Automotive

Following the landmark COP21 agreement to reduce carbon emissions, Steve Hughes, managing director of REO UK explores why rail providers need to be prepared for the inevitable shift to renewable energy and to manage potential power quality issues that may arise.

  The head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Philippa Oldham has expressed her feelings in response to the awarding of High Speed Rail 2 contracts and the expected confirmation of routes to Manchester and Leeds.

With the rise of in-vehicle infotainment, automotive manufacturers are now designing multiple USB chargers into each model, which has increased costs. Molex has announced a new off-the-shelf USB charger that suits most transportation applications and also manufactures customised smart multimedia modules (CCP) for USB in-vehicle charging. Both are now available in Europe at TTI.

  Public agencies in Norway have been hesitant to utilise cloud-based solutions. However, Norwegian Railway Directorate is breaking new ground. The company has chosen to use IT solutions that are 100% cloud-based. 

Automotive wiring harnesses and wire-to-board connection systems are very widely used by every automotive OEM globally. To meet the demands of today’s automotive manufacturers for ultra-reliable, high performance connectors, JST Automotive has developed its AIT and AIT II Series high voltage, ultra-low profile interconnects which are now in stock in Europe at TTI.

Replacing traditional maintenance regimes with condition monitoring will help rail operators to reduce the time they spend servicing their rolling stock. The rail industry’s prevailing maintenance regime is to service trains on a time or mileage basis. Though it has been used successfully for many years, it does not take account of whether parts actually need replacing. Nor is it effective at preventing breakdowns.

The RHS series of lead type multilayer ceramic capacitors for automobile use at maximum usage temperature of 200°C from Murata is now in stock in Europe at TTI. The products have been developed for use in equipment located in severe temperature environments such as the engine compartment of an automobile.

  To help rail operators spend their maintenance budgets more effectively, SKF has a developed a wireless condition monitoring system to enable Condition Based Maintenance practices (CBM).

  Axiomtek has announced the arrival of the tBOX100-838-FL, a small footprint fanless embedded system certified with E-Mark and ISO 7637 for vehicle applications. The rugged tBOX100-838-FL comes with the onboard low power quad-core Intel Atom processor E3845 along with onboard DDR3L memory up to 4GB.

Bearing design and integration technology from SKF has helped Siemens and Bombardier to create a new generation of passenger trains for Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn.