In 2001, Mahindra launched Reva (aka revolutionary electrical car various), marking India’s first transfer in direction of electrical mobility. A decade later, the Ministry of New and Renewable Vitality (MNRE) launched an INR 95 crore scheme to incentivise EV producers.
The Indian EV trade is projected to achieve USD 150 million market cap by 2030 at a CAGR of 90% throughout the forecast interval (2021-2030), in keeping with the RBSA Advisors report, ‘Powered by Energy: The EV Business in India’. As per India’s Highway Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, India could have practically three crore EVs by 2024.
Although India’s EV journey began with Mahindra Reva, the adoption charges of four-wheelers are a lot lower than two-wheelers. Nevertheless it’s not all roses on the two-wheeler entrance as effectively. Security and high quality have taken a again seat within the two-wheeler market within the warfare to innovate, drive efficiency and promote.
Battery cells and battery design had been discovered to be the key culprits in EV fires. EV makers have even recalled the defective batches within the face of rising stress from the federal government.
On Might 23, 2022, the DRDO printed an investigation report detailing defects in EV batteries, together with designs of the battery packs and modules. EV producers like Ola Electrical, Okinawa Autotech, Jitendra Electrical Automobiles, Pure EV, and Growth Motors have allegedly used “lower-grade supplies to chop prices”.
Inside EV batteries
“Lithium-Ion batteries usually utilized in EVs have matured over the past decade, and varied requirements exist that present course in each design and manufacturing of HV batteries. Requirements akin to LV 123 clearly define a variety of exams HV batteries need to bear, together with overvoltage, undervoltage, and operational vary testing, amongst others, and different requirements akin to GB/T 18384 and ISO 26262 cowl different components of security testing, together with thermal system testing,” stated Quresh Sutarwala, SME and Head of HW Techniques Engineering at Nuro.
EV battery techniques ought to bear finish of line testing akin to 1C cost and discharge to confirm their full vary. As well as, it is very important make investments effort and time in testing the battery design and techniques towards varied noise components throughout growth. Verification, validation, and addressing failures are key to constructing steady and strong techniques.
“Understanding the surroundings and situations of utilization are crucial to constructing the best design which meets the product. Extra steady battery chemistries may be developed for top temperatures or thermal cooling loops designed into the system (even your petrol automotive has a coolant line). For rainfall, the system may be designed to fulfill the right IP score ( even your telephones may be underwater now). For the bumpy roads, be certain that your system design meets stringent or customized vibration profiles ( UN 38.3 is a transportation customary used to assist permitting cargo of Li batteries),” stated Quresh.
Why batteries go up in flames
“Completely different batteries have completely different chemistries which have particular working situations. Sometimes, thermal runaway related to overheating of batteries is likely one of the established hazards with Li batteries. Nonetheless, simply because India has states with excessive temperatures doesn’t indicate that EVs wouldn’t attain mass adoption. This would possibly indicate that EVs must be designed to assist these environmental situations, however none of those situations seen in India poses a roadblock by way of growth. Analysis and real-world deployment have proven that many possible design decisions can tackle these situations,” stated Quresh.
Security is of paramount significance. When a design doesn’t work or there are points in manufacturing, OEMs ought to tackle the faults, discover the basis trigger and troubleshoot. When a failure happens at a element or system degree, the system ought to have the ability to detect the failure and include the chance and efficiency points.
“If the decision was not enough and was solely interim, the producer ought to take effort to inform all these affected and make a plan to deal with the problem for a long-term decision that ensures security and efficiency are met. If security is compromised, it’s much more crucial and never unusual to take speedy motion akin to initiating a recall if required,” stated Quresh.
The most important problem might be growth, scale and manufacturing prices.
Enter cobots
At its core, collaborative robots (cobots) are light-weight automated robotic arms that may deal with manufacturing, meeting and packing duties. Cobots can deal with every thing from bin choosing, palletising, high quality management, and welding.
“For years, one of many major sources of high quality errors inside the manufacturing strains have been people. For repeating duties, a human is certain to have an error sooner or later. These errors can have wide-ranging results, from impacting effectivity or yield of the road to high quality points and, in some instances, inflicting hurt straight on the line or through compromised product high quality. Analysis has discovered that 70-90% of business accidents are brought on by human error, and ~80% of producing high quality defects may be traced to people. The extra astounding determine is that people are more likely to have an error each 100 occasions for repetitive duties akin to incorrect set up of a connector or letting milk boil over,” stated Quresh.
Cobots can have an amazing optimistic influence. Having a cobot work with a human to do the shifting results in an environment friendly meeting line and happier, injury-free workers. Take torquing screws, for instance, and a cobot may very well be working round a human and can be certain that each screw is torqued to its actual specification.
The rise of robotics has mobilised the ‘Business 4.0’, and cobots maintain a whole lot of potentials to revolutionise the manufacturing area.
Battle-tested
Since 2005, Common Robots, a Danish producer of smaller versatile industrial collaborative robotic arms, has offered over 50,000 cobots utilized in a number of thousand manufacturing environments worldwide.
Bajaj Auto, the world’s third-largest bike producer, roped in Common Robots to streamline its meeting line to enhance its manufacturing capabilities.
“Two-wheeler meeting strains are extremely labour-intensive, spatially challenged, and have bodily taxing actions requiring high-end precision. Whereas making an attempt to automate these strains, one of many fundamental necessities was standardisation. Furthermore, we additionally wished to be cognizant of the necessities of the massive girls workforce at Bajaj,” stated Vikas Sawhney, Basic Supervisor of Engineering (Robotics and Automation) at Bajaj Auto.
As Bajaj quickly expanded its manufacturing capabilities, it wanted a standardised automation answer to deploy horizontally.
“Bajaj Auto selected Common Robots primarily as a result of collaborative nature of the robots. The important thing advantages of Common Robots’ merchandise, akin to their compactness, low payback interval, flexibility, light-weight, cost-effectiveness, accuracy and security, is what in the end satisfied Bajaj Auto in regards to the suitability of Common Robots for its standardised choices,” Vikas added.
Bajaj deployed UR’s cobots as a standardised answer for all its purposeful necessities spanning materials dealing with and machine tending to new decal purposes. Different advantages included zero annual upkeep prices, diminished energy consumption and retention of IP inside the firm.
“We’re glad to listen to that Common Robots cobots are profitable in easing the meeting line processes and are very helpful in value discount for Bajaj Auto. The protection measures and space-saving options are main enticing options for the deployment of cobots in Bajaj. Moreover, our cobots are profitable in bringing smiles to each Bajaj and their workers because it eases out processes for workers. As well as, cobots ship speedy return on funding (ROI) as quick as twelve months. The quick ROI is achieved by the cobot’s capability to release workers’ time, permitting them to work on increased productiveness processes,” stated Sougandh KM, Nation Supervisor for India, Common Robots.
Battery woes
There may be a number of causes for the battery failures within the two-wheeler EVs. The failures can fluctuate from:
- Systematic design failures
- Failures in manufacturing
- Incorrect use of the system
The producer is the best entity to determine the basis reason behind the failure and take acceptable motion to resolve it. As per Quresh, a collaborative robotic and, typically, using robotics in a producing line can show extraordinarily helpful when the reason for the failure is within the manufacturing line.
In EV battery manufacturing, cobots can :
- Guarantee excessive repeatability and precision in battery meeting.
- Automate high quality inspection
- Allow finish of line testing
“Using the collaborative robotic may stop varied manufacturing defects akin to lacking elements (particularly passive elements) or incorrect set up of components inside the assembled battery pack. Every of those may independently lead to a fireplace in an EV battery and may be contained in manufacturing through high quality management enhancements on the shoulders of the robots,” stated Quresh.
