In Connected news are Tritium, Keysight, Continental, VW, iENSO, Ambarella, Spark, gapcharge, Titan, Ricardo, Diamler, Volvo, Hubject, Marvell, AMD and Ansys.
Triitum to Charge Army EVs,
Tritium, a global leader in DC fast charging technology for electric vehicles (EVs), announced that it has been selected to participate in the Power Transfer Cohort, powered by the Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) in collaboration with Alion Science and Technology. This program focuses on advancing solutions that will support remote access, rapid recharging, and scalable infrastructure to help the Army move to EVs. Tritium is the only DC fast charging provider which was selected for the program.
Companies in the Cohort will work directly with the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team (NGCV) and the Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) to identify and explore EV infrastructure technologies that can work across the diverse fleet of ~225,000 Army vehicles operating in the most demanding environments.
GaN Test Board from Keysight
Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced a customized gallium nitride (GaN) test board for the company’s dynamic power device analyzer / double-pulse tester (PD1500A), enabling Tier 1 and OEM power converter designers to reduce prototype cycles and speed introduction of new products.
Power converters are a key component for enabling the electrification of the transportation, renewable energy and industrial markets. For e-Mobility, the main application of the power converter (i.e. traction inverter) is to efficiently convert the power stored in an electronic vehicle’s (EVs) high voltage battery pack to drive the AC motor. There are many other applications for the power converter in EVs (see figure), including the on-board charger, which is the key link for vehicle to grid applications.
To facilitate advances in power converter design, new wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technologies are being commercialized, providing improvements in speed, voltage and thermal operation. This, in turn, improves efficiency, while decreasing size and reducing cost. However, the resulting high-performance power converters are proving difficult to design.
To deliver consistent, reliable characterization of WBG semiconductors, Keysight developed the PD1500A dynamic power device analyzer platform. The PD1500A is modular, allowing discrete silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) based power devices to be characterized. Now with a customized GaN test board, Keysight’s PD1500A delivers repeatable and reliable characterization for faster switching devices.
GaN is currently only targeting on-board chargers and DC:DC converters in EVs. However, with the advent of vertical GaN, expectations are that operating voltages will catch up with SiC (1.2kV and higher), making GaN a potential choice for higher power applications in e-Mobility.
Keysight’s measurement science enables a commercially available solution for repeatable and reliable characterization of GaN power devices, accelerating the ability of OEM and Tier 1 providers to introduce competitive EV technology to the market.
Continental and Iteris collaborate to explore intelligent infrastructure technology for safer, more efficient roadways
Global mobility supplier Continental and Iteris, Inc., the leader in smart mobility infrastructure management, today announced they have entered into a collaboration agreement to explore intelligent infrastructure solutions for communities across North America. With the goal of readying cities for advancements in connected and automated vehicle technologies, the partnership is designed to help ensure safer and more efficient mobility.
“Smart mobility is in our DNA at Continental and we are constantly improving and innovating solutions that help make roadways safer for all who use them. As we look to a future with more connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), the infrastructure will play a bigger role, demanding updates in sensing, connectivity and communication capabilities,” explained Murali Srinivasan, Vice President, Passive Safety and Sensorics, Continental North America. “Our long and proven history in safety sensorics fits naturally with Iteris’ expertise in intelligent infrastructure management to deliver solutions that will contribute to greater environmental awareness and increased road user safety.”
The future-oriented traffic infrastructure collaboration will leverage automotive sensors, and infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) connectivity to make city transportation systems across North America more efficient, while supporting local and regional transportation agencies’ efforts to achieve their Vision Zero goals.
Information generated by the automotive sensors will be used to enable collective perception capabilities. In addition to sharing a connected vehicle’s location with other V2X-enabled devices, collective perception messaging enables that vehicle to also share what it senses – a pedestrian or car, for example – with the rest of its connected environment. The collaboration is focused on improving the current transportation infrastructure while working toward a more balanced, intelligent and optimized infrastructure that communicates seamlessly with the mobility ecosystem in the future thanks to expanded sensing capabilities.
“At Iteris, we are committed to helping public transportation agencies and our commercial partners achieve safe, efficient and sustainable mobility through the use of innovative technology, and advanced sensing and communications systems,” said Todd Kreter, senior vice president and general manager, Advanced Sensor Technologies at Iteris. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Continental, a pioneer of automotive safety and connected mobility technologies, to explore new intelligent infrastructure solutions that will help make roads safer, more efficient and sustainable, while readying cities and automotive OEMs for advancements in connected and automated vehicle technologies.”
Conti Supplies VW ID.4
Continental supplies essential technologies for the ID.4. Almost all systems and functions of the new Volkswagen ID.4, the winner of this year’s World Car of the Year Award, contain ideas, systems and solutions from Continental – from software and central computer architecture to the brakes and sophisticated thermal management, for example for cooling the batteries. As was the case with the ID.3, the E-SUV, the first models of which were delivered to customers at the end of March this year, marks a decisive step forward for Continental in an era when “e” in e-mobility stands not only for “electro” but for “emission-free” as well.
For example, Continental is a global technology leader in areas such as thermal management, state-of-the art tires or connectivity solutions – also for e-mobility. In the past fiscal year, Continental generated sales of more than €800 million with emission-free mobility – from bicycle tires and air suspension systems for trains and trams, thermal management in electric vehicles to tires or high-performance computers in electric vehicles like the ID.4. Reinhart’s prediction: “The sales generated will multiply in the mid-term. This is also why it is so important to ensure that emission-free mobility is absolutely sustainable from the start.”
iENSO Vision Ambarella
iENSO, a leading provider of embedded vision and Edge AI systems, announced the launch of an Ambarella-based platform ecosystem for embedded vision applications. Ambarella, Inc. is an industry leader in AI vision processors for the Edge (NASDAQ: AMBA). The company’s solutions make cameras smarter by extracting valuable data from high-resolution video streams.
“Embedded vision is no longer just about the image. It’s about the data and the decisions the data enables,” says Mike Liwak, CPO. “This is why iENSO has been focused strategically on meeting customer needs at the crossroads of Embedded Vision, Edge AI and Cloud Connectivity. With this launch, we continue to invest in our commitment of putting best-in-class, power-efficient, and versatile processing power in the hands of our customers.”
The new ecosystem product will enable more powerful processing on the Edge, enabling iENSO’s clients to build in complex vision data processing and meet the ever increasing demands of different IoT markets. The ecosystem will include future-proofed turnkey products based on the Ambarella CV22 and CV25 that are tuned and tested with multiple different sensors and connectivity platforms. These advanced features make extremely powerful processing accessible to applications such as security, home automation, precision farming, automotive, robotics and wearable devices, and more.
Spark Connect Partners with gapcharge
Spark Connected,a global leader in developing advanced and innovative wireless power technology and system level solutions, announces a partnership with gapcharge GmbH to bring the Titan wireless charging solution to LEVs (Light Electric Vehicles), AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) and AMRs (Automated Mobile Robots).
The transition to Lithium-ion batteries in automated factory logistics and eMobility has continued to accelerate in recent years. Forklift manufacturers have vehicles in the market today with lithium-ion. Driverless transport systems and mobile robots, AGVs, AMRs and LEVs utilize powerful lithium-ion technology. However, battery charging using plug-in cables is a significant challenge in automating these emerging applications. The ground-breaking 2.4kW Titan solution takes the next step toward effective, convenient, safe and cost-effective wireless charging.
According to Ruwanga Dassanayake, COO at Spark Connected, “eMobility and factory automated robotics are undergoing unprecedented changes. The ability to wirelessly charge these applications is becoming critical in order for these to be truly automated. The 2.4kW Titan solution helps accelerate this paradigm shift in the automated factory and electric mobility markets”.
Spark Connected is a Co-chair with the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) High Power LEV standard group. Spark is driving innovation within the committees while working with key LEV and AGM manufacturers to advance and improve charging technology for small and medium sized electric vehicles and mobile robots. The Titan solution was developed to simultaneously take advantage of new component technologies while building on Spark’s robust industrial wireless power solutions and flexible Pantheon™ software architecture.
According to Gregor Schmid, CEO at gapcharge, “The current wireless charging systems do not reach the target costs and the stringent and high-performance requirements for today’s automated logistics vehicles. gapcharge and Spark Connected are collaboratively driving this change in the market.”
Titan Transmitter for LEVs and AGVs and More
The Titan is a complete transmitter and receiver solution and provides a flexible platform for 2.4kW one-to-one wireless battery charging. Applications include LEVs and AGVs, e-bikes, autonomous robots, drones, and factory mobility.
Titan solution highlights include:
- Superior performance at >95% efficiency and fast charging
- Supports custom coil designs
- Transmitter powered directly from 85VAC – 264VAC
- 20V – 60V receiver output voltage for direct battery charging
- Built-in safety features ensure a safe and simple user charging experience
- Supports future products and standards with a field-upgradeable software
According to Florian Knobbe, COO at gapcharge, “The cooperation between gapcharge and Spark Connected shows the feasibility of this breakthrough Titan technology for automated.
Ricardo Researches Hydrogen Fueling For Heavy Duty Trucks, Machines and Boats
As part of its mission to support the decarbonisation of the global transport and energy sectors, Ricardo, a world-class environmental, engineering and strategic consulting company, has created a hydrogen-fuelled research engine which could offer a renewable, economic and durable technology solution to accelerate zero carbon emissions in heavy duty trucks, off-highway machines and marine vessels.
Ricardo will be testing the prototype at the state-of-the-art engine development facility at the University of Brighton – the company’s long-term combustion engine research partner.
Drawing on the company’s proven track record in engine development, and hydrogen technology integration, the test programme will evaluate the performance, efficiency and emissions of the engine to assess its feasibility as a future multi-cylinder engine which could be taken into production for Ricardo’s global customers.
Adrian Greaney, Director of Technology and Digital at Ricardo Automotive and Industrial EMEA Division said “Green hydrogen has a critical role to play in our future energy and transport systems, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from hard to decarbonise sectors such as long-haul trucks, off-highway machines and marine. We are working with a range of clients on hydrogen and renewable fuels to reduce carbon emissions in these challenging sectors. This exciting project with the University of Brighton on hydrogen engine technology sits alongside our developments in hydrogen fuel cell systems to deliver cost effective, clean and efficient solutions for our global clients.”
Dr Penny Atkins, Deputy Director of the Advanced Engineering Centre at the University of Brighton said: “Hydrogen combustion engines could offer a vital medium term solution to support decarbonisation in the heavy duty sector. The University of Brighton is really excited to be able to use its expertise in hydrogen combustion and engine test to support the development of this important technology.”
The ongoing programme will use the real-world results from the hardware to validate methods applied in Ricardo’s leading-edge digital tools. Virtual hardware optimisation and controls calibration will provide customer solutions that are more economic, efficient and sustainable.
The development of a hydrogen engine is a further boost to Ricardo’s hydrogen capability, following its recent investment in a hydrogen development and test facility at its Shoreham Technical Centre. As on-highway original equipment manufacturers face stringent European emissions regulations: a 30% improvement against 2019 CO2 fleet average by 2030, and an expectation that this target will be raised, Ricardo’s hydrogen engine technology can help this transport sector progress towards achieving zero carbon emissions.
Diamler and Volvo Fuel Cell Truck Roadmap
Two leaders of the commercial vehicle industry – Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group – officially outlined their pioneering roadmap for the new fuel-cell joint venture cellcentric, as part of an industry-first commitment to accelerate the use of hydrogen-based fuel cells for long-haul trucks and beyond. With the ambition of becoming a leading global manufacturer of fuel-cell systems, cellcentric will build one of Europe’s largest planned series production of fuel-cell systems, with operation planned to commence in 2025. To accelerate the rollout of hydrogen-based fuel-cells, the two cellcentric shareholders call for a harmonized EU hydrogen policy framework to support the technology in becoming a viable commercial solution.
These ambitions were revealed as part of an exclusive digital launch today, led by Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck AG, and Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Volvo Group. Designed to help meet the 2050 targets of sustainable transport and a carbon-neutral Europe as part of the European Green Deal, cellcentric will develop, produce and commercialize fuel-cell systems for both long-haul trucking and other applications. The joint venture can draw on decades of expertise and development work from both Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group.
According to Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, purely battery-electric and hydrogen-based fuel-cell trucks will complement each other depending on the individual customer use case. Battery power will be rather used for lower cargo weights and for shorter distances, while fuel-cell power will tend to be the preferred option for heavier loads and longer distances.
The major truck manufacturers in Europe, also backed by Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, are therefore calling for the setup of around 300 high-performance hydrogen refuelling stations suitable for heavy-duty vehicles by 2025 and of around 1,000 hydrogen refuelling stations no later than 2030 in Europe. This joint initiative, using hydrogen as a carrier of green electricity to power electric trucks in long-haul operations, is one important part of decarbonizing road transport.
As CO2-neutral trucks are currently significantly more expensive than conventional vehicles, a policy framework is needed to ensure demand and affordability. According to Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, this should include incentives for CO2-neutral technologies and a taxation system based on carbon and energy content. An emissions trading system could be an additional option.
Clear roadmap towards series production of fuel-cell systems and fuel-cell trucks
Currently, cellcentric is conceptualizing the plans for its large-scale series production. More details and a decision on the location will be revealed over the course of 2022. As a significant step towards series production, preparations for pre-series production are taking place at a new site in Esslingen near Stuttgart. In parallel, cellcentric is scaling up on-going prototype output.
Daimler Truck AG’s and Volvo Group’s goal is to start with customer tests of fuel-cell trucks in about three years and to be in series production of fuel-cell trucks during the second half of this decade. All vehicle-related activities are carried out independently from each other, as both companies remain competitors in all vehicle and product ranges, and particularly in fuel-cell integration solutions for all products.
Joint venture for fuel-cell systems
On 1 March 2021, Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group formed cellcentric. To that end, Volvo Group acquired 50 percent of the partnership interests in the existing Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG for approximately EUR 0.6 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. In November 2020, Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group signed a binding agreement for the joint venture. A preliminary non-binding agreement had already been signed in April of the same year.
More than 300 highly specialized experts work for cellcentric in inter-disciplinary teams at locations in Nabern, Stuttgart (Germany) and Burnaby (Canada). Around 700 individual patents have been issued so far, underlining the leading role played by the company when it comes to technological developme
SCE EV Connects with Charge Ready Program
Building on its success in the $22M Southern California Edison (SCE) Charge Ready pilot program, EV Connect, a software-as-a-service company leading electric vehicle charging ecosystem deployments and management, announced that the Company is once again an Approved Network Provider in the $436M Charge Ready program from SCE. As an approved network provider for Charge Ready, EV Connect will participate in one of the country’s most advanced utility-driven EV charging infrastructure initiatives and one of the few companies participating in the Demand Response (DR) initiatives established by the program.
As the nation’s largest light-duty electric vehicle charging program, Charge Ready is designed to deploy 38,000 EV chargers over the next four years to help California achieve its EV and climate goals. The program will focus on bringing charging infrastructure to public parking lots, schools, hospitals, and destination centers. Half of the chargers will target state-designated disadvantaged communities or economically impacted communities that suffer most from the effects of air pollution. Among the vendors selected to provide chargers in the program are EV Connect’s Premier Hardware Partners: ABB, BTCPower, EVBox, EVoCharge, and Certified Partners: Blink, Delta, EFACEC, Enel X, EVSE LLC, Freewire, Siemens, Tellus Power, and Tritium.H
Hubject Parnters with Saascharge
-Hubject, the world’s largest eRoaming provider, and Saascharge, a global EV charging operating system provider, have announced an international partnership enabling intra-network roaming to their respective customers in Europe and the United States. Beginning this year, Saascharge charging station network clients will have access to Hubject’s 300,000 charging stations in 52 countries, helping EV drivers and EV network operators offer seamless charging access across the globe.
Marvell Ethernet PHY
Marvell announced the availability of its IEEE 802.3ch-based multi-gig automotive Ethernet PHY which will enable the high-speed transfer of data in tomorrow’s connected cars. Next generation vehicles that deploy advanced features such as driver assistance systems, 5G connectivity, and autonomous driving will require that massive amounts of data be moved quickly and efficiently within the car’s in-vehicle network (IVN). By providing up to 10Gbps throughput data transmission for IVNs, Marvell’s new PHY addresses the demand for ultra-high speed, secure and low latency data exchange on standards-based networks. Today’s launch extends Marvell’s market-leading position in automotive networking, following the company’s 2018 introduction of the industry’s first pre-standard, multi-gig automotive Ethernet PHY solution.
“To support the future of smarter and connected cars on the road, multi-gig Ethernet PHYs will enable high speed data transfer that is essential to powering advanced ADAS features in the vehicle,” said Amir Bar-Niv, vice president of Marketing, Automotive Business Unit at Marvell. “We remain dedicated to delivering best-in-class solutions that meet the needs of the in-vehicle networking market, and we’re proud to be one of the first suppliers to offer an 802.3ch capable Ethernet PHY with 2.5G, 5G and 10G Base-T1 support. In addition, with integrated 802.1AE MACsec, our newest PHY is securing these high-speed connections in next-generation automobiles.”
Marvell’s new automotive PHY, the 88Q4346, is essential as vehicle architectures are transitioning from domain-based to zonal-based platforms. In a domain-based architecture, Electronic Control Units (ECUs) of each domain are connected directly to the cameras, sensors and actuators across the car, requiring large amounts of cable to connect all end nodes. This cable harness is expensive, heavy and costly to install. In zonal-based architecture, Marvell’s latest 10G PHY enables the aggregation of signals and protocols in each zone of the car over multi-gig Ethernet backbone, using a single pair of light weight cables, to reduce cost and power consumption in electrical vehicles.
AMD and Ansys 3rd Gen EPYC
AMD and Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) are collaborating to help engineering organizations across every industry spur new product design by substantially improving modeling run times. Data centers powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC™ processors are enabling engineers to produce superior designs with unprecedented speed — delivering high quality products to rapidly address new market opportunities.
Engineers face increasing pressure to complete design cycle times sooner. However, a large portion of engineering simulations require overnight runs. The rising complexity of these simulation workloads increases the need for high-performance computing (HPC) resources, which increasingly rely on more performant parallel processing and processor architecture capabilities. Through internal testing, AMD demonstrated that its new EPYC 75F3 processors could reduce specific Ansys simulation runtimes by up to a factor of two1.
From improving the energy efficiency of gas turbines with Ansys’s computational fluid dynamics software to enhancing automotive safety with Ansys’s explicit dynamics software, AMD EPYC processors empower engineering teams to execute extreme scaling of computationally demanding applications and rapidly design leading-edge products. It is expected that Ansys simulations will soon run even faster with the upcoming U.S. Department of Energy’s exascale supercomputers, which will be built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and used by Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and El Capitan at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, integrating AMD EPYC processors to produce high-fidelity models. This will supply engineers with insights into how products like autonomous vehicles, aircraft and medical devices will virtually behave across millions of real-world operational scenarios.
“3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors provide leadership performance for HPC workloads and we’re incredibly excited to collaborate with HPE and Ansys to enable the HPC industry to run a fantastic combination of HPC, server infrastructure and simulation software to push the design envelope further than before,” said Forrest Norrod, senior vice president and general manager, Data Center and Embedded Solutions Business Group at AMD. “Working together, AMD and its technology partners are helping to drive HPC to new heights that will help tackle problems that have previously been beyond humanity’s reach.”
Modeling at exascale will empower engineers to analyze considerably more data in less time and solve extremely sophisticated design challenges.
“HPC and AI workloads are becoming more compute and data-intensive, requiring higher performance and specialized capabilities,” said Bill Mannel, vice president and general manager of HPC at HPE. “By combining Ansys’ software capabilities to target simulation goals with AMD’s powerful generation of EPYC processors, HPE is further optimizing systems to support business and research missions to improve accuracy in simulations and advance designs and models.”
AMD EPYC processors’ technological advancements enable engineering organizations of all sizes to solve demanding simulation workloads.