Support of the junior talent contest "Jugend forscht"

The 59^th federal contest of Jugend forscht took place in Heilbronn on 30 May till 2 June 2024. For interdisciplinary work related to electronics, the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. amounting to 1500 EUR was awarded to the project „EMS als Weg des Menschen zu maschineller Präzession“ of Anna Katharina Pook and Leon Maximilian Koehler.

The jury justified the award as follows: "Muscles are controlled by electrical nerve impulses that originate in the brain. The underlying principle can be used, for a certain type of training in which artificial electrical impulses stimulate the muscles. Anna Katharina Pook and Leon Maximilian Koehler used electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) to develop a prototype prosthesis. To this end, they attached several electrodes to the forearm, with the electrodes precisely controlling the fingers of the hand using electrical impulses. The procedure worked so well, that the “remote-controlled” hand was even able to play a short piano piece. In the future, this technique could enable people with certain nerve damage to continue pursuing their hobbies and thus improve their quality of life."

The 58^th federal contest of Jugend forscht took place in Bremen on 18-23 May 2023. For interdisciplinary work related to electronics, the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. amounting to 1500 EUR was awarded to the project „Photovoltaik on fire!“ of Stefanie Eski, Florian Brütsch and Babett Ludwig.

The jury justified the award as follows: „Although solar plants become more efficient, there are still some problems. One of these problems was addressed by Stefanie Eski, Florian Brütsch and Babett Ludwig: A solar panel consists of dozens of cells. If one of them is dirty or shaded, the performance of the entire module drops, because it depends on the weakest link in the chain - possibly the dirty cell. The three young researchers solved the problem with an ingenious trick: A mini-computer monitors the voltages and currents of the solar cells. If the output of a cell drops, for example because it is covered by leaves, the software registers this drop and compensates for the losses. This prevents the output of the remaining cells from dropping - in this way the module is able to deliver almost its maximum power even in this case."

The 57^th federal contest of Jugend forscht took place in Lübeck on 26-29 May 2022. For interdisciplinary work related to electronics, the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. amounting to 1500 EUR was awarded to the project "Interpflanzenkommunikation am Beispiel der Venusfliegenfalle und der Mimose" of Sebastian Schütze and Jannik Reimann.

The jury justified the award as follows: "Weak electrical currents are not only flowing in the human brain, but also in plants. For example, when the Venus flytrap catches an insect, a short voltage stimulus is always involved. In research, quite sophisticated instruments are needed to measure and analyze such signals. Sebastian Schütze and Jannik Reimann, however, succeeded in doing so with a much simpler, homemade apparatus based on a microcomputer and various electronic components. In this way, the two young researchers were able to reliably detect the electrical plant pulses. Furthermore, they were also able to influence a mimosa with the electrical signal of a Venus flytrap, causing it to move its leaves."

Photo (© Stiftung Jugend forscht e.V.): Dr. Tilo Brodbeck (middle) hands the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. to Sebastian Schütze (left) und Jannik Reimann (right) and congratulates them for their outstanding research results.

The 54^th federal contest of Jugend forscht took place in Chemitz on 16-19 May 2019 under the patronage of the German Federal President. In the field "Mathematics / Informatics" , the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. amounting to 1500 EUR was awarded to the project "Vorteile durch KI – Deep Learning trifft AOI: Automatische Optische Inspektion von Leiterplatten" of Vinh Phuc Tran (17), Erzhausen, Edith-Stein-Schule, Darmstadt.

The jury justified the award as follows: "Electronic printed circuit boards are mostly manufactured automatically today. Even quality control for missing, misplaced or misconnected components can be carried out by means of automated optical checks. To this end, Vinh Phuc Tran applied methodologies of artificial intelligence (AI). Based on artificial neuronal networks (deep-learning techniques) the young scientist developed a special algorithm that allows to identify six typical defects of printed circuit boards with a success rate of 99%. The results of his research can help to achieve a cost-effective production of electronic components."

Photo (© Stiftung Jugend forscht e.V. / Fraunhofer IWU): Dr. Tilo Brodbeck (right) hands the special prize of the ESD FORUM e.V. to Vinh Phuc Tran (left) and congratulates him for his outstanding research results.