Electro Mobility

Computers on Wheels

Future generation vehicles will be embedded ‘Computers on Wheels’ with semiconductor, sensing, actuating, computing devices that are embedded in the electronic equipment, electrical motors, batteries and the mechanical parts of the electrical vehicle.

The vehicle architecture will be complex electromechanical system based architecture with devices ranging from macro to nano sizes and where majority of the components are made of hardware (nanoelectronic devices, components, circuits, processing units), algorithms and software.

The rise of electric mobility entails the development of a vast amount of new infrastructure, charging stations and new embedded systems and communication technologies to connect the vehicle with the electric (Smart Grid) and information infrastructure (Internet).

Objectives

Research

Technologies

Applications

Internet of Energy - Technologies

IoE will help both the development of the future electric grid by using data communication to move electricity more efficiently, reliably and affordably and the development of the future Internet by using the electric grid to facilitate and speed-up the communication amongst the various energy nodes and domains. In an overall view, the electric system will move from a centralized, producer controlled network to a distributed, consumer interactive, environmentally responsive model.

• It will enable a bi-directional power/energy transport on the power transmission lines provided by a new smart electric grid relying on data/information transferred across both power lines and data links (wired and/or wireless).

• It will enable greater consumer participation (and therefore motivation and incentives for energy and environmental friendly user habits) thanks to capillary spread information and economic benefits on the energy production, use, storage and transportation.

• It will incorporate significant levels of energy storage capabilities and generation that will greatly help balance the disparities between peak supply and demand.

The project focus on the following:

• Common, multi domain architecture based on standards for interoperability in smart environments combing the Internet and the power network/grid.

• Smart metering miniaturised embedded systems that stores detailed data on energy usage and data information exchange, acting as the communications “gateway” with the edge devices (e.g. electric vehicles, distributed generators, residential buildings and appliances, etc.).

• Communications networks operating in parallel with the electricity grid that distribute data between all elements of the new intelligent grid. This network is connected through the Future Internet and “Internet of Things” enabling seamless and secure interactions and cooperation of ESs over heterogeneous communication infrastructures.

• Advanced utility sensors and control systems deployed throughout the infrastructure that will improve the system’s resilience.

• Application software and embedded software to control the communication process, to present, interpret, analyse and react to the enormous amount of data that will consequently be flowing through the system. This will be supported by a middleware to enable the seamless connectivity between the different domains of power grid, power plants, EVs and smart buildings. It is running on efficient gateway hardware with high utilization due to modular integration of different functions into one common system.

• Security and privacy structures (i.e. to defend against malicious attacks from intruders, maintain the confidentiality of sensitive data and protect the personal identification).

• Business models and energy services to accommodate the requirements of all stakeholders (including multi domain SMEs and corporations, research institutes and Public Authorities) willing to enter the innovative market of electric mobility applications.

• Smart energy efficient dynamic and self-reconfigurable topologies for the aggregation of the nodes of the Internet of Energy (Electric Vehicles (EVs), distributed renewable energy generation, distributed storage) addressing sustainable mobility and Urban Life.