Automotive mechatronics

Every two minutes a car occupant is involved in an accident, every two hours a road death happens, every 13 hours a pedestrian is killed, and every 19 hours a cyclist dies…

This was the tragic tally of accidents on Germany's roads in 2008. There were around 4,500 fatalities among road users in 2008. Throughout Europe the total was 39,000, and an incredible 1.2 million people worldwide.

Initial progress has already been achieved in Europe: as part of the Vision Zero campaign, which sets itself the vision of zero road deaths, a wide range of measures are being implemented at both European and national level to protect road users, and especially unprotected road users such as cyclists and pedestrians, against accidents.

The largest research area at the IAF, the automotive mechatronics field of expertise, has set itself the task of contributing towards the long-term goal of zero road deaths through innovative developments in the field of road safety systems. There are currently five professors and their research assistants working in this field of expertise, which draws on applied research skills in the areas of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and information technology. It is divided into the following five focal research areas, each of which is led by a professor:

Active/Passive Safety (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Brandmeier), Vehicle Communication (Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Christian Facchi), Active Vehicle Safety and Testing (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Armin Arnold), Driver Assistance Systems (Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johann Schweiger) and Automotive Manufacturing (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Schmidt)

Previous focal research areas within the field of expertise

Through the research activities, the senses that enable people to identify and avoid hazards in their environment are to be simulated with the aid of the bionic principle, using new sensor technologies and networks with other systems. Specifically with regard to the vehicle, this means sensing accidents (e.g. acceleration and rotation-rate sensors, PTS pressure measuring system), hearing them (crash impact sound sensing), seeing them (radar, camera) and communicating them (WLAN, mobile telephony, LTE).

Vehicle safety

Structure-borne noise emissions for improved occupant protection - crash impact sound sensing
Crash sensing with structure-borne noise emissions
Active crash impact sound sensing
Lateral collision detection with crash impact sound sensing
APS - integration of active and passive vehicle safety
Vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts

Softwareengineering

Performance optimisation of communication systems
Car2X communication - networking of vehicles with the environment
Performance optimisation of virtual and distributed systems
Vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts

Driver assistance

VerUM - distributed in-vehicle systems
Vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts

Safety and testing

Safety-critical systems need to be of a very high quality standard. Furthermore, the high level of integration of heterogeneous systems such as diverse sensors, actuators and communication elements (intra and inter-vehicle communication) results in increased system complexity. The existing testing systems and test methods are inadequate for the quality targets that need to be met. Changing sustainability criteria moreover dictate changes in the test methods used.

Vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts

Automotive manufacturing

New technologies for cars are only feasible if they are suitable with mass production. New vehicle safety concepts in specific involve additional requirements and changes to the way vehicles and their components are built. This renders it necessary to consider how vehicles with integral safety systems can be manufactured efficiently and in high volumes in the future, without functionality being affected.

Toolkit-based process model for the creation and ongoing refinement of body manufacturing facilities
Vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts

Broadening research expertise

Over the next few years, research expertise in the field of automotive mechatronics will be thematically extended to encompass the new research focus "vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts" as part of the programme of subsidies for applied research and development at Universities of Applied Sciences (Bavarian State Ministry of Science, Research and Art), through expertise in the areas of Energy Management (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Göllinger, associate: Prof. Dr. Johannes Pforr) Thermal Management (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Armin Soika) and Bionic Lightweight Construction (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Wellnitz).

The aspect of energy efficiency is becoming ever more important as a result of customer requests and statutory requirements affecting such areas as fleet consumption and CO2 emissions. The anticipated market volume for electric mobility will moreover reach EUR 470 billion by 2020 (source: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Market Activation Programme for Electric Vehicles).

The socio-political currents of recent years have sensitised industry to its responsibilities in the sphere of safety and energy efficiency. These areas, alongside user friendliness and comfort, have gained increasing prominence over the past few years. Only continual refinement will make safety-relevant, energy-efficient automotive concepts universally available e.g. in the form of driver assistance and safety systems.

The automotive mechatronics field of expertise brings together cross-disciplinary expertise and provides a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration between the participating professors, creating synergy effects. The new research focus "vehicle safety and telematics for future energy-saving vehicle concepts" builds on the structure mentioned above. The aim is to develop new vehicle concepts for energy-efficient vehicles such as hybrid and electric vehicles. To that end, the existing research areas will be supplemented by the new areas of Thermal Management (climate control of cabin, battery), Energy Management, Bionic Lightweight Construction and Active Safety (brakes and recuperation).

The aim is to build up expertise in further-reaching research activities through interdisciplinary cooperation between the participating professors and their research assistants. The results of the project will be realised in a test vehicle that will also be used as a means of presenting the newly acquired expertise to the public and attracting further research partners.

Plans for "Center of Automotive Research on Integrated Safety Systems and Measurement Area (CARISSMA)" research programme and building

Important progress towards improving road safety has already been made in the automotive mechatronics field of expertise in the form of research projects in the areas of driver assistance systems and telecommunications/telematics, and by linking the two classic research areas of Active Safety (accident avoidance) and Passive Safety (mitigating the consequences of accidents).

The next step is to dovetail activities involving the integration and networking of safety systems into the above areas in an interdisciplinary way that transcends fields of expertise. The objective is to realise a global safety system that can compensate for human error. Particular attention is being focused not simply on protecting a vehicle's occupants, but primarily on protecting the weakest road users against physical harm. This next step in the development of a global safety system, which involves researching integrative safety systems, is currently foundering due to the lack of a research and test infrastructure. The CARISSMA construction project on the university site will therefore pave the way for combined testing of active and passive safety.

CARISSMA essentially comprises test facilities for substitute tests at an early development stage as well as facilities for mechanical component tests, setups for driving, traffic, vehicle and component simulation, an outdoor area for driving tests and a non-weather-dependent driving surface for mobile development platforms. The test facilities enable the researchers to develop these systems and demonstrate the feasibility of new systems in substitute tests at an early phase at which tests in commercial test centres would be complex and costly.

Both the individual systems and the global safety system can be divided into the components sensor technology, actuator technology, functions and safety mechanisms, which mirror the CARISSMA areas of research:

"Sensor and Communication Systems" research area: Prof. Dr. Inge Weigel, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Brandmeier, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johann Schweiger and Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Christian Facchi
"Actuator Technology" research area: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Armin Arnold, Prof. Dr. Johannes Pforr, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl Huber and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Göllinger
"Safety Functions and Simulation" research area: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manuela Waltz, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Brandmeier, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Armin Arnold and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Dallner
"Safety Mechanisms" research area: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Wellnitz, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Armin Soika, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Willfried Zörner, Prof. Dr.-Ing., Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Schmidt and Dr.-Ing. Thomas Brandmeier

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