ERMA – analyzed, optimized and validated … for mobile machines of the future

Increasing energy prices, tightening of resources and climate change arr the reasons why energy and resource efficieny of new cars are in focus at new development in the automobile industry. This development is also present in the construction machinery industry. In addition to fuel efficiency work of the machine eco efficiency should be considered through the whole lifecycle. To predicate the efficiency of a product early in its development phase, simulation programs are increasingly in use. They shall be able to value the efficiency without the expensive and time-consuming construction of prototypes and their examination in field tests.

These challenges are the moving cause for the project “Energie- und ressourceneffiziente mobile Arbeitsmaschinen (ERMA)” of the research group in product development of the center of commercial vehicle technology (ZNT). The four chairs KIMA (chair of construction in engineering and apparatus engineering), MEGT (chair of machine elements and gear technology), MEC (gear of mechatronics in engineering and automotive engineering) and VPE (gear of virtual product development) of the department engineering will develop new concepts and methods to increase energy efficiency on the example of the company Volvo Construction Equipment. The research project is supported by the foundation “Rheinland-Pfalz für Innovation”.