Automotive Infotainment System

One of our Automotive clients, a manufacturer of Audio and Infotainment systems, had developed a high-power compact amplifier that had outstanding features and performance that was very aggressively priced. However, it also generated a great deal of heat that impacted its durability and performance.

In our initial design review with our client’s engineering team, we learned that they intended to use the sealed aluminum case that housed their amplifiers components to provide cooling. This was desirable because it protected its components from dust and isolated them from electrical interference.

Unfortunately, this approach fell short in providing enough cooling at the higher end of the amplifiers operating range. Their team realized that some form of active cooling would have to be incorporated into their design, however since they were late into the development cycle there was not much time to come up with a solution that would meet their rigorous requirements which called for high airflow, high pressure, minimum noise, low power, and seamless integration within the amplifier’s case, all at a low unit cost.

Fortunately, Y.S. Tech was able to move quickly by performing a comprehensive thermal system simulation that identified the exact characteristics needed to achieve their goals and allowed our design team to quickly provide a prototype cooling module consisting of a high-performance axial cooling fan and custom heat sink.  When their team tested our prototype, they found that it performed within a few percent of the ideal values given by the simulation; this gave them confidence that our solution did what was required without wasting money through over-engineering.

They quickly decided to spec in our fan into their design however this was not the end of the story. We further assisted them in the development of the design by providing a complete Design for Manufacturing (DFM )report that included; draft angles, mold gate locations, interface surfaces, mounting standoffs, wire routing, grommet design, and packaging. We also provided the documentation for their Pre-Production Approval Process (PPAP). All of this helped them to efficiently integrate our solution into their design.   Because we provided exceptional value to our customer, we not only won the contract to provide thermal solutions for this program but was also named as a preferred supplier for thermal control products in general. We have since supplied them with many different thermal control solutions including quite a few fans, heat sinks, and blowers. We also added additional value by offering fans trays, custom cabling, and assembly work.