Partner and cooperations

Flexible Electrical Networks (FEN) Research Campus

FEN Research Campus is an association of institutes of RWTH Aachen University and of industrial partners from different disciplines. In order to successfully cope with the challenges of our future energy supply, a high degree of transdisciplinary research and collaborations is necessary, because many different areas of expertise are involved. In FEN Research Campus, this transdisciplinary research between academia and industry is conducted under one roof.

The transdisciplinary research of FEN Research Campus focuses on the integration and development of direct current (DC) technology in six research topics: grid planning and operation, automation and control, standards and norms, cloud platform for smart energy services, components and power electronics and non-technical aspects, like social acceptance as well as biological, urbanistic and economical aspects. The research activities of FEN Research Campus are located amidst the RWTH Aachen Campus Melaten.

FEN Research Campus is supported i.a. by the funding initiative “Forschungscampus - öffentlich-private Partnerschaft für Innovationen“ of the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF).

Further information: www.FENaachen.net



HiREX – Highly integrated and innovative Range-Extender-Module

In the project HiREX an integrated high-speed range-extender module based on a Wankel engine and a switched-reluctance machine (SRM) is being developed. Three partners from industry and academia collaborate to reach this goal: ENGIRO GmbH, ISAR Getriebetechnik KG and the Institute of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) of the RWTH Aachen University.

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The power electronics for the SRM as well as the control hardware is developed by the AixControl GmbH. Further information can be found at http://www.pt-em.de/de/1648.php and http://www.engiro.de/de/fokus/research/hirex/.



AuLa – Automated charging system

The research project AuLa aims at the development of an automated charging system for electrical vehicles. It is a collaboration between the University of Applied Sciences – FH Aachen, 3win GmbH and AixControl GmbH. After the electric car is placed over a stationary docking station, an inductive charging plug will automatically find its counterpart at the bottom of the car and the charging process will start automatically. There is no need for the handling of dirty charging cables and manually connection. The Power Electronics, the inductive charging plug as well as the communication with the onboard charger was developed by the AixControl GmbH. The project is funded by the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (ZIM-BMWi). More information can be found at: http://www.aixcontrol.de/home/development/example-projects/aula



EMiLE - Elektro-Motor integrierte Leistungs-Elektronik

The EMiLE research project has been a collaborative effort to allow for maximum integration of an electrical drive. EMiLE combines the inverter power electronics, DC-link capacitor, controller and connecting components into a single enclosure that is equal in size to a real-world automotive drive train. The project goals of the reducing weight and installation space have been reached as shown by a demonstration prototype. This prototype of the integrated machine is constructed out of single intelligent stator teeth. The project goal of cost reduction has been shown possible by transferring the technology of the intelligent stator teeth to mass production. AixControl contributed by developing the distributed digital control platform and the intelligent core of the stator teeth. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and ended in 2016. (globalimage: cs_bode.gif)