Passion for Technology

Today, our everyday life is full of technology. This technology wants to be operated, the human being must somehow interact with the device, the machine or the technical system: This is the field of human-machine interfaces, or HMI for short. With the complexity of the technologies that surround us every day, the need for Human Machine Interfaces that offer the most positive user experience possible is also increasing. Allied Market Research estimates that the global market for human-machine interfaces will grow to US$10.8 billion by 2031 – up from US$4 billion in 2021. As this happens, interaction options are becoming increasingly diverse, with HMI solutions ranging from push buttons and multi-touch screens to voice and gesture control. In this episode we talk to Karl Lehnhoff, Director of the segment Industrial, Scientific & Medical at EBV Elektronik, about trends and technologies in this exciting market. This podcast interview is part of our magazine issue The Quintessence of Human Machine Interfaces that is available free of charge on you mobile devices. Download our App and enjoy insights into various technology fields.App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/tq-by-ebv/id573925762Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.EBV.TQApp&hl=gsw&gl=US

One of the greatest challenges in human-machine interfaces is natural interaction. Technology has already made great progress with solutions such as gesture and voice control. Recently, the focus has also turned to controlling machines by thought: brain-machine interfaces measure the brain’s EEG signals and derive control commands for computers, machines or robots from them. One of the pioneers in the use of EEG data for interaction with robotic systems is the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Here, the EXPECT research project is currently underway, whose main goal is to develop an adaptive, self-learning platform for human-robot collaboration. It should not only enable various types of active interaction, but also be able to deduce the human’s intention from gestures, language, eye movements and brain activity – the machine should therefore be able to guess what the human is going to do next. An exciting project – which is why we are very pleased that we can welcome Prof. Dr. Elsa Kirchner today. She is EXPECT’s project manager for the Robotics Innovation Center research area and will be able to give us interesting insights into the project and the state of research on brain-machine interfaces.This podcast interview is part of our magazine issue The Quintessence of Human Machine Interfaces that is available free of charge on you mobile devices. Download our App and enjoy insights into various technology fields.App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/tq-by-ebv/id573925762Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.EBV.TQApp&hl=gsw&gl=US

For a long time – and in many places still today – line production with assembly lines and fixed cycles was considered the pinnacle of rational production. It promised high, repeatable quality and cost-effective production. But in the meantime, the focus is shifting away from the mass production of a specific item to products configured individually for customers with ever shorter delivery times. In the smart factory, flexibility is the trump card. At the same time, companies need to increase their productivity and resilience in order to survive in global competition. We’ll be discussing how companies can master these challenges with our two guests in this episode, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu, Director at Fraunhofer IEM, and Karl Lehnhoff, Director of the Segment Industrial, Scientific & Medical at EBV Elektronik.For more information around the factory of the future visit: http://ebv.com/factory-automation

A factory that works independently, that produces even the smallest batch sizes without human assistance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all this at significantly lower unit costs and much more efficiently than before – that is the vision of autonomous production. But how close is industry really to this vision today? And what does it actually take to make it work? In this episode we’ve been talking to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Jasperneite, Director of Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and Professor at Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe (TH-OWL) in Lemgo, and Arnd Geissler, Regional Application Manager at EBV Elektronik, about those questions and got exciting insights in the factory of the future.Learn more about factory automation: ebv.com/Factory-atuomation

In the smart factory, machines communicate with each other, control themselves and processes are becoming increasingly agile. At the same time, man and machine are working ever more closely together – the keyword being cobots. This also changes the requirements for functional safety – i.e. the protection of people and the environment from threats that can emanate from machines. Functional safety and security go hand in hand, addressing the comprehensive protection of physical and cyber aspects in this advanced manufacturing setting. Up to now, safety concepts have been very hardware-related and thus static. The modern smart factory, however, needs flexible solutions that ensure both the protection of people and machines and the necessary flexibility and availability. In this episode, we are discussing how this can be solved with Stephan Strohmeier, Head of Safety & Security Solutions at NewTec GmbH and Sven Blankenberg, Regional Application Manager Central Europe West at EBV Elektronik.Get more insights into the factory automation of the future and visit our Factory Automation website.

As part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Europe has committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, if possible. To achieve this goal, industry must also make a substantial contribution to reducing emissions. In recent years, the focus has been on improving energy efficiency: according to Eurostat, industry was able to reduce energy consumption by 12.4% between 2007 and 2021. In the meantime, however, such a high level has been reached that in many areas a further increase in energy efficiency is only possible at disproportionately high costs. Moreover, the development is also reaching physical limits. In addition, there is currently the question of the secure availability of energy.In this episode we are talking to Dr. Christian Thiel, CEO at EnergyNest, a global thermal energy storage company, and Andrej Orel, Director Segment City and Infrastructure at EBV Elektronik, about the current challenges within the energy market for the industry and possible solutions.This episode is part of our factory automation series. For more information around the factory automation of the future visit: http://ebv.com/factory-automation

Kersten Heineke has always been fascinated by products and solutions that have a utility value that can be experienced by everyone. He sees mobility solutions as more than “just” technology. In his eyes, mobility is a contribution to improving people’s lives – by making the way from A to B cheaper, more convenient or more environmentally friendly. This would not only help the individual, but society as a whole. As co-leader of the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, he can play an active role in this. This interview is part of our new issue of our magazine The Quintessence. Order your magazine free of charge now: http://ebv.com/tq

When thinking of digital motor control, many will conjure up images of the television adverts where the “digital motor” of a vacuum cleaner is composed of a motor and lots of electronic components… So what exactly do you need in terms of electronics to implement digital motor control? And what do you need to watch out for in the design process? This is what we want to hear about from our guest in this episode, Canberk Sezer is Software Field Application Engineer for Digital Motor Control at EBV Elektronik.If you want to know more about Digital Motor Control, make sure to visit our website: ebv.com/motor-control

Data is at the core of digitalisation. The same also applies for digital drive train technology. So, what else can you do with it besides just controlling the motor? We’ll talk about this hot topic with our guest, Armin Wallnöfer, who is leading the Smart Lab for ABB’s Motion business.Find out more about the advantages of digital drive train technology:EBV Elektronik – Digital Motor ControlABB Motion Services - Digital and InnovationABB Motion Services - Condition Monitoring for powertrainsABB Motion Services - Energy efficiency and Circularity

Digitalisation is also conquering more and more market shares in the field of drive technology. The growth rates of smart motors and motors controlled by frequency converters are well over 5 percent annually. What are the reasons for this success? What are the advantages of digital motor control? We talked to Prof Ralph Kennel, retired professor for electrical drive systems and power electronics at Technical University of Munich.If you want to learn more about digital motor control visit: ebv.com/motor-control

Digital drive technology has been in the public consciousness for at least as long as a British domestic-appliance manufacturer has been vaunting its “digital motor” in TV adverts. But what exactly does this refer to? And what advantages does digital motor control offer? We’re talking about this today with three experts from EBV Elektronik: Uros Mali is Director of the Smart Sensing & Connectivity technology segment. Milan Ivkovic is Director of the Analog and Power segment and finally, Ulrich Schmidt leads the High-End Processing segment.Discover more about Digital Motor Control at ebv.com/motor-control

The way charging infrastructure solutions are designed is affected by new battery technologies and fast-charging systems, innovative tech and connectivity applications, and an increasing degree of vehicle automation. Plus, other factors such as energy supply, political decisions and global trends will also have an impact on our future charging infrastructure. In this episode, we’re setting out to discuss which trends are the most important for charging station manufacturers with Bevan Braude, Business Development Manager, Avnet Embedded.For more information visit: http://www.ev-chargi.ng

The speed at which electric vehicles can be charged is an important point of difference in the rapidly developing electric vehicle market. But the charging infrastructure has to keep up, too – and the developmental leaps in fast-charging technology are just as significant. While 50 kW charging stations were considered state-of-the-art not long ago, we are now increasingly seeing stations installed that can charge EVs’ batteries at 100, 150 or even 300 kW. In this episode, we’ll be discussing what this means for charging station technology with Sara Ghaemi, Director Technical Development at Avnet Abacus.For more information visit: http://www.ev-chargi.ng

Car manufacturers in Europe complain that the expansion of our electric car charging infrastructure is not progressing fast enough. ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, expects demand for 7 million connections in Europe by 2030 – far more than the 3.9 million charging points planned by policymakers. The high demand for charging stations is also accompanied by rapid developments in charging and battery technology. So what can be done to ensure that charging station manufacturers can quickly serve the market with up-to-date technology? In this episode, we’ll be discussing all of the above with Andrej Orel, the director of the city and infrastructure segment at EBV Elektronik.For more information visit: http://www.ev-chargi.ng

1.8 trillion euros – that’s the sum the EU wants to invest over the next ten years to go net-zero by 2050 as part of its Green Deal. This, in turn, demands an ambitious rethink in the transport sector, which currently accounts for around 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Electric vehicles will be an important part of this action plan – the market for EVs is booming, with 30 million zero-emission vehicles expected to be on Europe’s roads by 2030. Against this backdrop, it’s clear that we need to make preparations for the electric transport of tomorrow and ensure that our charging infrastructure can meet exponentially growing demand. To explore how that can be done, we are talking to Andrej Orel, Director of the City and Infrastructure Segment at EBV Elektronik, Sara Ghaemi, Director Technical Development at Avnet Abacus and Bevan Braude, Business Development Manager, Avnet Embedded.For more information visit: http://www.ev-chargi.ng

Technologies such as the Internet of Things would be almost inconceivable without continuously shrinking electronics. Today, there are electronic components in the 100-nanometre size range. But these are digital components – the situation with analog ICs is different. In this episode Armin Derpmanns, General Manager Semiconductors at Toshiba Electronics Europe, joins us to explain why.Discover the full potential of analog ICs on ebv.com/getthepower

With the IoT, in Factory 4.0 applications, and especially in self-driving cars, more and more analog ICs are being used. They enable digital systems to process signals from their surroundings for example. That means that they are also being used more and more in safety-related systems, such as radar and lidar. To put it simply: if the signals are ‘translated’ incorrectly, a self-driving car will likely end up in a ditch. In this episode we are talking to Michael Frese, Director of the Automotive System Functional Safety Department at Renesas, and Dr Franck Galtié, Head of Functional Safety at NXP, about how to implement functionally safe systems with analog semiconductor elements, and what the semiconductor industry is doing to help deliver reliable ICs.Dive deeper into the world of analog semiconductors: http://ebv.com/getthepower

Today’s market expects electrical and electronic systems to deliver constant improvements in energy efficiency. Converters, inverters and power supplies of all kinds have to demonstrate that their energy losses are getting lower all the time, and where possible they need to function without the need for cooling. Not only that, but they are expected to be small and lightweight too. The very promising and commercially already enabled way is to use wide-bandgap materials in power semiconductors, silicon carbide and gallium nitride. Today we are talking to Jan Huijink, Technical Marketing Manager at WeEn, who will give us exactly the right information about the energy-saving potential of power electronics made from those materials. 

Digital electronics doesn’t exist in a virtual space, at some time and somewhere it has to interact with the real world – to record data such as temperature or radio waves or to trigger actions, for example starting a motor. This is precisely why what we call mixed signal modules have been developed – they combine analog and digital functions on a single chip. In this episode we’ll be talking to Trent Butcher, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microchip, and Laurence Berger, Technical Marketing Manager at STMicroelectronics, about the latest trends in mixed signal circuits.If you want to get in touch with Laurence or Trent feel free to contact them via email:Laurence Berger: laurence.berger@st.comTrent Butcher: Trent.Butcher@microchip.com

Energy is one of the biggest issues of our time. Most people tend to think big – wind turbines, photovoltaics and the like. But energy also plays a huge role at a small scale. For example, in chips and electronic circuits. Analog ICs are becoming increasingly important in our today’s world and are a key driver for energy efficiency. In this episode we are talking all about energy with our guests Chris Boyce, Senior Director MOS Discretes at Nexperia, and Dr. Saeed Safari, Principle Field Application Engineer at Broadcom.If you want to get in touch with Chris or Saeed feel free to contact them via email:Chris Boyce: chris.boyce@nexperia.comDr. Saeed Safari: saeed.safari@broadcom.com