Event Summary
MIH x DEKRA iST x DEKRA The Three Cores of Electric Vehicle Validation Webinar
From the left are General Lee, Eric Liao, Kevin Huang, James Lee, and Wangchu Chen.
Amid the global trend of green revolution, the awareness of carbon reduction has rosen, aIong with the trend of zeroing out carbon emission. Countries have also formulated related laws and regulations. This is not only an environmental protection issue, but also a new generation of technological revolution. Under the unstoppable development of electric vehicles, manufacturers of electronic products or motors are interested in this new market. DEKRA iST and DEKRA Taiwan, together with MIH, jointly held the " The Three Cores of Electric Vehicle Validation Webinar " to discuss Functional Safety, Electromagnetic Compatibility/Radio Frequency (EMC/RF), and the necessary method of quality confirmation for hardware --- “Reliability Tests.”
MIH Technical Developmnet Consultant Eric Liao also discussed about the potential trend of Electrical/ Electronic Architecture (EEA) in recent years to meet the need of SDV. Topics include Ethernet/ CAN/ LIN topology design principle and MIH’s layers design on EEA.
Kevin Huang, Manager of Global Functional Safety/ Cybersecurity, DEKRA Taiwan and James Lee, EMC & RF Senior Manager, DEKRA Taiwan, shared the topic about Functional Safety and EMC/RF.
James Lee, EMC & RF Senior Manager, DEKRA Taiwan, shared his views on “Moving toward the certification of 77/79 GHz radar on Level 4 autonomous vehicles.” He stressed that radar is broadly applied in miscellaneous fields and acts as one of the vital sensors in autonomous vehicles, so it is of great significance as to how industry players can comply with radio regulations and the testing requirements from vehicle manufacturers.
James Lee pointed out that electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is essentially required for electronic products that are exported to different countries. In the meantime, the standards of automotive EMC are not only pivoted in after market, but also discussed among leading car manufacturers who took ISO, SAE, JASO, and CISPR as well as their own research for reference. The effort gave rise to strict regulations governing automotive electronics specific to each car manufacturer to lessen or even avoid inefficacy arising from automotive electronics interfering with each other when being installed in finished vehicles. Nowadays, it is common to see radio products, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and automotive radar, in a car, and people can expect more technologies and applications manifested in future autonomous vehicles. In addition, radio frequency spectrum management can vary from one territory to another, regulating the use of radio frequencies, certification and testing, and application requirements. Take well-known regulations for example. Products certified by FCC, IC, NCC, or CE must be aligned with the requirements from the authority concerned in each country. Furthermore, testing of wireless protocols, namely GCF, PTCRB, 5GAA, and WiFi, is also one of the relevant requirements for radio systems. The main goal is to engage all devices in the communication protocols and satisfy the requirements, furthering effective interconnection when users use different products.
As smart vehicles emerge, automotive systems have become more complicated. With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, modern cars can execute tasks similar to a virtual assistant. This has landed new challenges on OEM and vehicle suppliers in terms of safety and cybersecurity. Since the ASPICE framework for cars is well served with cybersecurity (ISO 21434), functional safety (ISO 26261), and SOTIF (ISO 21448), building an integrated quality management system is possible because they have some commonality. Kevin Huang, Manager of Global Functional Safety/ Cybersecurity, DEKRA Taiwan, also touched on this at the conference with the title, "How to Integrate Functional Safety, Automotive SPICE, and ISO 21434 into Your Company?” Kevin Huang stated that this hybrid approach of integrating ASPICE framework and ISO standards into a quality management system can reduce development cost. The efficiency of implementation is therefore high, and the design is primarily optimized for a minimal number of modifications and less rework.
He also expressed that Automotive SPICE framework is all about the system engineering and software engineering of an automotive portfolio under the key concept of consistency and traceability. Functional safety refers to the scenario where the breakdown of in-vehicle electronic equipment causes injury to the driver and passengers, while the scope of SOTIF includes driving scenarios of different operating environment and misuse. As regards cybersecurity, it is born for human beings, confronted with threats from external or even internal malicious attacks. Cybersecurity can influence functional safety and SOTIF by identifying new key assets of cybersecurity that needs protection. Accordingly, we proposed a recommended integration solution that fits the implementation of ASPICE, ISO 26262, and ISO 21434 to save development cost, minimize rework, and enhance its effectiveness and efficiency.
Lastly, Kevin Huang emphasized that DEKRA Taiwan has the edge to introduce corresponding standards in one go. What is more, DEKRA has its own Principal Consultant, and has been nationwide recognized by system providers and the only preferred partner in the world with BOSCH Germany in functional safety. Kevin Huang also mentioned that DEKRA Taiwan’s services of cybersecurity and functional safety involve training, gap analysis, consulting, testing, and certification.
Wangchu Chen, Senior Manager of High Power Engineering, DEKRA iST, shared the topic about the necessary method of quality confirmation for hardware --- “Reliability Tests.”
Wangchu started his speech from analyzing the three core components of EV include battery, electronic control and motor. Among them, motor is the key component of EV, and couple of Taiwanese manufacturers have their own technology and would like to jump into the motor supply chain of EV. Key competences of motor are light, powerful and quiet features. The trend of EV development focuses on the integration of components, such as two-in-one product of OBC and DCDC converter in the electronic control, the integration of reducer (known as generator) and the inverter in the motor. Moreover, the main market and technology in the future is believed to be all-in-one products, which feature lighter weight, lower power consumption and higher mileage. However, there’re still some disadvantages of all-in-one products like the higher cost of entire module replacement for maintenance. Overall, the trend of the final product development will still be determined by the market.
In the market, the advantages of EV include less CO2 emission, lower cost of fuel and brand value, etc., while there’s one more issue catches everyone’s eyes, the integration of driverless technology and EV. As the concept of all-in-one product above, for driverless technology, numerous sensors are installed in EV, and the signals received by the sensors will be transmitted to AI(Artificial Intelligence) through the connector for calculation, which is one of the key points of this speech, high computing component in EV.
Power System and Reliability Validation of EV
There are two modes of power transmission from charger to EV, one is to transmit power from charger to the batteries in EV after AC is converted to DC, and the other is to transmit AC to the onboard charger in EV directly, and AC will be converted to DC for batteries. Then, the output of batteries will supply power for motor through DC/AC inverter, and also supply power to other automotive components through DC/DC converter.
Therefore, when it comes to reliability validation, it is necessary to consider both output and input of AC and DC separately. DEKRA iST has built up a comprehensive tests and complete equipment system, including AC/DC Source, AC/DC Load, water cooling system, and recorder to record the complete test parameters for all-in-one products. The tests include dynamic stress (Mechanical Loads), climatic stress (Climatic Loads), material stress (Material Verification) and electrical verification (Electrical Loads), etc.
Prediction of Product Life and Validation of High-power Component
The product life of fossil fuel vehicle is mainly estimated by the total length of engine on time and engine off time, while the product life of EV is more complicated due to the consideration of charging time and inhabited time. It would probably become even more complex when it comes to driverless technology with much higher power consumption during continual operation. In conclusion, the trend of high-power components is unstoppable, and the concepts and methodologies of reliability validation should be caught up simultaneously to ensure the quality of products and the safety of end customers.
High-power components in EVs include IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors). DEKRA iST also provides comprehensive validation for compound semiconductor. Through the collection and thermal calculation of driving profile with specific equipment and the method of IOL (Intermittent Operational Life), we could help our clients to verify the life cycle of products.