NEWS

Network Partnership AST // PIONIX

The collaboration between AST International and PIONIX brings maximum speed, highest precision, and reliability to fast-charging stations. The calibration-compliant DC meter from AST works “out of the box” in charging stations powered by the BaseCamp operating system developed by PIONIX, thanks to a custom-developed software driver.

The advantage of fast-charging stations is clear: short charging times thanks to high charging power. A central component of these powerful stations are DC meters that ensure the continuous and precise measurement of high currents and voltages in charging stations. AST's DC meter excels not only at high currents and voltages but across the entire measurement range. AST International is among the technology leaders and a proven development partner of globally leading companies in the energy infrastructure, industrial, and mobility sectors.

The AST DC meter is used in fast and ultra-fast charging stations and is certified according to German calibration law, MID 2014/32/EU: EN 50470-4, IEC 62052-31, and UL 61010. In addition to precise and certified hardware components like the AST DC meter, standardized software solutions are crucial for a robust and permanently efficient charging infrastructure.

PIONIX develops software and firmware solutions that form the backbone of the charging infrastructure. What is special about PIONIX's solutions is that they are based on the open-source technology EVerest. The EVerest project, initiated by PIONIX in 2021, is now part of the Linux Foundation Energy and is used by the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to develop a standardized reference implementation for the national charging infrastructure.

In the EVerest project, a global community of companies from the e-mobility sector, public institutions, and universities work together to develop an open operating system for charging stations. A model that has already proven itself in other technology areas (IT infrastructure, web browsers, operating systems for mobile phones).

Thanks to the software driver developed by PIONIX, the AST DC meter can be seamlessly integrated into DC charging stations running the PIONIX operating system, thus optimizing the performance of the devices. Benefits for manufacturers include:

• High speed, as there is no integration effort and shortened development times.
• High reliability, as maintained integration includes necessary adjustments, e.g., in the event of changes to the DC meter or the underlying software base.
• High flexibility, as all product variants of AST DC meters can be easily integrated.
• High performance, as the AST DC meters are fully supported.

Jan Heuser, Head of Sales & Project Management at AST International GmbH, comments: “Seamless compatibility of our calibration-compliant DC meters with PIONIX solutions was very important to us. Our goal is to make the integration of our high-precision and high-performance DC meters for the charging infrastructure as easy as possible for our customers, thus contributing to the optimal interaction of components within the charging station.”

“We have ambitious goals: to develop the Android for charging stations and thus advance charging infrastructure and electromobility. For this, a strong network of leading partners from the respective supplier industries is important: Exactly such a partner we have found in AST,” adds Marco Möller, CEO and Co-Founder of PIONIX.