Projects 2015/2016
Hirschvogel Automotive Group
As a development partner to the automotive industry and a production
specialist in forging and machining steel and aluminum, the companies
core competencies lie in the application areas of gas and diesel injection,
transmission, powertrain, chassis and engine.
McKinsey & Company Inc.
McKinsey offers strategic top management consulting at the highest
stage. The claim is to achieve a sustainable and long-term improvement
of the performance of advised companies and organizations. The advice
given includes the full range of challenges of top management - both
strategic and organizational aspects as well as matters of operational
and technological approach.
Otto SPANNER GmbH
The Otto SPANNER GmbH is a specialist for pressed, punched and drawn
parts and assemblies made of metal. The family business supplies mainly
clients in the automotive industry according to the motto “future based on
partnership“. The Otto SPANNER GmbH manufactures parts that make
high demands on technology, production and operation.
Schnupp GmbH & Co. Hydraulik KG
Schnupp provides years of experience, expertise and extensive
knowledge in the fields of hydraulics, mechanics, control engineering,
electrical and electronic systems. Creative integration of these disciplines characterizes Schnupp GmbH & Co KG hydraulic.
15
aCar mobility
Markus Koschi
Samuel Muchunguzi
Raven Reisch
Charles Nyadu-Addo
Christian Stengel
Mecktrida Patrick
Emanuel Wallrapp
Frank Sam Jnr.
- Energy management system
- Electrical system
- Interior design
- Mechanical drive train
- Concept development
- Mobility analysis
- Concept development
- Mobility analysis
- Concept development
- Mobility analysis
- Varnishing
- Casing the module
- Assembling
Adviser
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Soltes, TUM
Dipl.-Ing. Sascha Koberstaedt, TUM
Dr. Samuel Dodoo
Nicas Mugisha, M.Sc.
31
A new Market
When we look at these vast numbers, we risk
being overwhelmed and losing sight. So instead of asking questions such as “Are we too
many?” we should be asking: “Are there any
new opportunies and chances?” Finding an
answer to this question means investigating
the poorest countries on this planet: There we
will find the highest demand to effectuate changes in a wide range of issues such as extreme poverty, food insecurity, high death rates
and high birth rates, no access to enough clean
water, no proper health care, no higher education and many others.
One Mississippi.
Two Mississippi.
Two seconds have passed: The world population has grown by five people – in two seconds.
This means 150 more people in only one minute, 216,000 people every day and about 80
million per year. The rapid growth of the world
population is a recent phenomenon as shown
in the following figure: About 2,000 years ago,
the population was about 300 million. It took
more than 1,600 years to double. In the 1950
the rapid growth started and the population resulted 2000 in two-and-a half times of 1950‘s. Mobilization of Resources
On the October 31st, 2011 seven billion people
inhabited the earth and the tendency is just be- The fundamental reason of the mentioned
ginning.
problems of least developed countries is the
misallocation of resources. The idea of aCar
targets this basic problem directly and sets its
goal according to “mobilization of resources”.
This expression inherits two ideas: First of all,
resources are not allocated equally or not over
the whole targetted area. For example the selling price of crop is much higher in Sub-Saharan cities than in rural areas because the demand is higher and the supply lower. In an ideal
market the price would be equal on a medium
level, what can be solved by easy and cheap
32
transportation.
The second point is the definition of resources:
Here, not only goods like food and water are
meant, but also other life factors like education, health care, transportation of people and
many others.
In an investigation of a student team last year
these turned out to be true and they also settled aCar as a possible solution to the mobility challenges in least developed countries.
Based on the conceptual outcomes of these
first investigations a group of TUM students
went further collaborated with a student team
from Nepal. Nepal as one of the 20 poorest
countries on this planet was used as a case
study because the development level as well
as the different shape of circumstances like
poor road conditions in flat as well as mountainous areas, decentralised electrical infrastructure and other factors match the targeted
use case perfectly.
aCar
The aCar is a small, simple and robust vehicle which aims at the demand of transporting
resources in rural areas. Therefore, it provides
an innovative load platform for either eight ad-
33
ditional passengers or a payload of 1000kg. In
addition to transportation, one of the main characteristics of the vehicle is the off-road ability,
realized with an all-wheel-drive-concept. The
poor road conditions in the targeted market
desire a compact layout of the vehicle. So the
garding the interior, only local material was
used. For example, the seat is made of welded
steel pipes and recycled seat belts. Since Africa is famous for wood artwork, the dashboard
is made out of wood.
Modularity
Beside the “typical” vehicle features, the aCar
offers extra possibilities because of its modularity. What does this mean in particular? In addition to transport of persons, the aCar can be
also used as a small truck. For this reason, the
seats are foldable and the rear spa¬ce can be
used for goods – for bulk load or for unit load –
or for combinations of goods and passengers.
In former research projects, several other modules and module concepts with a wide range
of functionality had been developed. A Drinking Water Module and a Battery Module for
width of aCar is only 1.5 m, which allows the extending the range of the vehicle had been
vehicle to enter narrow sites. In addition, the built and modules for Health Care and Educatires are designed for rough surface consisten- tion were developed. Using these modules, the
cy to climb up sloped terrain if necessary. The aCar can be adapted to the users’ needs.
frame structure of aCar is designed with simple elements for easy maintenance and repairs. The electric power train is developed regarding
Welding is the main method of combining the the vehicle requirements and the specificahollow structural section. Simple 2D-bended tions in least developed countries. A common
sheet metal is used to cover the chassis. Re- way for electric vehicles is using high voltage
34
systems in order to reduce the current. High
voltage requires special effort and knowledge
for the safety of the passengers during usage,
service, repair and even emergency situations.
This is not an acceptable solution for the target
region as the local research indicates as far as
the knowledge, tools and training in common
workshops are concerned. Therefore, the maximum voltage of the aCar is limited to 48V. In
order to reduce the current, the power train is
split into different subcomponents: electrical
engine, battery module, generator and some
more. A key aspect for the operation on the roads within the target region is a range extender.
A diesel generator is used to power the aCar
when you run out of battery or anything else
around you during a power cut. The whole drive train consists of two independent systems,
one for each axle. Depending on the usage, the
type of the roads and the budget, the customer
may purchase only one axle drive or the complete system.
for the coming years. In addition to this the
number of middle-income families is growing.
UNICEF announced 2014 that Africa’s population will be doubled by 2050. These facts are
a very good starting position for the concept.
Since the target group is focusing on the growing middle-income class, the future customer
of aCar is able to afford the car. The need of a
car like the multifunctional aCar has its potential and the modularity offers an almost endless
range of use cases.
Potential
aCar is designed for 2020. According to the
World Economic Forum on Africa 2013, the
world bank announced a past steady growth
rate of 5% and the forecast reports the same
35