Features

Hirose, a Japanese manufacturer of high quality connectors that are sold across all global markets in the electronics industry, was named as a winner of the Supplier of the Year award for the electromechanical field.

Bryan Cullis, President / COO said: “This is a huge accolade for us as we have been working closely with Continental for several years to continuously improve our operation in the Automotive arena. Our achievement to be awarded a ‘Strategic supplier’ has enormous significance moving forward. We will continue this path to enhance our relationship and grow the business for our respective future.”

The award ceremony was held as part of a virtual event on 9 September 2021 with Continental Purchasing Managers from all markets and representatives of the awarded suppliers.

Wolfgang Meunzel, Director Purchasing, said: “Hirose has supplied Continental with millions of connectors and at the same time managed the connection between our products and those of our customers. Being a well-known supplier for many years, Hirose understands how to achieve the status of a strategic supplier by continuous performance and trustful cooperation. In addition, Hirose may well expand the portfolio delivered to Continental with Connectors, because of their positive development and in terms of technical support. In 2020, Hirose set the benchmark within the range of interconnection suppliers – especially in the disciplines of automotive standard, logistic- support and short development times. Hirose supports Continental with stable quality and performance at a high level. Many thanks to Hirose for the support and achievements in 2020.”

Peter Vijverberg, Deputy General Manager and Shinji Yamamoto, Business Development Manager, Automotive section both confirmed: “We are sincerely honoured to receive this award and have subsequently shared with all concerned within the Hirose group. We would like to thank Continental for their continuous coaching / support and trust towards us. We will continue to do our best to increase our share with Continental so that not only we win new business but also provide high quality product to enable Continental to win new business as well, in this very competitive Automotive market”

Ansible Motion, pioneering specialist in Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) vehicle simulation technology, has received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The award was presented to company founder Kia Cammaerts by the Queen’s representative The Lady Dannatt, Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, at a ceremony at the Norwich-based company’s Hethel headquarters on Friday 7 January. Ansible Motion is one of just 205 companies that received the award based on the company’s impressive recent success in international trade.

The ceremony was also attended by the Chairman of South Norfolk and Broadland Council, Councillor Florence Ellis. It provided an opportunity for the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk and the local Councillor to take a closer look at one of Ansible Motion’s pioneering new Delta S3 driving simulator builds, destined to be shipped to Deakin University in Australia, and learn more about Ansible Motion’s operation and upcoming plans for 2022 and beyond.

The Queen’s Award was presented to Ansible Motion for demonstrating impressive growth in overseas profits and significant year-on-year sales growth over the past three years of operations. Demand for the company’s class-leading technologies that enable car makers to develop, test, improve and validate new vehicles and on-board systems such as autonomy, advanced safety systems and more efficient alternative powertrains, has led to exports to vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and research institutes in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia in the past 12 months.

Ansible Motion was recognised in the Queen’s Award for its contribution to international trade. The decoration is the highest official UK award for business, which is now in its 56th year. The awards provide a true recognition for British businesses that excel in the sectors of international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity through social mobility.

Kia Cammaerts, founder and director of Ansible Motion said: “It is always a proud moment to accept an award, and particularly from a representative of Her Majesty the Queen. We are honoured and humbled to receive The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. A big thank you to the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk for attending and presenting us with the award, and also to each member of our skilled and determined team that has made this possible.

The last few years have not been without challenge, but we think that the entire company rose to meet them, exceptionally. Our team is resilient and determined, and this has enabled us to grow in the last three years, and export our simulators to Japan, North America, Europe and Australia. Our ambition is to continue this growth and continue developing advanced simulation technologies that contribute to the future of mobility.”

CCX Technologies is expanding its T-RX Tester’s reach into the European market by signing an exclusive distribution agreement with UK-based Evolution Measurement. The latest of several agreements in recent months authorises the company to sell and support and in time, perform limited repairs to the testers for business jet and commercial aircraft platforms.

“We are incredibly well-aligned in our dedication to providing innovative solutions to the aviation market,” said Chris Bartlett, president of CCX Technologies. “This is one of many reasons why we are thrilled to add Evolution Measurement to our expanding authorised channel-partner network. In line with our goal to make the tester as widely available as possible, this agreement will allow more maintainers across Europe streamline their testing regimen by incorporating our intuitive T-RX. The addition of a licensed calibration capability in Europe is also an important new time-saving service for maintainers.”

Aircraft maintainers and technicians in North America already use the T-RX to evaluate most avionics radio systems with more than 100 different tests. Easy to use, rugged and portable, the T-RX replaces the functionality of legacy avionics testers with a single, compact unit that is simple to upgrade even as new test requirements and standards emerge. It streamlines testing and allows maintainers to print test reports and incorporate them into customer work orders, saving time and giving confidence that testing is done correctly.

“As experts at helping solve the most difficult measurement problems, we are always on the lookout for innovative, new products that will deliver added value to our customers,” said Paul Crowhurst, managing director at Evolution Measurement. “After seeing the T-RX in action, it is clear to us that it provides an elegant and efficient solution to a recurring avionics challenge. Not only are we delighted to add it to our growing catalogue of aerospace focused measurement products, we are pleased to be exclusive distributors for the T-RX in Europe.”

T-RX Avionics Radio Tester is a rugged, wireless, touch-screen tablet that is portable and easy to use with an intuitive interface. Some examples of tests the T-RX performs are: VOR, Localizer, Glideslope, ILS, Marker, VHF Com generate and receive (includes ELT 121.5 receive), HF Com generate and receive, 32 Tone SELCAL HF/VHF, ELT 406, DME, TCAS, Mode A/C/S Transponder (including Mode S ELS/EHS), ADS-B OUT 1090, ADS-B IN 1090, ADS-B OUT 978 (UAT), ARINC 429 RX.

Allegro MicroSystems, a global leader in sensing and power solutions for motion control and energy-efficient systems, has announced its new A33230 sine/cosine 3D Hall-effect position sensor IC. The A33230 is the smallest sine/cosine 3D sensor currently available in the market, and offers system designers a cost-effective solution for automotive and industrial applications with a quick time to market.

The A33230 contains two discrete analogue signal paths for superior high-speed performance, and the tiny SOT23-W package size makes it ideal for situations where PCB space is at a premium. The IC can also be used as an angle sensor, provided the system includes an electronic control unit (ECU) capable of performing CORDIC calculations on the two outputs.

The A33230 incorporates vertical and planar Hall-effect elements with sensing axes that are orthogonal to one another, providing 90° of phase separation, which is inherently independent of magnet pole spacing and air gap. It comes pre-programmed to measure angle in any plane (XY, XZ, or YZ) while providing independent sine and cosine outputs.

“With the ability to sense fields in X, Y and Z planes, Hall-effect sine/cosine sensors are reliable, proven options for many applications,” said Scott Milne, Business Unit Director for Position and Angle Sensors at Allegro. “The introduction of the A33230 gives Allegro customers access to an expanded selection of position and angle sensors for automotive and industrial applications such as factory robotics, windshield wipers, in-cabin motors and more. It’s a cost-effective solution with a small footprint that makes it ideal for legacy applications where a designer needs to minimize PCB size, or is looking for an opportunity to reduce BOM cost.”

Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, has today launched its fourth global IoT Survey. The survey provides an opportunity for Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT product designers and system engineers to share insights about the market. These insights will also help shape the product range and technical resources offered by Farnell to support this diverse and evolving technology.

The survey is open from 10 January to 18 March 2022 with results to be announced in the Spring. Participants in the survey (from eligible countries) can also enter a competition with the opportunity to win:

• An Apple iPAD 10.2 inch
• A £250 Amazon gift card (or local currency equivalent)
• A £50 Amazon gift card (or local currency equivalent)

The Farnell 2022 annual IoT survey is open to engineers working on IoT solutions. This year’s questions have been designed to provide a deep dive into the IoT industry and responses will provide greater understanding of the technologies, challenges, and opportunities designers of IoT solutions face. The results will show how the IoT industry is changing year-on-year, revealing the full range of potential applications and market trends. Understanding the continued impact COVID-19 has on IoT developments is also a key focus. During 2020-21, the pandemic had a significant impact on the IoT industry, leading to rapid growth in the development of new medical diagnosis and automated test systems as well as medical equipment with improved connectivity. Industrial systems have also been adversely impacted by the global shortages of key manufacturing components and supply chain issues.

Key results from the 2021 survey revealed the growing role of IoT for industrial automation and control applications essential to the delivery of Industry 4.0. The top three industry segments leading the way in IoT applications included industrial automation and control (25%), home automation (18%) and artificial intelligence (12%). Despite industrial automation and control being deemed a key market for IoT, there was recognition that Industry 4.0 adoption remained slow, primarily due to concerns over security (32%) and lack of business strategy (30%) hindering the adoption and integration of smart manufacturing solutions. Security continued to be the most important aspect for developers to consider (29%) when developing their design, and it is also their primary concern (36%), followed by connectivity and interoperability. Interoperability and certification to standards were identified as key to accelerating the benefits of IoT in both the 2019 and 2020 surveys.

Farnell’s research also suggests that opportunities within the IoT will continue to grow in key application areas such as smart home, industry and government.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing for Farnell says:  “The impact of the IoT is now present in all walks of life from home automation and entertainment to healthcare and transport. Intelligent connectivity and AI will drive worldwide technology development and will be key to the growth of Industry 4.0. The results from our next annual survey will provide innovators and designers with a global perspective on emerging technologies that will shape future new product developments. The survey responses will ensure Farnell can meet the product needs of our customers now and in the future while giving the design community a forum to share trends, challenges and best practice in the IoT space.”

Farnell provides access to an extensive range of development tools for IoT and works with innovative providers to bring the latest for AI and security. Customers can find support and design resources including the IoT Hub, AI pages and an AI configurator on the Farnell website. Fast delivery is available on all major development boards for IoT including Raspberry Pi, Intel (NUC range), Industrial Shields, KUNBUS and more.

To get involved in the Farnell global IoT survey and enter the competition click here.

Share your thoughts online using #IoTSurveyFarnell. Terms and conditions for the IoT Survey and competition are available here.

AMETEK Surface Vision, a leader in automated online surface inspection solutions, has joined forces with Sensory Analytics, the source for innovative SpecMetrix Systems, in a strategic partnership that will provide customers with significant cost savings as well as improved quality and production.

Both companies are fast-growing market leaders with a commitment to delivering actionable in-process measurements, enabling operators to make real-time data-driven improvements that further enhance productivity and product quality.

AMETEK Surface Vision delivers robust, flexible solutions for continuous production processes across multiple industries through its advanced SmartView and SmartAdvisor systems for monitoring and inspecting webs and surfaces.

Sensory Analytics has become a global leader through its transformative ROI and EXR technologies for real-time coating thickness and film layer measurement, used to power its SpecMetrix in-line systems, off-line QA solutions, and flexible OEM units.

The partnership provides significant benefits to global coil coating, converting, and packaging leaders who are processing flat-profile products. The benefits include a combination of best-in-class solutions for in-process thickness measurement as well as surface detection and classification.

AMETEK Surface Vision and Sensory Analytics will jointly develop new offerings that will provide customers with higher levels of data aggregation for the products they produce to maintain compliance with end market requirements. This will allow them to better understand processing performance and identify optimisation opportunities.

Mike Hevey, Division Vice President and Business Manager at AMETEK Surface Vision said: “Both companies operate in similar industries, with technologies placed up and down the same process lines. This partnership brings with it excellent synergies for our customers, as we can offer them unique integrated solutions.

“With our Global Service Team, combined with Sensory Analytics’ leading technology position in coat weight and thickness measurement gauging, customers will have access to greater levels of service as well as pioneering technologies,” Hevey added.

Greg Frisby, Global Industry Manager for SpecMetrix Systems at Sensory Analytics, added: “We both share a commitment to customer support, technical innovation, process control, and quality improvements that are unmatched by other industry offerings. Our exclusive technologies are non-contact, highly precise, and complementary, creating significant potential for new, combined product and process data offerings that support industrial digitalisation.”

We asked Dave Oakes, Powelectrics MD, to say a few words about 2021 and tell us what we can expect from Powelectrics in 2022.

“Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2022 brings us all health, happiness and prosperity!

 “If nothing else, the last couple of years have shown us that nothing can be taken for granted!

“Here at Powelectrics, we have been fortunate. Robust forecasting and strong support from our supply chain has enabled us to maintain excellent service levels against the odds and, despite the challenges of COVID, we achieved our best year ever!

“In 2021, Powelectrics benefitted from a major investment by Quinn Venture Investments. Many thanks to new Directors, Peter Quinn and John Higham for their initiative and expertise, which has super-charged Powelectrics corporate growth strategy.

“Our team has grown across all departments and levels, with the creation of key senior roles to bring specific expertise in-house. R&D has been fast-tracked, delivering ground-breaking innovations to meet evolving market needs and we have benefitted from a stylish new web site, showcasing our solutions by sector, solution and product.

“You may have heard that the phrase ‘IoT’ stands for ‘I Only Talk’!

“Powelectrics’ new website demonstrates, via over 30 real world application case studies, that we are not a shopfront for third party developers.

“We don’t just talk the talk … we walk the walk!

“Powelectrics are very much the real deal, offering over 30 years of expertise & practical experience in instrumentation & digitalization and delivering IIoT solutions globally.

“The case studies cover a broad range of telemetry applications, including Industry4.0 solutions delivered to:

• UK sector leaders like United Utilities, Royal Mail, Speedy Hire, Angel Trains and the RSPB
• Major international enterprises such as Cemex, Greenchem and Fuchs Lubricants.

“See the cases here. 

“2021 has been a year of extremely positive change and the release of several augmentations to our ‘IIoT toolkit’.

“Q1 saw the launch of our fully-redeveloped MetronView platform, incorporating the highest levels of security, intuitive functionality and aesthetics.

“More recently, we released a powerful suite of IIoT building blocks, integrating GSM/GPRS, Sigfox, LoRa, RS232, RS485, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, CAN, MODBUS & IO-Link to MetronView.

“In the past some people had the perception that Powelectrics sold ‘boxes’. That was never true!!

“In a way, we’re a bit like Lego … the building blocks of our IIoT solutions may come in boxes, but they have been created to connect easily and we can put them together in infinite ways to suit a vast range of applications.

“The two major concerns for businesses wanting to embrace digital data are:

• Cost
• Time to market.

“Powelectrics ‘Lego’ is clever, robust, proven technology, designed by industry specialists, to deliver your IIoT objectives as quickly, simply and cost-effectively as possible.

“We get customer data flowing, from a first step towards digital transformation, a proof of concept … to an international estate of connected assets!

“Looking ahead to 2022, COVID highlighted the benefits of remote monitoring to many new industrial sectors, creating a range of exciting enquiries and opportunities and we are fortunate to enter the year with a strong order book.

“I am extremely excited about the launch Powelectrics first subsidiary business, PowUtilities, which focuses on electricity, gas and water metering technology, designed specifically for multi-occupancy sites, such as residential and holiday parks, managed & serviced offices & industrial units. It will offer a range of benefits to both site owners and end-users. Look out for more news of this in the very near future!

“Please also look out for news of major developments within our range of Condition Monitoring solutions!

“Of course, we are continually developing ‘Metron Intelligence’, incorporating innovations to integrate data from ever more machines, platforms, devices and protocols. These advances will be launched throughout the year offering real time insights, using machine learning, AI and anomaly detection.

“The appetite for IIoT and digitalisation has never been greater and Powelectrics has never been better placed to satisfy it!”

What can Powelectrics do for you?

Please browse the Powelectrics website and get in touch with any queries you have or applications you would like to discuss. Call +44 1827 310 666, email sales@powelectrics.co.uk or use this contact form.

Some of the most compelling examples of automation are in food packaging, where the extensive use of high-speed automation means that equipment performance and reliability are valued because line stoppages are both costly and time-consuming.

Contrinex Photoelectric Fork and Inductive sensors are trusted to ‘keep the lid on’ and to help get a bottle of ketchup to the customer’s table by ensuring that the ketchup is hermetically sealed and that the flip-top cap has been fitted.

Plastic bottles that have been filled with ketchup pass under a Contrinex inductive sensor positioned over the packaging line which confirms the presence of an aluminium-foil seal. Next, the fitment of a plastic flip-top cap is verified by a Contrinex Photoelectric fork sensor before the bottle is released for labelling, packaging and despatch to customers.

Contrinex has the largest selection of sensors with the IO-Link communication protocol in the world and for example, the fork-sensor is switched between four operating modes according to the production batch using IO-Link. Being a communication protocol, IO-Link feeds back to the production line control system, information from the inductive and fork sensors such as their preventative maintenance status. A brief overview of Contrinex’s IO-Link offering can be found at www.IO-Link.PLUSAx.co.uk

Customer application

To ensure product freshness and safety, a hermetic seal must be fitted below the cap of packaged products like ketchup. Previously, if the seal or plastic cap was missing it could go undetected, risking an entire batch of production potentially being rejected.

Customer solution

Plastic bottles that have been filled with ketchup pass under a Contrinex 500 Series ‘long-distance’ inductive sensor positioned over the packaging line which confirms the presence of an aluminium-foil hermetic seal on the top of every container. The highly sensitive Contrinex inductive sensor was selected because of its ability to reliably detect at speed the very small amount of aluminium present in the seal.

Next, the bottle passes through one of Contrinex’s highly versatile and high-performance photoelectric fork sensors, which senses the presence of a cap on the bottle before its release for labelling, triggering an alarm if a cap is missing.

Contrinex’s LG fork light-barrier photoelectric sensors were chosen because they combined the simplicity of installation, with a choice of four modes of operation. The compact sensors provide high-resolution and high-speed sensing, plus the convenience of a push-pull output and IO-Link connectivity. Ideal for detection of the lids, these robust die-cast metal sensors provide high-performance and reliability.

Multi-mode operation flexibility

Four preconfigured operating modes enable the fork sensors to fulfil a wide spectrum of application needs – ‘Standard mode‘ provides switching frequencies up to 5,000Hz with a resolution of 0.3mm, while ‘High-resolution mode’ ensures precise detection of small objects down to 0.1mm in size.

Where the production batch requires it, switching to ‘Power mode’ increases the transmission power of the sensor, reducing its sensitivity to dirt or other contamination. For high-speed applications, ‘Speed mode’ raises the switching frequency as high as 14,000Hz, ensuring reliable sensing of fast-moving targets.

Application-specific configuration

The IO-Link communication protocol enables remote set-up and adjustment of the fork-sensor between production batches.

IO-Link stores the sensor’s configuration on a local IO-Link Master, which enables plug-and-play operation, eliminating the need to stock multiple pre-configured sensors in spare part inventory. The compact design and placement of the photoelectric emitter and receiver in a single housing saves space, ensures precise alignment and removes the need for on-site adjustment.

Robust and highly versatile, these metal-cased devices offer fast and easy installation is provided by the choice of clearance mounting holes for M4 fixings and an integrated M8 connector.

Contrinex sensors and more information are available from PLUS Automation.

Tektronix today announced the launch of its newest version of the award-winning 5 Series mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO). With numerous enhancements, the 5 Series MSO delivers even more versatility while continuing to provide high-fidelity waveforms, unique spectrum analysis capabilities and flexible signal access appreciated by engineers around the world.

Built on the performance and integrity that engineers rely on with the original 5 Series MSO, the B version includes customer-centric updates led by a new auxiliary trigger input that lets users synchronise the oscilloscope to an external signal without consuming any of the 4, 6, or 8 full-capability input channels. For the optional, built-in arbitrary/function generator, the maximum frequency output increases from 50 MHz to a best-in-class 100 MHz, enabling higher frequency stimulus for measurements such as Bode plots and impedance measurements. These new capabilities are invaluable for making fast, thorough checks of power integrity on power distribution networks.

To serve the needs of engineers working and collaborating outside the lab, the new 5 Series B MSO works with new tools for offline analysis and cloud data storage. TekScope PC software enables analysis of oscilloscope waveform data anywhere, without tying up the oscilloscope. Controls are built into the scope to enable saving to TekDrive cloud storage with a single button press. Users can easily save waveform data to the cloud, allowing teams to work and collaborate almost anywhere in the world.

“Setting up our 5 Series MSO has been really intuitive,” said Wyatt Callister, Associate Test Engineer, Product Support Development at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. “Digging through the menus on older oscilloscopes can be quite a headache, but the nice, large, informative buttons on this new scope have been really useful. I appreciate Tektronix’s ongoing developments and the improved features they just released.”

A faster processor makes controls even more responsive and will support additional, more complex measurement analysis in the future.

Additional features include:

• A new, brighter display provides greater clarity, showcasing waveform detail from the instrument’s 12-bit ADCs.
• History Mode leverages the 5 Series B’s extended memory, allowing users to capture thousands of triggered events and easily review them to find events of interest.
• Solid State Drive System ensures all user data is stored on a removable drive. For secure labs where measurement data integrity is mission critical.

“We’re excited to offer the latest update to one of our most innovative products,” says Suchi Srinivasan, Product Line General Manager at Tektronix. “The new 5 Series B offers users intuitive operations with advanced measurements that teams can use almost anywhere with our TekDrive cloud.”

The B version updates the original 5 Series MSO, which was launched in 2017 and was well-received by engineers for its big display and thoughtful integration of a pinch, drag, and swipe touchscreen user interface. Both the original 5 Series and the new 5 Series B ship with low-loading passive probes with bandwidth up to 1 GHz, also offers support for a wide range of probes, such as power rail and optically isolated probes like the IsoVu isolated probe, eliminating common-mode interference using optical isolation.

Since the release of the original 5 Series, Tek has released 16 firmware updates, each of which has added new capabilities that collectively deepen the instrument’s solution coverage measurement applications in areas like serial protocol decoding, motor drive analysis, and RF spectrum analysis.

The Emitech Group offers a variety and a number of unique test facilities in France, constantly evolving with the aim of supporting its customers’ innovation, in particular in the field of electric mobility. The Group already has significant test facilities available in this field. For example there is the EMCEM facility, which aims to characterise an electric vehicle motor from the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) point of view, as well as test benches for high-voltage (HV) batteries, power electronics, calculators etc. It announces new equipment and facilities for tests in the field of hydrogen (fuel cells systems, tanks + valves). The implementation of the hydrogen sector by several stakeholders and regions in France is a strong axis of the energy transition.

Hydrogen activities: EMC, electrical, mechanical, climatic and fire testing

Hydrogen fuel cell testing requires complex facilities that incorporate a large number of constraints. These installations must be secured because hydrogen (H2) is a potentially explosive gas when it reaches a concentration of 4% in the air. Moreover, a power equivalent to 50% of the electrical production of the hydrogen fuel cell system is also dissipated as heat. This is why Emitech, after having selected a hydrogen supplier and installed H2 supply systems, had to fit out its laboratories to secure its installations with H2 sensors and to equip laboratories with dedicated cooling units.

The Emitech Group has now two laboratories in France adapted to receive all kinds of equipments, including high power hydrogen fuel cells (45kW testing capabilities now, 100kW in mid-2022). A third laboratory installation more specialised for H2 tank applications testing is also in preparation.

The first electromagnetic compatibility and electrical test laboratory has a 70m² semi-anechoic Faraday cage (H>5m) with facilities dedicated to hydrogen: an H2 supply unit connected to four V18 cylinder racks (4x158m3 of H2 compressed to 200 bars / 15°C), hydrogen detection sensors, an ATEX extractor hood for any vapours and a 45kW cooling unit.

In the mechanical and climatic second test laboratory, the climatic chamber has been completely adapted and secured to receive a complete fuel cell system with a H2 supply unit connected to two V18 racks of cylinders (H2 compressed to 200 bars at 15°C) and detection sensors.

The third mechanical and climatic test laboratory has a unique expertise in fire testing as well as tank testing capabilities (hydraulic and pneumatic testing: endurance, pressure resistance, bursting, puncture, impact, overloading). It is currently being adapted to become a type IV H2 tank testing centre.

Testing: a first complete 45kVA fuel cell system

Emitech is currently working with one of the leaders in Fuel Cell System in France and Europe on a project for utility vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The equipment supplier provides the manufacturer with the electrical energy, a fuel cell, for integration into a conventional electric vehicle architecture. It is a complete and complex system that includes cooling system as well as regulators for humidity, air compression, etc. In addition, the fuel cell is completed by a high-voltage battery for transient power requirements such as acceleration and for energy recovery storage, especially during braking.

The system is tested in EMC, climatic and mechanical domain in Emitech laboratories according to the automotive manufacturer’s specifications involved in this project. Emitech is the only one French laboratory to offer these campaigns and the qualification of the system regarding environmental parameters.

Emitech was able to adapt its laboratories in a few months to meet its customer’s needs regarding hydrogen and to conduct these tests. Testing began in autumn 2020 for mechanical and climatic, and then in January 2021 for EMC. Other campaigns are planned and international customers have already expressed their interest for these installations. In order to support the sector’s development and the increase in the power of the various equipment manufacturers’ fuel cell building blocks, laboratory upgrades are already planned for 2022 to enable tests performance on 100kW FCS (Fuel Cell System).

An expansion of the developing skills

Emitech has become a member of two major networks in France in the field of hydrogen. Emitech has been a member of FRANCE HYDROGENE since january 2021, an association federating the actors (more than 400) of hydrogen and fuel cells in France. EMITECH also belongs to the general H2 circle within the NEOPOLIA network, which brings together more than 250 companies mainly from the French region Pays de la Loire.

At the same time, Emitech actively monitors standards and technical normative working group in order to keep on developing its facilities and adapt them to the customers’ future needs while meeting test standards requirements. This is the case, for example, for the use of hydrogen in ports, whether for recreational boating or for the merchant marine in the long term, but also for automotive or aeronautics and its green aircraft.

Emitech is also referenced as H2 testing laboratory in the “Guide for conformity assessment and certification of hydrogen systems”, a reference synthesis document on the subject published in July 2021 by INERIS (National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks) on behalf of ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and FRANCE HYDROGENE.