Around 100 engineers work at the location to develop complex product solutions for electric drive systems, actuators, and electric auxiliaries for vehicles with hybrid, hydrogen, or battery electric drives. MAHLE has invested mid-double-digit millions to set up the centre. At the start of the year, MAHLE founded a dedicated business unit for electronics and mechatronics. The technology group expects sales growth in this business segment to be well into double digits in the next 10 years.

“Our new mechatronics development centre is another important step in MAHLE’s technological transformation,” says Wilhelm Emperhoff, Member of the MAHLE Management Board and responsible for the Electronics and Mechatronics business unit. “It’s now particularly important that we develop the right know-how and portfolio so that we can emerge from the current crisis in a stronger position as an established technology and development partner in the automotive industry.” 

The new development facility in Kornwestheim joins MAHLE’s most important electronics and mechatronics development locations worldwide. At centres in Sempeter pri Gorici/Slovenia, Valencia/Spain, and Changshu/China, its engineers are working hard to drive forward the company’s research and development activities in this field.

Product innovations from Kornwestheim
The priority areas for the new development centre are mechatronics, electrics/electronics, and the programming and software needed for complex product solutions and systems. “Our work here will particularly focus on the development of complete systems. This is an area in which we have a lot of experience—experience that we can combine with our expertise in electric actuators and electronic controls to achieve optimum results,” says Dr. Armin Messerer, head of the global Mechatronics business segment. 

One example of a product solution in this field that has recently been developed at the location is the electric expansion valve (EXV). The EXV is used in refrigerant circuits to ensure that the air-conditioning system and the cooling of the traction batteries is optimally controlled. These components will go into series production starting in 2022 and can be used in vehicles with conventional combustion engines as well as in battery electric or hybrid applications. Products like this expansion valve can be comprehensively tested and validated in state-of-the-art test facilities, such as those now also located in Kornwestheim.

In its new technology centre, MAHLE has created modern office areas with open-plan workplaces, co-working and meeting areas, and redesigned social spaces. “The working environment reflects the latest findings in terms of safety at work and workplace design. It’s modern and flexible, and intended to encourage communication and creativity,” explains Messerer.

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Yokogawa has released the DLM5000, a new generation mixed-signal oscilloscope with options for four or eight analog inputs.

The new oscilloscope succeeds the previous eight-channel DLM4000 model. With redesigned hardware, the device provides major improvements in both performance and operability, incorporating a sampling rate double that of the previous model.

Created to be extremely adaptable and flexible, the device satisfies the precise demands of companies in industries such as automotive, aerospace, mechatronics, power electronics, railway and consumer electronics.

The device is excellent for developing high-performance and intelligent power-semiconductor technologies and mechatronics applied in modern electric vehicles, motor controls and energy-efficient electronic designs.

Terry Marrinan, VP sales and marketing Yokogawa Europe and South-East Asia, says: “With its eight analog channels and the ability to link up with other units, the DLM5000 sets a new standard in measurement flexibility. The large number of data points needed in the analysis of inverters, motors and mechatronic systems means that more channels are needed to capture that data. The Yokogawa DLM5000 meets the demands of today’s development engineers, giving them the features they need to analyse thousands of captured waveforms.”

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Where is the fun in a pinball machine that can play itself? How about pancakes that can cook themselves?

For students in Kennesaw State University’s Department of Mechatronic Engineering, the intrigue is less about the act and more about what goes on behind the scenes to make it possible. From a fully automated pinball machine to a pancake vending system that can cook without human intervention, several student teams recently took full advantage of their senior capstone coursework to prove that engineering can be creative while practical.

Since its inception, the mechatronics engineering department has emphasized building physical prototypes for its senior capstone coursework, allowing students to pitch projects of their own or select one from a pool of industry sponsors, said Kevin McFall, associate professor of mechatronics engineering and assistant dean for research in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. However, what makes the mechatronics capstone process distinct from others across the college is that the students can select the minimum success criteria for their project. This means each team creates their own criteria for judgement, reports it to their professors and is solely judged on those self-made parameters.

In order to pass, McFall said students must demonstrate their ability to build something that achieves the three fundamental principles of mechatronics engineering: sense, think and act. All projects must have a mechanical design, a way to acquire data from a series of sensors, some sort of programmable device and a way to control an actual moving part.

Some students, like student Tyler Gragg, embrace the freedom to generate a unique project. A self-declared pinball machine aficionado, Gragg has always felt the desire to build a machine of his own. When he pitched the idea to teammates Kevin Kamperman, Cody Meier and Omar Salazar Lima, they conceived a design that would allow the pinball machine to play itself using a video camera to detect when the ball enters the “flipper zone,” which then triggers the flippers to move automatically and keep the ball in play.

Following the spread of the coronavirus, the team worked with staff members in the Department of Architecture to fabricate final pieces while they remained off campus. Since most teams completed most of their design work and built their components in advance, they were able to the see their projects to completion amidst the changes caused by COVID-19.

For Tim Ervin, inspiration for his senior capstone project came in the form of a YouTube video in which a team of engineers cooked a four-foot pancake using a robotic arm. Rather than make an impractical and gargantuan pancake, teammate Jay Strickland suggested that they make something that can cook several smaller pancakes. Along with fellow former students Brittney Smith and Ryan McHale, they built what they call a pancake vending machine, which can accept digital payment in exchange for one perfectly cooked pancake.

The self-contained machine is able to dispense the correct amount of batter onto a griddle, and then, with a spatula attached to a robotic arm, flip the pancake for an even cook on each side. The entire process can be done in just five minutes.

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Quetzal-1, the first Guatemalan satellite, developed by students, teachers, researchers, and graduates of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), will be launched into orbit next Tuesday, April 28, at 09:00 a.m. m. (Guatemala time). The CubeSat 1U satellite will be released from the Kibo module of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and communication with it is expected to be achieved from the Control Center, located at UVG, at the time it orbits near Guatemala.

UVG will broadcast the preview of the satellite’s release on their social networks with interviews with team members. During the interviews, the lessons learned, achievements, challenges and stories that these six years of work have left will be discussed. The release can be seen in a live broadcast on JAXA’s official YouTube channel.

This project is one of the efforts of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala to put science at the service of society. The competencies developed and put into practice by UVG students, graduates and researchers promote the local development of technologies, research and ventures with a view to creating a positive impact in the country.

“Personally, the most enriching aspect of this project is human capital because we are developing the next generation of engineers in the country and this will change history,” says Dr. Luis Zea, co-director of the project.

More than 100 people collaborated in this project, including students, teachers, engineers, and graduates of mechanical engineering, industrial mechanics, mechatronics, electronics, computing, and physics. The project seeks to train in Guatemala the human resources trained to develop and operate this type of satellites. The complexity of its development lies in the fact that more than 70% of the modules were developed at UVG by students and graduates.

A learning opportunity

This project is for educational, research and capacity building purposes for students of all levels. Since 2016, the project has been part of UVG’s agenda of taking knowledge outside the University with talks, lessons and presentations on the subject to students at the secondary and primary levels.

This event and the theme of the space is part of the lessons that UVG offers to all educational centres to work during this period of suspension of classroom classes. Thus, UVG ​​also seeks to motivate more children and young people to study science and engineering programs.

Transfer to space

The first Guatemalan satellite was transferred from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS) in the Dragon-powered capsule by the SpaceX-based Falcon 9 rocket on March 6, 2020, and was stored until programming of the launch.

This is the second satellite that, thanks to the support of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), will be launched into space through the KiboCube program.

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