User:Gregika/Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge

The Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika) is part of the RWTH Aachen University.

History
In 1902, the Royal Aachen University of Technology was probably the first university in Germany to begin teaching and researching the automobile. It was primarily thanks to the initiatives of Ordinarius für Dampfturbinen und Verbrennungskraftmaschinen and head of the "Maschinenlaboratorium" Paul Langer. The construction of a separate automotive research laboratory was started in the early 1920s, which finally began its work in 1923 as the Institute for Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engines at the TH Aachen. The first courses, which were organised and led by Langer himself, dealt with the construction and operation of motor vehicles, laws and regulations on motor vehicle transportation. Exercises were also organised to work on design tasks in these areas. After the Second World War, Ernst Essers, husband of Ilse Essers, rebuilt the Institute for Motor Vehicles and became the institute's director and ordinary professor of automotive engineering and piston engines. He was also frequently called upon as an expert witness to clarify the question of legal responsibility in road accident trials. The 68-year-old Ernst Essers died unexpectedly on 5 September 1969.

Jürgen Helling, who headed the institute from 1971 until his retirement in 1993, added many new aspects to the research spectrum. In particular, he focussed on the areas of alternative drive systems, ambulances, public transport, energy saving and reducing emissions. He also advocated the construction of his institute's own test track, which was completed in 1989.

Henning Wallentowitz led the institute from 1993 to 2008. Under his leadership, the international Master's course in Automotive Systems Engineering was launched, one of the first English degree programmes, which contributed significantly to making the ika known abroad. During this time, the institute also moved from the old building on Templergraben to the new premises in Aachen-Melaten to create more space for the now numerous test benches, which were continuously expanded under Wallentowitz's direction.

Following the retirement of Henning Wallentowitz in July 2008, the ika was directed by Stefan Gies until December 2009, who also changed the name of the institute. Until 2008, it had been called the Institute of Motor Vehicles Aachen and was now renamed the Institute of Automotive Engineering, RWTH Aachen University. Lutz Eckstein took over the management in December 2009 and is continuing the tradition of expanding and remodelling the test bench and research facilities. Together with other institutes, he was involved in setting up the Aldenhoven Testing Centre in Aldenhoven-Siersdorf in the district of Düren, which opened in 2014. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and with funding from the university management and the institute, a highly dynamic driving simulator was put into operation in October 2016. With the help of the driving simulator, analyses of driver behaviour, evaluations of driver assistance systems and representations of future control and monitoring concepts can be researched.

Descripton
The central task of the university institute is the scientific training of future engineers. The ika fulfils this core task through its extensive range of courses, which has already been in existence for some time and has been expanded to include international courses and newly established English-language lectures and exercises for the Master of Science in Automotive Systems Engineering. As a result, the number of automotive engineering students in Aachen has almost doubled. Over 250 student theses are completed at the ika every year. The ika organises workshops and events in English. Together with the Chair of Combustion Engines (vka), the ika also organises the Aachen Colloquium on Vehicle and Engine Technology, which attracts an international audience of experts from the automotive and supplier industry. ika cooperates with fka GmbH. ika and fka employ a total of more than 400 people, including around 100 engineers, 50 in workshops and administration and over 200 student assistants. Clients include domestic and foreign automotive companies, component manufacturers and suppliers as well as public institutions. The research services in the areas of chassis, body, drive, electrics/electronics and automated driving, vehicle concepts, thermal management, acoustics and vehicle system evaluation cover almost all relevant development steps for vehicle development. The tasks range from conceptualisation, design and simulation to prototype construction and experimental testing. The range of services is rounded off with strategic and technical consulting.

SpeedE
The SpeedE project funded by the Hans Hermann Voss-Foundation focuses on the innovation potential of electrically powered vehicles in order to enhance the driving experience beyond today’s state of the art and create a distinct added value to electric vehicles. Together with project partners in research institutes and industry, the driving prototype has been built up at ika step by step in order to serve as a platform for development and testing of innovative components, systems and functionalities within a full vehicle.

To transform the driving experience from e-mobility into e-motion, the research vehicle SpeedE incorporates many innovative technologies like steer-by-wire, drive-by-wire and brake-by-wire. The side stick steering system comprises two wheel individual actuators that enable wheel angles up to 90°. The drive-by-wire system consists of a high-capacity torque-vectoring-capable electric drivetrain at the rear axle. Furthermore, four wheel-individual electro-hydraulic brake actuators are integrated and controlled depending on the actual deceleration demand. The above mentioned systems are integrated into an extremely stiff aluminium spaceframe. The structure of the spaceframe was designed based on CAE analysis throughout the complete development process in order to ensure body stiffness at sports car level and excellent structural performance even in harsh crash load cases.

The project SpeedE aims at creating an open research and technology platform to combine the advantages of electric drivetrains with the complex requirements for efficiency and safety. To reach this goal, the competences of numerous scientific disciplines have been and are being joined – from transportation design and automotive engineering via electrical engineering and information technology to material sciences, ergonomics and psychology.

E-Jet
ika cooperates with fka GmbH. ika and fka employ a total of more than 400 people, including around 100 engineers, 50 in workshops and administration and over 200 student assistants. Clients include domestic and foreign automotive companies, component manufacturers and suppliers as well as public institutions. The research services in the areas of chassis, body, drive, electrics/electronics and automated driving, vehicle concepts, thermal management, acoustics and vehicle system evaluation cover almost all relevant development steps for vehicle development. The tasks range from conceptualisation, design and simulation to prototype construction and experimental testing. The range of services is rounded off with strategic and technical consulting.

In this context, the term "human-hybrid" describes a combination of an electric and a pedal drive, as can already be found in pedelecs today - but without a chain or toothed belt. What is special in this vehicle is that a drive topology and control system is presented that optionally magnifies the pedaling torque of the driver by several orders of magnitude. Thus, it is possible to create a symbiotic connection between the driver and the vehicle. On the one hand, the serial plug-in hybrid structure uses the driver's pedaling motion as a setpoint for the vehicle's longitudinal guidance, and on the other hand, electrical energy is fed into the drive system via the generator. This theoretically allows any range to be achieved, although the driving speed is limited by the driver´s power when the battery is empty.

The lateral guidance of the vehicle is not controlled as in traditional passenger cars with a steering wheel in front of the driver, as the leg movement would collide with this. Instead, the driver sits in a large steering wheel that is open at the top, i.e. an arc segment that encloses the driver from below. The so-called "steering bow" offers advantages in terms of access, especially for sporty seating positions, does not obstruct the view and creates space for the legs while using the pedal drive (human-hybrid). By not restricting the view, the displays of the e-jet can be designed much more freely and adapted to the needs of the driver. Last but not least, the "Steering-bow" supports an intuitive and highly dynamic driving experience.

The ongoing efforts to reduce air resistance and improve vehicle dynamics of motor vehicles require the development of novel aerodynamic concepts. In addition to passive measures on vehicles, active aerodynamic systems (AAS) are increasingly used to influence vehicle aerodynamics. In the E-Jet research vehicle, multi-part active wing systems derived from aviation are used on both the front and rear axle. This allows additional downforce to be generated during different driving maneuvers and air resistance to be influenced in a targeted manner. Simulation shows that when using AAS, a significant increase in maximum cornering speed is achieved by increasing the downforce compared to the reference condition. Furthermore, a significant reduction of the braking distance is possible. Active aerodynamic systems thus offer great potential for opening up a new dimension in both driving dynamics and energy efficiency.

UNICARagil
UNICARagil unites the competences of leading German universities in the field of automated driving and selected industrial partners, to rethink future mobility and vehicles with their development processes. Within the scope of the five-year project, the consortium led by Prof. Eckstein has developed disruptive, modular, agile and automated vehicle concepts. The development avoids inherited liabilities in order to provide solutions for challenges imposed by emerging mobility trends and to set impulses for the future. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany funded the project with an overall budget of 32 million Euros.

A total of eight universities joined forces with eight industrial partners to develop fully automated and driverless electric vehicles based on the latest results of research into automated and connected driving as well as electromobility. The basis for this is a modular and scalable vehicle concept consisting of a utility and drive unit. It can be flexibly adapted to a wide range of applications in logistics and passenger transport. Automated and locally emission-free vehicles can meaningfully exploit these in particular. Core elements of the research and development work were the novel architectures both in hardware and in software.

In addition to overall project management, ika was responsible for the conceptual design of the modular driving platform and the construction of the autoSHUTTLE, one of the four vehicles. The autoSHUTTLE offers space for up to eight people and is part of a new, improved public transport system. Optimally adapted to the needs of users at all times, it represents the public transport of the future.

The ika also was responsible for the design of the dynamic modules, which combine the tasks of steering, suspension, driving and braking through the integration of modern wheel hub drives. The modules enable movement behavior in road traffic through steering angles of up to 90°. The control units required to control the modules are developed and validated as dedicated hardware.

Future vehicles will be supported by intelligent infrastructure and cloud systems. UNICARagil focused on concepts in this research area as well. At ika, a cloud-based environment model for improved perception of automated vehicles and a novel collective traffic memory were thereforedesigned and implemented.

With more than 100 project members throughout Germany, the project combines the fields of mechanical engineering and vehicle technology with electrical engineering, computer science, logistics, ergonomics, psychology and vehicle design.

Weblinks

 * Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge (ika)
 * fka GmbH

50.78746.04695Koordinaten: 50° 47′ 14,6″ N, 6° 2′ 49″ O