Wilden S.r.l. is an Italian company specializing in the design, development, and production of technical components made of thermoplastic materials and liquid silicone. It operates in the automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer goods sectors.

Thermal efficiency is crucial for electric vehicles (EVs), and electric water pumps (EWPs) play a key role in cooling batteries, inverters, and powertrains. Ensuring optimal temperatures improves range, performance, and vehicle longevity.

This project introduces IoT sensors integrated directly into the plastic/rubber components of EWPs, detecting temperature, pressure, and flow without altering geometries or weights. The solution enables real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, reducing costs and downtime, and improving the reliability of EV cooling systems.

The project aims to optimize thermal management of EVs by integrating advanced sensing technologies into EWPs. Thanks to Printed Electronics, temperature, flow, and pressure sensors are printed directly onto the pump structure, creating an intelligent cooling system capable of real-time adaptation without altering the basic characteristics. The development of operational demonstrators will enable the creation of an innovative component for adaptive cooling control, improving energy efficiency, reducing wear, and extending the lifespan of EVs.

Printed electronics (including Aerosol Jet Printing)

FEM and CFD simulation

IoT Sensors

Currently, the operating parameters of pumps are monitored by physical sensors that increase both the size and weight of the pumps. Solutions achievable through printed electronics approaches allow going beyond conventional electronics available on the market. Conceptually, this involves a family of technologies that enable true overmolding on existing mechanical components and objects using specific materials (i.e., functional inks) that can be conductive, resistive, or insulating in nature.

There are various types of technologies that can be involved in this process, such as Aerosol Jet Printing or PiezoJet Printing. The advantages these technologies can provide in this project are diverse and include:

Printing on objects with complex geometry, following their shapes and contours.

Development of sensing elements within the EWP, with particular focus on plastic and rubber components.
Creation of fully printed wiring, enabling further reduction in size and weight for the entire EV cooling system.

Preservation of the pre-print characteristics of the EWP, which remains unchanged in shape, volume, and functionality, but is enhanced with new intelligence thanks to the printed sensors.

Rapid design, customization, and prototyping for the development of the sensors needed for the project, thanks to direct deposition technologies that do not require masks or post-processing to obtain the final sensor.