smartCAST – digital castings with condition monitoring for autonomous vehicles

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Walter Lang
• Subject Area: Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing ; Microsystems
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440971991

Two technological developments are currently changing the global automotive industry: the electric drive and autonomous driving. The autonomous vehicle faces new challenges in terms of vehicle safety. Until now, the main topic has been the active monitoring of road conditions, weather conditions, or e.g. children playing on the road. However, one aspect has been strongly neglected or not considered at all: the passive safety of the vehicle. For this purpose, proven and well-known technology of current vehicles has been used so far. Safety-relevant components of the vehicle were dimensioned with generous safety factors. And if damage to the vehicle has occurred in the past - whether actively caused by the driver, due to unintentional driving maneuvers or passively due to external influences - the driver has usually felt this in the steering wheel. However, by "letting go" of the steering wheel when driving autonomously, the driver separates himself from the "tactile" state of his car.The chassis in particular is considered a safety-relevant vehicle structure and influences the driving dynamics and the control of hazards in an emergency. Until now, this has been perceived solely by the driver, but with the elimination of the steering wheel in level 5 of autonomous driving, this task will in future be left entirely to the vehicle itself. An increase in drama follows from the inexorably increasing trend towards car sharing and the associated decline in the sense of responsibility towards the vehicle. Any damage caused - and the associated safety risk - is passed on directly to the next user. Future car-sharing operators in particular recognise the necessity of checking the safety-relevant components (e.g. chassis) for critical damage in a quick check, at least when the vehicle is started up again.The aim of the transfer project is to enable the safety-relevant components in the autonomous vehicle to have such a "body feeling" by means of embedded sensors. These components are usually made of cast aluminium. Within the framework of the DFG-funded project "SINA", the applicants have developed the first principles for the direct casting of load sensors based on thick-film technology in aluminium casting. The encapsulated sensors enable the detection, measurement and assessment of mechanical loads. They provide early warning of overloading, damage and failure of the components. Thanks to the piezoresistive sensor principle, data can be recorded both during the operating phase in real time and during commissioning. This means that an inspection for deformation or damage to the casting can be carried out at any time. In the transfer project, these basic findings are to be applied to concrete scenarios and castings for autonomous vehicles and completed for a later series application together with research and industry partners.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants (Transfer Project)
• Application Partner: KSM Castings Group GmbH; MAGMA Gießereitechnologie GmbH
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Busse; Christoph Pille