Our Future Moves
City Ecology // Our Environment
What impact will new technology have on the environment?
The batteries used in many machines, including electric vehicles, are called Lithium-ion. Lithium and other materials such as cobalt, stainless steel, aluminium and plastic are all used in batteries. The process to turn this raw material into something inside a battery takes energy, it can also be dangerous and there is a limit on the number of natural resources that can be safely removed from the ground to produce them.
One challenge facing the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers is how to reuse the batteries and how best to use these rare minerals and resources as well as making battery recycling easier. Each of the different materials needs to be sorted and processed for its second use, this is something that can be dangerous as well as time consuming.
Kivnon Robot
This is an example of autonomous vehicles (AGV) used in factories to transport all kinds of goods and is especially used in automotive factories in the Coventry area. It uses magnetic navigation or mapping technologies which adapt to any environment and industry to follow its route, has safety features that means it is not a hazard to human workers and is easily programmed and tracked.
Ricardo 800V Electric Vehicle Battery Concept and Next Generation Battery Management System
Ricardo are investigating the development of 800V battery systems for high performance electric vehicles. This example is a compact, lightweight, cost effective battery system, ensuring optimized electrical, thermal and mechanical design, robust supplier selection and safety standard compliance. The example has 21,700 cells configured in a 192S, 26P format to achieve 800V and a capacity of 90kWh.
It also contains a 3rd generation Ricardo Battery Management System (BMS). This is a critical safety control system for the in car systems such as the cooling devices and charging regime (on/off vehicle).
Saving energy is one way to lower our carbon footprint, which is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions an activity or organisation creates. To help lower this there are global agreements in place that see countries and businesses aiming to reduce this until they get to the point of being carbon zero. For manufacturers it is important to save as much energy as possible and to use their resources as efficiently as possible.
One may not think it but lots of little steps can help, for example, factories with production lines will often turn the lights off at the end of the shift and then turn the lights back on when the next shift begins. It may be a simple concept, but it can go a long way to save energy. Buildings are also being designed to be greener, for example, buildings will be easier to heat and better insulated to keep the heat in.
Other ideas include harvesting rainwater from the building’s roof when it rains to flush toilets or even having EV charging points for staff to use to help encourage them to make the switch to electric vehicles.
For some factories robots do some of the tasks to help give a hand to the factory’s human workers. For example, with robots carrying heavy loads or doing repetitive tasks this means human workers are free to do other tasks.
As technology is developed the need for data is becoming more key. To communicate and monitor what is happening on planet Earth, space technology is becoming even more important. There are already plans underway to create a space hub for the Midlands which consists of a network of small companies each developing space related technology, from launching satellites that monitor the health of the planet to helping us communicate with each other more easily. Satellites and their uses are even changing from large multi-purpose satellites to smaller, less expensive nano satellites that work in groups to do a specific task.
Companies in the West Midlands are developing the tools needed to start the cleanup of space. After years of satellites being launched into space and now decommissioned, there is now more and more space junk floating around the planet. Retrieving this junk and even recycling the material inside these objects is an exciting challenge.
Wu Sat Nano Satellites
The University of Warwick Satellite Engineering Team designs, builds, tests, launches and operates low-cost nano-satellites to meet the requirements of a defined mission - providing their student team with great industry relevant experience. These are nano satellites designed to carry out specific tasks in space. For example, the team are currently working on creating nano satellites that have carry direction-finding capability for use to monitor wildlife, designed to be launched from the International Space Station.
WUSAT-1 Cubesat (right)
This is the remnants of WUSAT-1 – launched in April 2013 from a Civil Aviation Authority approved site near Welshpool, it captured fabulous images and video footage of the Earth as it rose to an altitude of approx 33km. At this point the helium balloon burst (as planned) and WUSAT-1 descended by parachute to a field in Warwickshire – approx 100m from the team’s predicted landing spot!
WUSAT-3 Prototype chassis (left)
This 3-unit CubeSat chassis is an advanced design for WUSAT-3. It utilises a novel inner-cage that allows all sub-systems to be removed from the main chassis for modification/initialisation prior to launch. It will incorporate a deployable antenna and camera as part of its wildlife monitoring payload facility. This chassis has completed extensive vibration testing compliant with the vibration profile of a launch rocket (hence its heavy mounting stand!).
WUSAT-2 Helical Antenna
Designed in collaboration with European Space Agency engineers, this unique helical antenna was one of two used as part of our receiving ground station facility. Positioned approx 2km from the Esrange launch site in Sweden, these antennae played a crucial role in receiving the data signal from WUSAT-2 as it re-entered the atmosphere. This made WUSAT-2 the first successful data transmitting experiment to be ejected from a sounding rocket in seventeen Rexus launches.
WUSAT-2 Ejection Module
This module was fitted inside the nose cone of the Rexus rocket on which WUSAT-2 was launched in March 2015. The nosecone detached from the Service Module at approx 90km altitude and WUSAT-2 was ejected into Space by firing two pyro-cutter devices that severed the retaining wire.
Toy Rocket
These rockets are called toy rockets built by enthusiasts and can reach up to 24,000 feet and the edge of space. Rockets come in all shapes and sizes, from two inches long, with half an inch diameter to 20 feet long with a 12-to-13-inch diameter.
For more information check out the UK Rocket Association (UKRA) who help provide safety and training to build and fly these. For more information about how to get involved with space exploration check out the British Interplanetary Society.
Battery Innovation
All parts, from the display frame to the cobot, to the cells have been used in real research projects at the University of Warwick.
There are around 7,500 cells in an electric car, which are arranged in paired groups. If one line has a positive terminal pointing up, the next line has the negative terminal pointing up instead. Each cell is welded to its neighbours to complete the circuit. Automation makes this possible. Each weld has to be perfect and there are many connections to be made - a perfect job for a robot.
Cells
These are three main types of battery cells - coin, cylindrical and pouch. The basic ingredients inside the cell remain the same.
As battery demand grows, so too will the volume of waste cells. Some of the materials in cells are very difficult to mine, so re-using and recycling is extremely important.
Cobot
The start of a module with its cells is visible. Another cell is added by using a cobot, which stands for collaborative robot. Cobots are just one example of robots in the industry.
Materials
Materials play a crucial role in determining how a battery performs, how fast the vehicle can go, how far that vehicle can travel and how long it takes to charge.
Anode and cathode materials are mixed into an ink before being coated onto foil current collectors. To prevent a short-circuit, the electrodes are assembled with separators before being wetted with electrolyte. This is very much like cooking a complicated recipe and in the end the ingredients are layered up like a lasagne in the battery cell.