MotorBrain Final Review: Presentation at ZF Friedrichshafen
Under the direction of Infineon 30 partners from 9 European countries were researching with the aim to increase the range and reliability of electric vehicles while reducing the dependence of Asia (rare earth). In a four day final event at...
Nanoelectronics for Electric Vehicle Intelligent Failsafe PowerTrain
The MotorBrain project is developing sustainable drive train technologies and control concepts / platforms for inherently safe and highly efficient Electric Vehicle (EV) powertrains of the 3rd Generation. The envisaged EV-Powertrain will enable significant steps ahead in terms...
The MotorBrain project of the ENIAC JU
Sustainability is a truly global trend leading carmakers in the US, Japan, Europe and China to propel electrified mobility into the mass market. This stipulates fundamental efforts in the European automotive and semiconductor industry to improve efficiency reduce weight, size...
Motorenhersteller meiden Seltene Erden
www.vdi-nachrichten.com Von Carmen Klingler-Deiseroth | 22. November 2013 | Ausgabe 47 Lange Zeit galten Dysprosium und Terbium für Elektromotoren als unverzichtbar. Doch seitdem die Preise für die Hightechmetalle in die Höhe schnellten tüfteln die Hersteller an Alternativen. So erfolgreich,...
Compact and Efficient Electromotor Without Rare Earth Metals
The “MotorBrain” Research Team Presents the First Prototype at the Hannover Messe 2014 Hannover and Neubiberg, Germany – April 8, 2014 – German researchers present the prototype of an electric motor that may shape the future of electromobility: Small,...
MotorBrain Final Review: Presentation at ZF Friedrichshafen
Under the direction of Infineon 30 partners from 9 European countries were researching with the aim to increase the range and reliability of electric vehicles while reducing the dependence of Asia (rare earth). In a four day final event at ZF Friedrichshafen the demonstrators from the field of electric mobility were presented to a professional audience consisting of the European Commission and automobile manufacturers.
Belonging to the demonstrator’s novel Battery systems, battery monitoring and torque-sensors, angle and current sensors, and an innovative prototype of an electric motor with a multi-phase system with 9 phases were presented. The integration of engine, gearbox and inverter and the use of newly developed ferrite magnets permitted to build an engine with a reduced weight from about 15% of 90 kg to 77 kg.
Furthermore, it has been possible to build the "Motor Brain" prototype without rare earths, which are currently a major cost driver for permanent magnet motors and are only available from Asia. The MotorBrain electric motor uses ferrite magnets, which are readily available and less expensive. The weaker performance of the ferrite magnets, due to the abstaining from rare earth, is compensated through the specially developed high-speed rotor of the MotorBrain electric motor. Special attention was paid to the development of the motor to functional safety, which is particularly in electric vehicles an absolute must. For this purpose, the motor controller and the battery monitoring of the sensors with safety diagnoses and control mechanisms according to the ISO26262 standard has been developed on a multicore platform, which was built on an inverter board directly to the engine.
Find more information in the publications within the MotorBrain project.
Compact and Efficient Electromotor Without Rare Earth Metals
The “MotorBrain” Research Team Presents the First Prototype at the Hannover Messe 2014
Hannover and Neubiberg, Germany – April 8, 2014 – German researchers present the prototype of an electric motor that may shape the future of electromobility: Small, light and efficient, the motor requires no rare earth metals whatsoever. The electric motor was created and constructed by the four German partners in the European research project ”MotorBrain”: Infineon Technologies, Siemens, the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology at the Technische Universität (Technical University) Dresden and ZF Friedrichshafen. The prototype is being presented at the Hannover Messe ”MobiliTec” fair stand of the German federal government (Hall 27, Stand H51).
The MotorBrain prototype: A highly compact electric motor without using rare earth metals.
The MotorBrain prototype is a highly integrated electric motor that unifies the most important components of the powertrain for an electric vehicle. The researchers have succeeded in designing a highly compact electric motor with only three-quarters the size of models from 2011, the year when MotorBrain began. The electric motor prototype now being presented could easily fit in a conventional-sized laptop or notebook backpack. And on top of that, it’s lighter than before. By the integration of motor, gear drive and inverter the MotorBrain partners were able to cut down the weight of the powertrain by approximately 15 percent, from 90 kilograms to less than 77 kilograms. Reduced size and weight will benefit the future car owner: A lighter electric vehicle that brings battery power ”to the street” more efficiently and has a longer range than the electric vehicles of today. A medium-sized vehicle with MotorBrain electric motor and performance of 60 kilowatts (equal to about 80 hp) would be able to drive a good 30 to 40 kilometers farther than today’s electric vehicles with their average range of approximately 150 kilometers per battery charge.
Furthermore, the partners succeeded in building the MotorBrain prototype without using rare earth metals, which are currently a fundamental cost driver in hybrid and electric vehicles. Today rare earth metals are an important component in the permanent magnet of any electric motor, generating a particularly strong, constant magnetic field. The stronger the magnetic field, the higher the performance capabilities of the motor. However, obtaining rare earth metals is extremely complicated and environmentally harmful. Also, rare earth metal prices are high and fluctuate widely. The MotorBrain electric motor therefore utilizes readily available and less expensive ferrite magnets. The lower performance level of ferrite magnets compared to those with rare earth metals is compensated for by the specially developed high-RPM (revolutions per minute) rotor of the MotorBrain electric motor.
About the European research project “MotorBrain”
Led by Infineon, a total of 30 partners from nine European countries are conducting research in MotorBrain with the goal of increasing the range and safety of electric vehicles while at the same time reducing dependency on rare earth metals. The interdisciplinary team represents all development and production sectors relevant to electromobility. The team includes universities, non-university research facilities, semiconductor manufacturers, electric motor builders, automobile component suppliers and automobile manufacturers. The MotorBrain project began in the fall of 2011. Half a year before the project conclusion in October 2014, the research partners can already present their highly integrated electric motor without rare earth metals. They now have time until October 2014 to validate and prove their research results. A budget of approximately Euro 36 million makes MotorBrain one of the largest European research projects in the area of electromobility, with financing coming from business and from national funding providers such as Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European ENIAC Joint Undertaking.
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Electric motor without rare earth metals: Prototype and presentation at MobiliTec 2014 trade fair
The MotorBrain project will be presented as a part of the Hannover Messe (April 7-11, 2014, Hannover, Germany) in the MobiliTec trade fair at the German federal government stand (Hall 27, Stand H51). With the theme ”Our way to electromobility” the German federal government is presenting exemplary research projects from the core areas of electromobility: Manufacturing, Charging, Driving and Saving Resources. The MotorBrain presentation is located in the ”Manufacturing” area at station 3 ”Efficient Battery and Powertrain Systems”.
In addition to the stand presentation, Dipl.-Ing. Reiner John of Infineon Technologies will speak on the central MotorBrain research results in a talk entitled ”Safety, Independence and Energy Efficiency for Electric Automobiles” in the MobiliTec Forum (April 9, 2014, at 3:30 pm; Hall 27, Stand G85).
You'll find more information on MotorBrain and the participating research partners at www.motorbrain.eu.
Read more: Compact and Efficient Electromotor Without Rare Earth Metals
Motorenhersteller meiden Seltene Erden
Von Carmen Klingler-Deiseroth | 22. November 2013 | Ausgabe 47
Lange Zeit galten Dysprosium und Terbium für Elektromotoren als unverzichtbar. Doch seitdem die Preise für die Hightechmetalle in die Höhe schnellten tüfteln die Hersteller an Alternativen. So erfolgreich, dass das Ziel jetzt sogar lautet, ganz auf schwere Seltene Erden zu verzichten.
Magnettechnik im Wandel: Hersteller von Elektromotoren tüfteln an Alternativen zu Seltenerdmetallen. Im Bild die Fertigung des Automobilzulieferers Brose.
Quelle: Brose
The MotorBrain project of the ENIAC JU
Sustainability is a truly global trend leading carmakers in the US, Japan, Europe and China to propel electrified mobility into the mass market. This stipulates fundamental efforts in the European automotive and semiconductor industry to improve efficiency reduce weight, size and costs to stay competitive. The ENIAC JU project MotorBrain – conceived in 2011 – facilitates radical automotive innovation enabled by semiconductors. MotorBrain will not only improve the semiconductor growth rate which is usually correlated with the product growth itself but will address accelerated growth expectations coming from radical innovations.
The project is driven by 32 partners among nine value chains with the contribution of two major OEMs, seven Tier1-Suppliers, major semiconductor Suppliers such as STMicroelectronics, NXP, Infineon including SME´s together with twelve academic partners. The consortium provides sustainable drive train technologies, control techniques and platforms for inherently failsafe and highly efficient Electric-Vehicle (EV) powertrains including dynamic sensors, control and more efficient and less complex battery solutions for the 3rd generation of EVs.
Nanoelectronics for Electric Vehicle Intelligent Failsafe PowerTrain
The MotorBrain project is developing sustainable drive train technologies and control concepts / platforms for inherently safe and highly efficient Electric Vehicle (EV) powertrains of the 3rd Generation. The envisaged EV-Powertrain will enable significant steps ahead in terms of:
- Overall energy efficiency: The next generation EV-Powertrains shall improve energy efficiency by up to 20%.
- Development of novel smart and intrinsic failsafe electrical powertrain concepts: Powertrain concepts will focus on new highly efficient smart motor management systems and torque-dense motor concepts, furthermore on intelligent integration concepts for passive components, power converters. In addition, concepts for modular storage systems will be derived and verified. By exploding the benefits of higher integrated subsystems of the EV-powertrain it is expected to further enhance the efficiency and reliability of EV-Powertrains without impeding production costs. Moreover, is it envisaged to strengthen the sustainability by improving recyclability and alleviating the dependency on rare-earth magnets.
Read more: Nanoelectronics for Electric Vehicle Intelligent Failsafe PowerTrain
