The Next2OEM project has been made possible through the KoPa 35c funding program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). This initiative unites partners from all levels of the wiring harness value chain to collaborate on an innovative project.

In this project, key players in the automated production of wiring harnesses and vehicle assembly have come together to find comprehensive solutions across the entire value chain. The project's goal is to create a fully digitalized and automated value chain, spanning from the development of wiring harnesses to their production and final assembly in vehicles. By addressing current challenges across all areas of the wiring system, the project aims to develop cutting-edge automation solutions. These solutions will be demonstrated in production and assembly at the Audi plant in Ingolstadt.

Representing the consortium partners, Komax AG for the manufacturing part and Audi AG for vehicle assembly will present the automation network, which is divided into three main automated processes: the production of wiring harnesses and their pre-assembly, followed by the assembly in the vehicle at the factory.

Each process imposes different requirements on harness design to ensure a automation in both production and assembly. Dr.-Ing. Ingo Busche (Audi AG) and Christian Infanger (Komax AG) will provide insights into how automation can be implemented and the challenges faced in harness development, production, and final assembly.

The evolution of low-voltage vehicle architectures is currently continuing. The familiar objectives of SOA (service-oriented architecture – like clear structuring, efficient coordination, platform independence, etc.) have led to zonal architecture concepts and their initial series implementation at various OEMs. 

These new centrally oriented system architectures with central computers (HPC) and various zone computers allow wire optimization, thus reducing the weight of the wiring harness and the desired, simplified structure and thus, for example, the desired flexibility in OTA vehicle software adaptations and extensions for the future.

The presentation will provide a direct comparison of the LV zonal architecture, the domain-oriented and the still very widespread traditional topology in an international comparison for European, US and Asian manufacturers.

How will the next generations develop in these core markets? Is one “lead architecture” proving to be superior or are there clear signs of the use of several parallel topologies that will have to cover future requirements in equal measure?

What are they? Why does this diversification possibly make a lot of sense?

Busbar technology has developed rapidly over the last 15 years. From the first busbars in the 12 and 48V segment to the wide range of materials and requirements in the HV environment, a variety of new applications have been created. This has also resulted in numerous advantages over conventional cables and created the basis for a new structure. 

Compared to Cu standard cables, aluminum busbars are significantly lighter, often easier to install and offer automation-friendly production.

In special cases in the vehicle electrical system and especially when it comes to HV applications, busbars are not just an alternative, but the optimum solution. One example of this is DC charging or module connectors, where busbars continue to replace conventional cables.

For such HV Systems, additional switches and safety components are essential to both ensure performance and manage potential faults.

Innovative semiconductor technology and the intelligent components developed from it will play a decisive role in this area by enabling more precise monitoring and control. The use of this technology not only leads to a significant improvement in the performance of HV systems, but also enables the integration of smart safety functions. 

The optimization of HV architectures and their components is therefore of central importance for the success of electromobility.

Sustainability, efficiency, electrification and automation are the current trends in the automotive industry. In particular, the automation of driving functions requires a reliable power supply of the corresponding actuators. For this purpose, vehicular low-voltage power systems are equipped with electronic fuses. These electronic fuses switch electrical paths in the vehicular power system. By means of appropriate protection mechanisms, they enable the selective isolation of faults, the stable supply of safety-critical components and the protection of both wiring harness and semiconductor.

To ensure their functional safety, electronic fuses are particularly fast but very sensitive to power fluctuations within the power system. Moreover, executing multiple switching operations must ensure the compliance with the semiconductor limits. Therefore, accurate virtual design of their protection mechanisms and circuits is crucial. This contribution will present the modeling of electronic power distributors with electronic fuses with respect to the virtual design of the included protection mechanisms and circuits. Special attention is paid to the selective design and the voltage stability at the terminals of safety-critical components during faults or switching-processes.

Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS) offer significantly higher charging capacities, reaching up to 3.75 MW, compared to current standards like Combined Charging Systems (CCS). To maintain stable communication and ensure reliable charging processes, MCS utilizes various communication technologies. This presentation will delve into the differences and challenges associated with simulating and testing MCS systems and will also showcase comprehensive simulation and testing solutions.

As automotive production moves towards higher levels of automation, efforts have largely focused on automated wiring harness manufacturing as well as assembly into the vehicle. Initiatives such as ARENA2036 and Next2OEM have driven significant progress in these areas, also addressing aspects of connector design.

However, connectors are not only mated during vehicle assembly, their functionality is already tested  earlier in their lifecycle, particularly during End-of-Line (EoL)-testing at wiring harness or device suppliers. The EoL-test is crucial for verifying electrical contact integrity and performing further functional tests. Currently, EoL-testing faces significant challenges when transitioning to automation. Non-optimized connector designs being one of the contributing factors. The challenges range from relying on fully manual handling up to false defect detection ("pseudo-errors"). As a result, testing systems are complex, and error detection and elimination are very labor intense.

This presentation intends to explore these issues from a connector developer’s perspective, outlining key obstacles in automated EoL-testing resulting out of current connector designs. Building on experience, essential principles for "connectors designed for automated testing" will be proposed. Furthermore, initial design concepts aimed at facilitating reliable, cost-effective automated EoL-testing will be introduced.

The insights presented are based on a collaboration with SOMA GmbH, a company with over 50 years of experience in developing automotive EoL test systems, and incorporate feedback from wiring harness suppliers

In this presentation challenges and differences of the heavy duty trucks will be introduced:

• Heavy Duty Trucks: Differences of heavy-duty trucks 24V, off road usage, upfitter work is obligation
   

• Wiring Harness Design Challenges: Great complexity since trucks can be use in many different purposes

  • Vibration profile specific clip usage 

  • Trailer support 

  • Different upfitter operations etc

• Heavy Duty Truck Specific Requirements: Related to the challenges specific requriments need to be fulfilled. Different regulations like ADR (Carriage of dangeour good transport) 

  • Trailer requirements (ISO 4141) 

  • Bulkhead connection sealing 

  • Car wash 

  • min wire cross section, harness working inside the oil engine, cab tilting

• HV Wiring requirements of EV HD Trucks: Challenging vibration profile & contamination risks of construction series.

  • Challenging car wash procedure for garbage trucks or concrete mixers

  • Different clip and connector design

  • ADR regulation will bring new challenges

  • Grounding requirements left and right chasis arms potential should bu equalized

  • Battery construction is different and inside the battery wiring challenges

• Wiring harness Production Difficulties: Huge size brings ergonomic difficulties during production.

  • High complexity is another challenge for wire harness suppliers. 

  • Modular wiring production boards

• Effects & challenges of new electrical architectures on Heavy Duty Truck WH: Zonal modules

  • bulkhead connection will be smaller

• Protoype build challenges: Because of high prototype cost limit number of prototype vehicles are avaliable.

  • not having validation for whole complexity during testing period

• Flexible change management within short time period- Because of low volumes, customer demands needs to responded in short time period like having refrigerator inside the truck cabin.

  • Last minute design & PDL & material changes

• Connected vehicle opportunities to facilate trouble shooting 

  • vehicle fire detection due to wiring

• Effects of autonomous vehicles on HD Truck WH: elektrifikasyon ve haberleşme önemi artıyor. CAN stub length packaing and routing difficulties. Otonom kamyon video

  • To follow whole filo GPS is obligation

• 24V systems: Without any change on fuses or relays, current and correspondingly wire size can be smaller 

• How packaging & routing  studies for HD Truck WH should be?

  • Cabin Tilting

  • Agile Organization

• Low volume, high complexity & cost challenges: Commercial challenges Peace cost pressure although low volumes

Our presentation delves into the current and future trends in automotive data cables, focusing on coaxial cables, high-frequency differential pairs, and hybrid cables. It examines the evolving standards and compatibility issues associated with these technologies.

In detail, the presentation discusses innovative applications in long vehicles (e.g., tractors and trucks), such as power transmission and cable hybridization. It also compares these innovations with existing relevant standards and compatible connectors. Cable hybridization refers to the integration of data and power transmission within a single cable bundle, supporting applications where higher power over extended lengths is needed.

Is there anything else you would like to add or modify?

Recent advancements in simulation-based fatigue prediction of cable routings have demonstrated promising results, including a successful validation. However, so far only rigid clamping of the cable boundaries have been considered. But in real-world applications, cable clips often show flexible behavior, thus – in comparison to rigidly assumed clips – lead to reduced loads, and, typically, result in longer lifetime.

To address this challenge, we present two modelling approaches that incorporate the flexibility of cable clips into the simulation. Both are based on a finite element (FE) model of the clip, from which reduced clip models are parametrized, resp. generated, suitable for use in IPS Cable Simulation. This enables a more realistic representation of the mechanical behavior of cable routings under operational loads.

To validate these approaches, we compare the simulated behavior of cable clips with 3D scans of real-world experiments. Furthermore, the simulation-based fatigue predictions for both rigidly and flexibly modelled clips are evaluated against real-world fatigue experiments. These comparisons provide critical insights into the reliability and accuracy of our modelling techniques, paving the way for more robust fatigue assessments of cable routings in engineering applications.

The increasing demands on high-voltage connectors in electromobility require innovative and efficient development processes. Virtual vibration testing sets new standards here, enabling a drastic reduction in development time and a significant decrease in costs. By seamlessly linking vibration and wear predictions, various customer-specific vibration profiles can be quickly compared and evaluated – all without physical prototypes.

A central element of this approach is the digital twin of the virtual LV215 PG17 test, presented using a practical high-voltage example. This includes an in-depth look at the method’s structure and its validation. Dynamic simulation plays a crucial role, particularly in the context of functional safety. It allows for the early identification and resolution of potential risks, thereby significantly increasing the reliability and lifespan of the connectors.

This presentation provides deep insights into this revolutionary methodology and demonstrates how virtual vibration testing is transforming the development landscape. Be inspired by the possibilities offered by modern simulation technologies – because "Shake it till you make it" is now a thing of the past.