Research

The share of electrics and electronics in motor vehicles is growing disproportionately. More and more previously purely mechanical actuators are being replaced by mechatronics, and completely new functions are being added, for example in infotainment or driver assistance systems. The most significant change, however, almost a paradigm shift, is the increasing electrification of the powertrain in hybrid to purely electric form. This leads to new possibilities for mobility, but also to new tasks at both component and system level.

In research and teaching, the Department of Vehicle Systems and Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering deals with problems in electrical engineering, electronics and mechatronics in vehicles with a focus on energy. It is a founding member of both the Vehicle Systems Research Network (FAST) and the Institute of Propulsion and Vehicle Technology (IAF) at the University of Kassel and has been headed by Prof. Ludwig Brabetz since 2007. In carrying out the research projects, emphasis is placed on close cooperation with industry and other disciplines. In addition to theoretical work in the area of tools, test methods and simulation, the focus is on experimental validation and parameterization of the models, so that various test benches and also test vehicles are available. These include an on-board power supply test bench with complete actuator and sensor technology, component, storage and generator test benches, highly dynamic test benches for electrical machines and measuring equipment for thermal and acoustic investigations.

Focus frames

• The optimization, modeling and validation of on-board network architectures, which include the application of generator, storage, converters and power consumers as well as the virtual test environment in addition to the line topology,
• The development of efficient and effective HiL based test methods,
• Diagnostic, analysis and optimization methods for electric traction, which are essentially based on electrical, thermal and acoustic approaches, on modeling and simulation, and on measurements of both the electric machine and the overall system, and
• Measurement and calculation methods for the electrical-thermal properties of on-board power supply components as well as measurement and diagnostic methods for contact systems.

The projects are largely in the field of automotive engineering, but occasionally also in other areas with technically related tasks. Within the framework of the  Forschungsverbund Fahrzeugsysteme (FAST) or the Institut für Antriebs- und Fahrzeugtechneik (IAF) of the University of Kassel, to which departments from both electrical and mechanical engineering belong, interdisciplinary projects are also carried out in cooperations that go beyond the competencies of the individual departments.