The future of automobile: When the market turns, you turn with it

Lower-cost production of bipolar plates for mobile drives

Fuel cell production has been costly and slow up to now. Above all, there is still no closed process chain in which fuel cell components are manufactured on an assembly line and assembled into a complete unit.

The Fraunhofer IPT has therefore teamed up with its partners in the CoBiP project to develop an integrated production facility that will process fuel cell components every second in the future.  

Specifically, the focus is on the heart of the fuel cell: the so-called “stacks” – the stack of bipolar plates where the reaction from hydrogen to water and the generation of electricity takes place. Such a stack consists of several hundred bipolar plates stacked closely together. These are traversed by a millimeter-thin, filigree system of channels through which hydrogen is fed on one side. On the other side, the water produced by the chemical reaction in the stack is discharged. The plates are only about 100 micrometers thick and resemble a film rather than a plate. 

The project succeeded in integrating all individual process steps into a production chain through a modular system design. The process ran stably and is reproducible. The modular roll-to-roll system is ideal for operating small- and medium-scale pilot and series production plants for the manufacture of components in the field of battery and hydrogen technologies.

Smart optics for cost-effective light management

Lighting accounts for around one-fifth of global energy consumption. Smart, cost-effective light management systems that recognize lighting requirements and respond accordingly are therefore also in demand in vehicles.

In the INTENSE research project, we worked with project partners to develop a process for manufacturing optics for use in lighting management systems. The result of the project was complex nanostructures that can perform several functions at once, such as scattering and steering. 

Our team proceeded in three steps: First, we created a digital nanostructure template using a simulation program. Using an algorithm we had further developed, we translated this digital master structure into a so-called phase image. Based on this phase image, we created a real 3D structure in the third step using a spatial light modulator (SLM). 

The result was surfaces with combined nanostructures that can now be used for molding in injection molding or precision blank pressing. By combining a Blaze grating and a diffuser, we were able to achieve a combination of light-manipulating properties. This allows multifunctional surfaces to be created in a single manufacturing step. 

Polymer fresnel optics for smaller head-up displays with a larger field of vision

If the visualized content of head-up displays in large commercial vehicles, such as agricultural machinery, is intended to support complex decisions, the field of vision is often insufficient. The projected image cannot be displayed large enough to show the amount of information on the windshield of the vehicle. Larger, heavier and, above all, more expensive optics are required to enlarge the visible area.

In the “ARHO” project, together with our project partners, we have developed a head-up display in which conventional glass optics have been replaced by plastic optics. The plastic optics help to increase the field of vision without the systems taking up any more space in the vehicle cockpit. The imageable field of vision has been extended to 25 degrees. Weight and size have been reduced. The lenses were injection molded to be able to offer the head-up display system at competitive costs.

Development of a point gas sensor for methane gas

In the “MARS - Molded Anti-Reflex Structures” project, the Fraunhofer IPT and its partners have developed a compact and robust point gas sensor for methane gas that far surpasses current systems in terms of sensitivity, reliability and cost efficiency.

The Fraunhofer IPT's task in the project was to develop suitable infrared optics with an integrated anti-reflective structure. These optics are usually coated with anti-reflective materials to reduce reflections and the associated transmission losses.

The Fraunhofer IPT project team took a different approach: instead of a coating, microstructures such as those found on the eyes of nocturnal moths were used. These were incorporated into an optical system and thus increase the degree of transmission.

The structures can be applied using isothermal precision molding, a process that is particularly suitable for manufacturing optical components with complex geometries and offers a high degree of scalability.