May 2021

n TECHNOLOGY 20 May 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com A UK START-UP motor developer has announced what it claims are the world’s most sustainable motors for electric vehicles (EVs). Advanced Electric Machines’motors contain no rare-earth magnets or copper windings. It says they offer all of the performance and efficiency benefits and permanent magnet (PM) motors, without their environmental drawbacks. AEM was founded in 2017 when it was spun out from Newcastle University’s electric motor research team, led by CEO James Widmer, and chief technology officer Andy Steven. It has already attracted more than £25m of investment to develop its technologies through a combination of government grants and equity investment. It is now looking for another £30m in the next few months to boost UK production, and aims to raise a further £220m within a year to fund further growth. AEM, based in Washington, says that it has manufacturing facilities in place that can scale to produce 12,000 motors or more to meet near- term demand. It is hoping to raise its capacity to at least 100,000 motors per year. Work is also underway to roll out global expansion to meet longer-term demand. AEM has registered several international patents to protect various aspects of its technology. The company is offering two families of the switched reluctance motors (SRMs): n the air- or liquid-cooled HDSRMmachines , aimed at commercial vehicle applications which need high levels of continuous performance (up to 214kW and 520Nm) and long service lives; and n the SSRD motors , aimed at passenger vehicles and claimed to deliver 50% more power for 35% less weight than leading permanent magnet (PM) motors for passenger cars. “Uniquely” for SRMs, the HDSRM motors operate with the standard power electronics used by most EV drivetrains. Patented technologies also ensure that, unlike previous SRMs, they operate quietly and with minimal torque ripple. The HDSRMmotors are said to match the performance of leading PMmotors of the same size, while promising higher efficiency. They also offer robust construction, no risk of demagnetisation due to overheating, and the ability to freewheel without electromagnetic losses. These benefits can result in longer ranges and lower drivetrain costs than alternative technologies. AEM says that the SSRD motors for passenger vehicles can deliver performance levels that already meet industry targets for 2035. They can achieve power densities of up to 29kW per litre – more than ten times higher than PM motors. They can deliver from 125kW as a single motor up to 600kW as a lightweight e-axle, and are said to be cost-effective to produce with lower materials costs than PM motors. Conventional PM motors need copper windings. At end of the motor’s life, the copper has to be removed from the motor before recycling – a difficult and costly process. AEM’s motors, which are made of steel and aluminium, can be recycled quickly, cost-effectively and completely. The motors avoid the need for rare-earth materials such as neodymium and dysprosium. AEM is also working in a collaborative project with Bentley Motors, Hypromag, Intelligent Lifecycle Solutions, Unipart, and the University of Birmingham, to recycle rare-earth magnets that have already been disposed of. The recycled materials will be used in smaller motors such as automotive ancillary drives and high-efficiency drones. https://advancedelectricmachines.com UK-developed EV motors are ‘world’s most sustainable’ AEM’s SSRD drives for passenger vehicles can deliver up to 300kW of power and 325Nm of torque, and operate with efficiencies of more than 95% from 4,000-8,000 rpm p A small German company called core sensing has won the Hannover Fair’s Hermes Startup Award for its project coreIN – a robust force and torque sensor that records and transmits data directly and wirelessly from rotating components. It can be integrated intomachine elements and components, as well as performing continuous component monitoring, to help prevent failures and cut maintenance costs. https://core-sensing.de/en p Universal Robots has announced an interface for Siemens’ TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) engineering portal that will allowUR cobots to integrate with complexmachine andmanufacturing environments.The cobots will become part of the Simatic Robot Library via an interpreter interface due by the end of 2021.TheTIA Portal framework helps users to plan automation projects. In November 2020, Siemens added the Robot Library to the application, allowing users to program cobots within the portal via a unified user interface. www.universal-robots.com p Schaeffler and drivemanufacturer Flender have created a reusable packaging system that replaces previous disposable transport boxes and can carry bearings with outer diameters from350–750mm. The Smart (Schaeffler Modular Adaptable ReturnableTransport) box not only improves the handling of boxes, but also cuts storage space and costs. It could replace up to 25,000 disposable boxes every year in deliveries to Flender alone. And by using the boxes for one gearbox platform, Flender is cutting the amount of wood it uses for disposable packaging by more than 100 tonnes per year. A GPS system is being tested to track the boxes. p Beckhoff has announced the option of integrating image processing functions into itsTwinCAT HMI user interface.The facility avoids the time-consuming process of creating and coding capabilities such as: freezing images to stop them; scaling and moving images; displaying information on images; and displaying toolbars with elements for selecting and scaling images and other functions.There is also a colour control function that allows colour filters to be edited directly froma PLC. www.beckhoff.co.uk p The Manufacturing Technology Centre is leading a European project to increase the use of lasers to improve manufacturing processes. Called Project Shark, the project brings together 11 research organisations and companies to encourage the uptake of laser texturing to speed up and improvemanufacturing.This technology can change the texture or topography of components to achieve characteristics such as low friction or low adhesion.The initiative is supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. www.sharkproject.eu NEWS BRIEFS