain stable refrigeration for logistics and reduce product loss.

• Data centers: Monitor refrigerant levels to ensure server cooling efficiency and operational safety.

These applications demonstrate that careful sensor selection and advanced NDIR technology improve system stability while reducing safety risks and maintenance costs.

Conclusion

Refrigerant sensor selection is a complex process that affects operational safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility. By focusing on cross-sensitivity, self-diagnostics, chemical aging and poisoning, real-world environmental performance, and supplier reliability, businesses can ensure precise and stable refrigerant detection. Senseair, leveraging NDIR technology, intelligent diagnostics, and robust environmental validation, provides comprehensive solutions that safeguard HVAC and industrial operations, supporting efficiency, safety, and sustainability. 

As the construction industry accelerates toward automation and digitalization, safety systems are becoming a defining feature of modern machinery. The Emergency Brake Assist system developed by BOMAG and SICK exemplifies this transformation.

Awarded the Gold Innovation Prize at Intermat 2024 in Paris, the system has gained international recognition for its advanced approach to collision prevention.

Why the Intermat Jury Took Notice

The Intermat Innovation Awards evaluate not only technological novelty but also practical applicability and industry impact. Emergency Brake Assist impressed the jury with its precise obstacle detection, automated braking strategy, and seamless integration into existing machine architectures.

LiDAR as a Key Enabling Technology

Outdoor construction environments pose extreme challenges for sensors. Dust, vibration, temperature fluctuations, and steam demand robust and reliable solutions.

By utilizing industrial-grade 3D LiDAR sensors, Emergency Brake Assist achieves reliable perception where camera-based systems often fail.

Dynamic Path Calculation: The Core Innovation

Unlike static detection systems, Emergency Brake Assist continuously recalculates the machine’s driving path based on steering angle and speed. This enables the system to focus exclusively on relevant obstacles and avoid unnecessary braking.

Functional Safety Meets Real-World Performance

Certified to EN ISO 13849-1 with Performance Level b (PLb), the system meets stringent safety standards while remaining highly practical for daily use.

Beyond Tandem Rollers

The jury emphasized that the underlying technology is applicable to a wide range of machines, including milling machines, cranes, telehandlers, and mobile robots—highlighting its long-term relevance.

Complementary Safety Technologies

BOMAG also applies customized inertial sensors on trench rollers such as the BMP8500. These sensors detect dangerous tilt angles and shut down hydraulic systems to prevent rollovers, demonstrating the importance of application-specific safety solutions.

The Future of Road Construction Safety

Emergency Brake Assist illustrates how intelligent systems can actively support operators, reduce workload, and prevent accidents. As automation continues to evolve, such technologies will play a central role in shaping safer and more efficient construction sites worldwide.

The transformation of China’s power system is entering a crucial stage. With renewable energy growing rapidly and electrification deepening across industries, the demand for a flexible, intelligent, and resilient distribution network has become more urgent than ever. At the 8th CIIE, ABB shared a comprehensive blueprint for the future power system, unveiling the SSC600 predictive platform and Emax 3 intelligent circuit breaker—two innovations designed to empower the foundation of China’s emerging energy system.

From Prediction to Prevention: AI-Backed Safety for Modern Power Systems

The SSC600 platform is designed to address the rising complexity of the distribution network. Its intelligent algorithms enable:

• Highly granular, high-frequency (4kHz) monitoring

• Real-time power disturbance analysis

• Failure risk prediction seven days ahead

• Precise modeling of power flow, load behavior, and equipment status

This transforms maintenance from reactive to predictive, reducing outages and enhancing power reliability in environments with volatile renewable power.

ABB’s Emax 3 adds another layer of intelligence with advanced sensing and cybersecurity standards suitable for cloud-connected infrastructures, ensuring greater reliability for industries heavily dependent on continuous power.

AI-Driven Optimization Across Source, Grid, Load, and Storage

ABB argues that the future energy system must rely on AI not only for forecasting but also for real-time optimization.

AI-enabled power systems can:

• Understand load mechanisms such as HVAC behavior, machinery cycles, and building occupancy

• Predict renewable generation patterns

• Balance loads dynamically to match real-time clean energy availability

• Coordinate EV charging and industrial production loads

This forms a dynamic feedback loop that continually improves the efficiency of every energy-related action inside a campus or industrial plant.

Microgrid-Level Innovation: Solving Renewable Absorption Challenges

The integration of large-scale renewable energy often creates “last mile” bottlenecks. ABB’s approach builds a renewable-ready microgrid architecture by developing:

• PV and wind power generation mechanism models

• Load characteristic models for industrial buildings

• AI-augmented dispatch algorithms

• Energy storage-driven peak-shaving strategies

These components form a closed-loop local energy ecosystem, allowing industrial and commercial users to absorb renewable power at significantly higher efficiency.

Building the Backbone of the Future Zero-Carbon System

ABB’s “AI + Power” solutions are being deployed across:

• Steel plants pursuing electrified, low-carbon production

• Data centers requiring guaranteed power stability

• Energy enterprises transitioning toward intelligent operation

• Smart campuses striving for real-time renewable consumption

As China moves toward its long-term clean-energy blueprint, ABB’s technologies continue to evolve into the invisible but essential “digital infrastructure” powering the country’s zero-carbon future.

As digital transformation accelerates across global industries, traditional manual inspection is increasingly unable to meet the modern demands for safety, stability, and real-time data acquisition. High-risk industrial environments, rising labor costs, and the need for continuous monitoring are propelling the rapid rise of intelligent inspection robots.

In response to this market trend, NORCO has launched a dedicated intelligent inspection robot solution, featuring high-performance and industrial-grade computing platforms. Among them, the BIS-6670L modular AI computer, powered by Intel Alder Lake-N processors, stands out as a high-efficiency “robot brain” capable of supporting a wide range of inspection tasks.

01. Expanding Industrial Applications: Where Intelligent Inspection Robots Are Transforming Workflows

Power Industry

In substations and power distribution rooms, inspection robots equipped with NORCO’s computer system can navigate predefined routes, capture HD images, perform infrared thermal imaging, and detect faults—24/7 without human presence.

Oil & Petrochemical

In hazardous and confined environments like pipelines and refineries, robots can identify gas leaks, monitor temperature anomalies, and report environmental risks.

Unmanned Factories

Robots execute continuous inspection tasks on the shop floor, including equipment condition monitoring, environmental measurements, and operational status reporting.

Mining Industry

Whether in open-pit mines or underground tunnels, inspection robots can replace workers in dangerous areas and monitor air quality, machine status, and structural safety.

02. Core Industrial Computing Requirements for Inspection Robots

For robots to operate reliably in complex real-world environments, their onboard computing system must satisfy five essential requirements:

• High Performance & On-device AI Processing
  Capable of processing multi-sensor data and running real-time AI inference.

• Rich I/O Interfaces
  Supporting Gigabit Ethernet, USB, serial ports, GPIO, M.2, and Mini-PCIe to connect numerous devices.

• Stable Communication
  Ensuring seamless connectivity via multi-mode networking and high-speed data transmission.

• Low Power Consumption & Compact Design
  Reducing internal space usage while enabling long-term deployment.

• Industrial Durability
  Wide-temperature operations, shock resistance, EMI protection, dust- and moisture-proof capabilities.

03. BIS-6670L: A Next-Generation AI Computer Tailored for Intelligent Inspection Robots

The NORCO BIS-6670L delivers outstanding processing capability, flexible interfaces, and industrial-grade reliability.

Main Specifications Include:

• Intel Alder Lake-N97/N100 processor, with low 6–15W TDP

• Intel UHD Graphics with dual HDMI + DP 4K display output

• DDR5-4800 SODIMM, up to 16GB

• SATA3.0 + M.2 2280 SSD storage expansion

• 4× Gigabit RJ45, USB3.2, and up to 10× USB2.0

• Multiple RS232/RS422/RS485 ports

• M.2 B Key (4G/5G) and E Key (WiFi/BT) for wireless communication

• GPIO, CAN, audio, system control headers

• Modular and redundant design for critical subsystems

• Fanless cooling, -20°C to 70°C wide-temperature reliability

• Windows 10 & Linux support with watchdog mechanism

• Compact 190 × 148.5 × 62 mm design suitable for embedded scenarios

With its combination of high efficiency, stability, and adaptability, the BIS-6670L enables powerful and safe robot operations in diverse industrial environments.

As the digital economy accelerates globally, industrial enterprises are experiencing a fundamental shift in equipment management. Aging low-voltage distribution systems, declining operational efficiency, and a lack of transparent energy and equipment health data are becoming common challenges. To address these industry-wide pain points, ABB has officially introduced a comprehensive Low-Voltage Digital Upgrade Service, integrating solutions for trip unit upgrades, temperature monitoring, intelligent feeder management, and smart motor management. Together with the PowerCare Worry-Free Operations Platform, ABB enables enterprises to transition to a more intelligent, safer, and efficient maintenance model.

Aging Infrastructure Increases Risks, Making Intelligent Operations a Necessity

In many factories, low-voltage distribution equipment has been in service for more than a decade. Over time, components naturally age, protection accuracy declines, insulation degrades, and connection points develop overheating issues. These hidden risks significantly increase the likelihood of equipment failure or even production shutdowns.

Furthermore, many enterprises still rely on traditional analog meters and manual inspections. Without real-time operational data or clear visibility into energy consumption, maintenance personnel often struggle to detect abnormalities early. This not only increases operation costs but also limits the ability to execute effective digital transformation.

To meet modern industrial requirements, enterprises require a new operational model—one driven by real-time data, digital visibility, and predictive maintenance. ABB’s low-voltage digital upgrade service is designed precisely for this purpose.

Four Core Service Solutions Supporting Full-Spectrum Digital Modernization

ABB’s upgrade service addresses the key challenges of aging electrical systems by enabling enterprises to modernize their infrastructure with minimal disruption. The solution includes four major upgrades: electronic trip units, critical point temperature monitoring, smart feeder management, and smart motor management.

1. Trip Unit Upgrade: Enhanced Protection and Intelligence

ABB provides on-site replacements of old mechanical trip units with new electronic trip units—equipping legacy circuit breakers with modern “intelligent brains.”

Users gain:

• Real-time monitoring of all electrical parameters

• Comprehensive digital protection

• Precise control and faster fault response

• Significant improvement in system stability without large-scale retrofits

This upgrade effectively revitalizes old systems and dramatically improves operational reliability.

2. Critical-Point Temperature Monitoring: Strengthening Safety Through Real-Time Insights

By installing temperature sensors at crucial nodes, enterprises can track real-time temperature changes and receive early warnings for abnormal hot spots.

This helps prevent:

• Insulation degradation

• Thermal stress damage

• Fire hazards

• Unexpected shutdowns

Continuous monitoring ensures stable, long-term operation of the entire low-voltage distribution system.

3. Intelligent Feeder Management: Precision Energy Measurement and Full Data Visibility

The intelligent feeder unit is designed with identical dimensions to existing drawer units, enabling quick, hassle-free replacement on-site.

After upgrading, enterprises benefit from:

• 0.5-level accuracy in active energy metering

• Full visualization of harmonics, voltage/current imbalance, and leakage data

• Deep insights into energy consumption without manual inspections

The enhanced transparency enables more effective energy-saving strategies.

4. Smart Motor Management: Ensuring Stable Operations With Intelligent Protection

ABB’s smart motor management unit integrates monitoring, protection, control, and maintenance functions into a single intelligent module.

Key features include:

• 14 built-in starting modes to handle complex applications

• 12 independent protection functions (including overload, locked rotor, phase loss, unbalance, etc.)

• Millisecond-level tripping response

This boosts overall production efficiency and significantly reduces motor-related failures.

As global industries accelerate toward digitalization, automation technology is undergoing a major transformation. From traditional PLC control logic to intelligent, AI-supported engineering workflows, the future of industrial development increasingly depends on smarter software. Beckhoff Automation recently unveiled TwinCAT PLC++, its next-generation control platform, together with the integrated AI assistant TwinCAT CoAgent, marking a new chapter in PLC innovation.

TwinCAT PLC++ not only upgrades system performance but introduces an AI-driven programming model that changes how engineers develop, optimize, and document control logic.

Performance Breakthrough: Up to 3× Faster Execution

TwinCAT PLC++ achieves significant performance enhancements:

• 1.5× faster Runtime execution
• Up to 3× performance boost with the new compiler

These improvements result from a redesigned compiler pipeline, more efficient architecture, and optimized task coordination. For industries requiring real-time response—such as robotics, CNC, and high-speed packaging—these upgrades offer substantial advantages.

TwinCAT CoAgent: AI Integrated Directly into PLC Engineering

TwinCAT CoAgent is the highlight of this upgrade. It transforms engineering workflows through:

1. AI-Generated Code and Smart Optimization

CoAgent can automatically:

• Produce structured text (ST) code from natural language
• Suggest optimized logic based on engineering context
• Identify inefficient code and propose enhancements
• Generate flowcharts, comments, and technical documentation

Engineers can describe functionality in plain language, and CoAgent instantly generates ready-to-use logic blocks.

2. Automated I/O Topology Creation

Tasks such as I/O mapping, terminal naming, and module configuration can now be completed through conversational commands. The system builds the entire topology automatically, improving reliability and saving hours of manual work.

3. Automated HMI Control Generation

Based on control logic, CoAgent can create user interface components and match variables with UI properties, making HMI design faster and more intuitive.

Open Architecture with Deep Integration

TwinCAT PLC++ remains consistent with Beckhoff’s tradition of openness. It continues to support major industrial protocols and offers a hybrid workflow combining text and graphical programming. The architecture simplifies integration across motion control, machine vision, and communication tasks, making it suitable for complex automation systems.

Beckhoff’s Global Influence in Industrial Automation

Since its founding in 1980, Beckhoff has established itself as a key innovator in automation technology. Its solutions are widely applied in semiconductors, photovoltaics, energy storage, robotics, CNC machinery, manufacturing logistics, and more. The company operates in 75 countries with over 40 subsidiaries worldwide.

In China, Beckhoff has been active since 1997 and maintains offices across more than 30 cities.

A New Direction for PLC Technology

TwinCAT PLC++ reflects the future of industrial automation—where PLC systems evolve from pure logic execution to intelligent, AI-supported decision and configuration engines.

With AI’s continued integration, the PLC of tomorrow will be:

• More autonomous
• Highly adaptive
• Capable of collaborative engineering
• Central to intelligent factory ecosystems

TwinCAT PLC++ is paving the way for this transformation.

A New Power Era Emerging: Why Energy Efficiency Defines the Future of Technology

As global infrastructure accelerates toward AI-driven computation, large-scale electrification, and high-voltage mobility, one fundamental bottleneck is becoming impossible to ignore: energy. Massive AI clusters now draw more power than mid-sized cities, EV platforms require higher-density traction inverters, and renewable power systems demand faster, lighter, and more efficient power conversion.
In this context, power electronics is no longer a background component—it is becoming the deciding factor in system performance, cost, and sustainability.

It is against this backdrop that onsemi has introduced a technology many in the power semiconductor industry have called the beginning of the post-silicon era for high-voltage systems: Vertical GaN (vGaN) power semiconductors, based on true GaN-on-GaN structures—not silicon substrates, not sapphire, but native gallium nitride.

What Makes Vertical GaN Different?

Most commercial GaN power devices today are based on lateral GaN structures, where current flows across the surface of the semiconductor. This design works well for low-to-medium-voltage fast chargers, consumer devices and 650V-class power modules, but it reaches fundamental physical limitations at high current and high voltage.

onsemi’s vGaN devices flip that paradigm by enabling vertical current flow through the device, using gallium nitride as both the active layer and the substrate.
This architecture enables:

1.Higher voltage operation (700V, 1200V and beyond)
2.Higher current density in a smaller footprint
3.Faster switching frequency without thermal instability
4.Lower conduction and switching losses (up to 50% reduction)
5. Support for ultra-compact magnetics and capacitors

Put simply: vGaN is not an improved GaN-on-silicon device. It is a different semiconductor class.

A Fully Patented Platform — Not Just a Product Release

onsemi has confirmed that its vGaN technology stack includes 130+ issued and pending patents, covering:

1.Epitaxy and materials engineering

2.Device architecture and breakdown control

3.Wafer-level manufacturing and packaging

4.System-level application optimization

Unlike many GaN vendors outsourcing fabrication, onsemi’s devices are designed, manufactured and packaged in the company’s Syracuse, New York facility, giving them full in-house control of yield, scale, and reliability certification.

Early engineering samples of 700V and 1200V parts are already in customer hands, including Tier-1 EV and cloud data center customers.

Why the Timing Matters: AI + Electrification Are Colliding

For the first time in technology history, data and transportation are both converting into high-power electrical systems at the same time:

In every case, the need is identical:

📌 More power in less space, with less heat and less loss.

This is the exact design space where Silicon IGBT, superjunction MOSFETs, and lateral GaN begin to fail—but where vertical GaN remains stable, efficient and scalable.

The Key Technical Advantages of GaN-on-GaN

To illustrate the magnitude of the shift, consider the following performance comparison:

What silicon carbide (SiC) did for EV traction systems, vertical GaN may do for high-voltage power conversion across cloud, mobility, and energy infrastructure—but with even faster switching, smaller passives, and lower system cost once scaled.

Real-World Application Impact

1.AI Data Centers

• Enables high-density 800V → 48V DC-DC modules
• Reduces magnetics size by up to 50%
• Lowers rack-level OPEX via efficiency gains

2.Electric Vehicles

• Shrinks inverter size and weight
• Improves vehicle range through loss reduction
• Enables next-gen 1000V+ platforms beyond Si IGBT

3.Fast Charging Infrastructure

• Increases power capability per charger cabinet
• Cuts cooling requirements and installation cost
• Supports compact wall-mounted DC chargers

4.Renewable & Storage Systems

• Higher voltage capability = fewer stages, lower cost
• Strong thermal stability for desert / offshore sites

5.Aerospace and Defense

• Radiation-resistant, high-temperature capable
• Enables ultra-light power modules for satellites, drones, avionics

A Strategic Shift in the Power Semiconductor Landscape

For the last decade, power device evolution followed this path:

Silicon → Superjunction MOSFET → GaN (lateral) / SiC

Vertical GaN introduces a fourth phase, one that overlaps silicon carbide but exceeds lateral GaN and superjunction silicon in key metrics. The competitive landscape is now dividing into three tiers:

onsemi’s announcement signals that the race for >1kV, high-frequency power dominance has begun, and the company intends not just to participate—but lead.

Industry Outlook: GaN Is Scaling into the Terawatt Era

Analysts estimate that data centers alone will require over 500 TWh of annual electricity by 2030, and EV infrastructure will exceed 200 million kW of installed conversion power.

Power semiconductors are no longer secondary components—they are the new core infrastructure of the electrical world.

Vertical GaN may not replace SiC or silicon entirely, but it reshapes the design rules for the highest-growth markets:

1.Power density matters more than transistor cost
2.System efficiency now drives long-term TCO
3.Component size directly impacts deployment scale
4.Heat is now a profit-limiting variable

The companies winning the next decade will not be those with the cheapest silicon, but those enabling the most watts per cubic centimeter, per dollar, per degree Celsius.

Final Perspective

onsemi’s vGaN platform is not just a device release—it is a declaration that high-voltage GaN has arrived as a commercial reality, not a research paper.
Just as SiC enabled the EV transformation, vertical GaN is poised to do the same for AI power and high-density electrification.

The semiconductor industry is entering an era where the question is no longer:
“How do we improve power efficiency by 2%?”
but rather:
“How do we redesign entire systems around a device that cuts losses in half, doubles switching speed and shrinks the hardware footprint?”

That is the scale of change represented by vGaN.