Tech Blog
Nissan charges up its new EV battery plant in Tennesee
Nissan recently began operations of its new advanced-battery plant in Tennessee that will supply the energy-storage devices for the Nissan Leafs to be produced at an adjoining vehicle-assembly plant. Regular North American production of the Leaf is to start at the automaker's Smyrna plant early in 2013. To date, the Leaf and its lithium-ion battery pack currently are made in Japan only. The first batteries produced in Smyrna for the 2013 Leaf have completed the required aging process and are ready to receive their first charge, the company said in a recent announcement. The plant is fully integrated, with raw battery cell materials coming in one end and finished battery packs going out the other (see accompanying image). Nissan has not yet released specifications for the 2013 Leaf and its battery pack. The Leaf will be assembled alongside the Nissan Altima and Maxima.
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The production process at Nissan's new U.S. battery plant begins with formation of electrode sheets.
ATK supplying missile warning systems for U.S. and allied military aircraft
The U.S. Navy awarded ATK a $48-million production contract for the manufacture of the AAR-47 Missile Warning System. The award encompasses production of new assemblies, including optical sensor converters and computer processors, as well as options for retrofitting weapon replaceable assembly upgrades and delivery of ATK's Countermeasures Signal Simulator (CSS) to test the systems operability. The AAR-47 missile warning system, believed to be the only system in use today that integrates missile, laser, and hostile fire threat warning into a single system, is installed on fixed and rotary-wing aircraft flown by the U.S. and its allies in more than 16 countries. The systems are installed on aircraft such as the A-10, C-5, C-17, C-130, MC-12W, P-3, CH-53, CH-46, HH/SH-60, AH-1W/Z, UH-1N/Y, and MV-22.
Raytheon to design new military imaging satellites
Raytheon Co. was awarded a $1.5 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract for phase one of the agency's Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements (SeeMe) program. During the next nine months, the company will complete the design for small satellites to enhance warfighter situational awareness in the battlespace. The SeeMe program will provide useful on-demand imagery information directly to the warfighter in the field from a low-cost satellite constellation launched on a schedule that conforms to U.S. Department of Defense operational tempos. For this contract, Raytheon has teamed with Sierra Nevada Corp., University of Arizona, and SRI International to assist with design work and eventually production. Next year, in phase two of the SeeMe program, the Raytheon team would build six satellites for ground testing.
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DARPA’s SeeMe program aims to give mobile individual U.S. warfighters access to on-demand, space-based tactical information in remote and beyond- line-of-sight conditions.
Eaton sponsors University of Michigan’s Multidisciplinary Design Program
Eaton Corp. will provide opportunities for University of Michigan students to work on relevant, hands-on projects as a sponsor of the university’s Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP). The MDP challenges students to solve problems and create breakthroughs for sponsoring industries through multidiscipline team collaboration. Eaton will work with MDP faculty members to present project challenges to student teams, along with predetermined financial and business resources to support their efforts. For the first MDP project, a student team will focus on developing a robust, predictive, and validated fire-resistance model for Eaton’s high-performance quick-disconnect products. Quick-disconnects are self-sealing couplings that enable fast, easy, and reliable connections and disconnections of lube oil, coolant, hydraulic, and fuel systems for a wide range of commercial and military aircraft. Students will use the model to create new product designs with enhanced fire-resistance capability.
Detailed FEV study shows the way to major vehicle mass savings
Significant vehicle mass reduction—up to 20%—is achievable if weight reduction is pursued as part of a "full-vehicle approach," according to a study by FEV Inc. released Dec. 13. The company used a 2010 Toyota Venza for its research because that model was used in an earlier, related study. The comprehensive phase-two study by FEV was conducted for the U.S. EPA. The previous study, by Lotus Engineering (go to www.sae.org/mags/aei/8512 to read more), was conducted for the International Council on Clean Transportation. That study did not address mass savings from the powertrain to the extent the new one does, nor did it use advanced CAE tools to judge the impact of mass-savings measures on safety, according to FEV. In both cases, the mass savings were to be achieved with no degradation in safety or other parameters. The new study shows that the body-in-white and closures offered the most mass reduction at 68.32 kg (150.62 lb), followed closely by suspension. Total mass savings of 18.3% (312 kg/688 lb) was achieved, and at a cost savings of $148 from manufacturing efficiencies.
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Advanced CAE tools were used as part of the comprehensive study that resulted in a report of 890 pages.
Wireless EV charging advances with Evatran testing program
The City of Raleigh is the first municipality nationwide to join a special program to test wireless electric vehicle charging technology. It joins six other participants to date in the second phase of Evatran's so-called Apollo Program launching early in 2013 to further demonstrate the company's technology, which it brands Plugless Power. Its second-generation "production-intent" model will be used in this phase, with three of the 20-30 total units to be installed in Raleigh municipal parking lots. Evatran will retrofit two Nissan Leafs and one Chevrolet Volt in the city's fleet for use with the charging system. Five prototype wireless charging units were used in the first phase of the Apollo Program, which involved six partners (among them Google and Hertz, which are also participating in the second phase). In a separate matter, the company said it will begin distributing its Plugless Power units in the spring; they will be the first wireless charging units available to individual Leaf and Volt owners.
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Two prototype wireless charging stations are located at Evatran's technology center in Morrisville, NC.
BMW and Boeing to collaborate on carbon-fiber materials
Two heavyweights in the automotive and aerospace industries are joining minds on lighter materials. BMW and Boeing on Dec. 12 announced they would do joint research on carbon-fiber recycling and share knowledge about the material and its manufacture. As part of the collaboration agreement, the two companies will also share carbon-fiber manufacturing process simulations and ideas for manufacturing automation. BMW in 2013 plans to introduce two models from its new i brand (i3 battery-electric and i8 plug-in hybrid) featuring bodies made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner aircraft is made up of 50% carbon fiber. The collaboration is the first ever between the two companies.
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The bodies of BMW's i brand models will use carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. (Patrick Ponticel)
All passenger vehicles to be equipped with black boxes under NHTSA rule
Although about 96% of today's passenger vehicles already are equipped with black boxes (formally called event data recorders, or EDRs), NHTSA (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) is proposing to require their fitment to all new light passenger vehicles of less than 8500 lb. The rule would take effect Sept. 1, 2014. Information collected would pertain to vehicle speed, braking, crash force, engine throttle, airbag deployment, and seatbelt usage. The proposal includes the same standardized data-collection requirements established by NHTSA in 2006 for EDRs that are voluntarily installed by automakers and mandates that automakers provide a commercially available tool for copying the data. In keeping with NHTSA's current policies on EDR data, the EDR data would be treated by NHTSA as the property of the vehicle owner and would not be used or accessed by the agency without owner consent. The agency expects the rule, if adopted, to cost automakers $20 per vehicle. It will accept public feedback on its proposal for the next two months at http://www.regulations.gov.
Top 100 Global Innovators list includes seven automotive companies
The automotive industry was more than twice as innovative in 2012 than it was in 2011, according to the 2012 Top 100 Global Innovators list compiled by the IP & Science unit of Thomson Reuters. The full report released Dec. 4 listing the awards and describing the selection methodology is available here. Automotive companies on the Top 100 list are Delphi, Ford, Honda, Jatco, Renault, Toyota, and Valeo. Of those, only Ford acknowledged the honor in a press release, saying that its engineers and researchers "have come through recently with nearly 500 patents granted for hybrid-electric vehicle technology." Ford's developments related to improving vehicle fuel efficiency have also yielded more than 25 patent applications for the controls for Auto Start-Stop, 125 patents for EcoBoost engine technology, as well as the SmartGauge instrument cluster and EcoGuide driver coaching system. Ford credits much of its innovation to its Employee Patent Incentive Awards; invention submissions are up 60% since its launch. Companies that do business in the automotive industry but are listed under non-automotive categories in the Top 100 include Eaton, Denso, General Electric, Goodyear, Michelin, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Scania, and Siemens.
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Ford's hybrid vehicle development group helped put the automaker among the Top-100 Innovation leaders. Ming Kuang, Technical Leader, Vehicle Controls, Electrification Research and Advanced Engineering, has helped grow Ford’s hybrid patent portfolio from 10 in 2000. His name is on 40 of Ford’s nearly 500 hybrid-related patents.
U.S. Air Force selects Raytheon to develop future Protected SATCOM System
The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Co. $8.7 million to participate in development of the future protected tactical military satellite communication system. The USAF's objective is to identify cost-effective architectures and component development paths for the future SATCOM system that will follow the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system. Raytheon will design and demonstrate affordable terminal components as well as support the waveform development for the USAF. Raytheon will leverage its long history and deep understanding of protected SATCOM developed from AEHF programs such as the U.S. Navy Multiband Terminal, the U.S. Army's Secure Mobile Anti-jam Reliable Tactical Terminal and the USAF's Minuteman Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network Program Upgrade to meet the government's objectives. All three of Raytheon's AEHF terminals have passed production acquisition milestone decisions and have successfully tested with the on-orbit AEHF satellite.
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