Event recap: Rutronik Automotive Congress

In keeping with the Rutronik Automotive Business Unit's networking philosophy, the congress created an important platform for bringing together manufacturers of electronic components with vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers.

Rutronik's Automotive Business Unit, founded in 2014, specialises explicitly in the procurement and development structures of its customers in the automotive sector. Particularly in times of allocation and supply bottlenecks, this is about the highest possible planning reliability. Rutronik is not only an important partner as a reliable distributor, but also acts as an accelerator and pioneer of the latest technologies. As an innovation partner, Rutronik is concerned with accelerating the pre-development phases of its customers and thus bringing forward-looking products to the markets more quickly.

"Our congress offers an important discussion platform not only for us as a distributor and supplier of system solutions. It brings together speakers as well as participants from universities, manufacturers and customers," says Markus Krieg, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Rutronik. "The discussions at the congress around alternative drive systems, sensor technologies as well as increasing connectivity and digitalization tie in with the megatrends in the automotive segment like e-mobility, autonomous driving and urban mobility in different application scenarios such as passenger and delivery traffic," Krieg continued.

Three key, next-gen automotive topics at Rutronik Automotive Congress

• New technologies around light and vision: What will change in the lighting sector? Future solutions in the area of light and vision require a complex interaction of many electronic components. This will make it possible to achieve immense light output and thus benefit from very high and flexible illumination in road traffic. However, it must be ensured that oncoming traffic, for example, is not dazzled. In essence, this involves partial control of the light output for maximum safety for both close and distant vision.

• Drive systems of the future: Which type of drive will prevail? New drive solutions are urgently needed, especially for delivery traffic in urban areas. Against the backdrop of legal requirements (driving in inner cities), the replacement of fossil fuel-based motorization is already dated. Fuel cells and purely electric drives are currently being discussed in particular. The economic and sustainability aspects of the two drive solutions are being weighed up against each other.

• Consider safety through driver assistance systems and intelligent onboard networks. How can driving become even safer? High-voltage vehicle networks are becoming increasingly powerful, and driver assistance systems are making them more complex. This entails risks that must be taken into account during vehicle development. To ensure that the on-board networks can be quickly disconnected from the battery in the event of an accident or malfunction, new solutions are needed as an alternative to mechanical disconnectors. The aim is to preserve battery life and ensure occupant safety. Rutronik's experts have developed an electronic disconnector based on semiconductor technologies in connection with the high-voltage onboard network.