Abstract: An apparatus for performing the following. The apparatus maintains, in a memory, information on a computational model for thermal behavior of layers of an insulated-gate bipolar transistor, IGBT, module. The apparatus obtains measurements of the dissipated power at the semiconductors and the ambient temperature and determines one or more current values of one or more temperatures of the IGBT module based on a switching delay of the IGBT module. The apparatus calculates a current estimate of a joint state-parameter space of the computational model using a Bayesian filter and the computational model taking as inputs the dissipated power and the ambient temperature. The joint state-parameter space includes the one or more temperatures, one or more thermal loss parameters and one or more wear parameters. The one or more current values of the one or more temperatures are used as observations in the Bayesian filter.

Abstract: A field of electric drive devices and arrangements including a plurality of power semiconductor components formed in or on a common substrate, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for monitoring the condition of a power semiconductor module. The method for monitoring the condition of a power semiconductor module of an electric drive device connected to an electric machine includes the steps of engaging a locking of the rotor of the electric machine at zero speed or at near zero speed by injecting DC currents by the electric drive device, initiating test temperature recording in the power semiconductor module, disengaging the locking the rotor of the electric machine by the electric drive device, terminating the test temperature recording and storing the recorded data of the test temperature as test temperature data, and determining the condition of the power semiconductor module utilising the test temperature data.