說(shuō)到汽車行業(yè)的有機(jī)技術(shù)轉(zhuǎn)型，可能沒(méi)有比當(dāng)下的舍弗勒更鮮明的例子了。每每談到變速箱系統(tǒng)的關(guān)鍵基本技術(shù)時(shí)，“舍弗勒”的名字肯定會(huì)被提及。通用全球推進(jìn)系統(tǒng)的一位工程師最近在接受采訪時(shí)，就提到通用正在和舍弗勒一同為通用全新8速自動(dòng)變速箱研發(fā)一款新型減震器。該款減震器將根據(jù)傳動(dòng)系控制器輸出扭矩轉(zhuǎn)換器的打滑程度，來(lái)調(diào)節(jié)減震效果。
舍弗勒集團(tuán)旗下?lián)碛蠪AG和LuK兩大品牌。FAG歷史悠久，長(zhǎng)達(dá)113年，主要產(chǎn)品為特色軸承和離合器。LuK則專門生產(chǎn)摩擦材料?？梢?jiàn)奠定舍弗勒根基的，還是內(nèi)燃機(jī)的相關(guān)基礎(chǔ)技術(shù)。
既然如此，舍弗勒又為什么要在年初在硅谷建廠，又新增一個(gè)電動(dòng)汽車業(yè)務(wù)部門呢？
對(duì)此，舍弗勒美國(guó)區(qū)副總裁、首席技術(shù)官Jeff Hemphill在最近接受《汽車工程》雜志的采訪時(shí)風(fēng)趣地答道，“我們是嘗試一條新路。舍弗勒的技術(shù)基石是帶保持架的滾針軸承，而這可以說(shuō)是電子技術(shù)應(yīng)用最少的部件了。”
如今，幾乎所有跨國(guó)供應(yīng)商都是句句不離電動(dòng)化。業(yè)務(wù)涵蓋傳統(tǒng)車型和混動(dòng)車型的舍弗勒，在研發(fā)新品、分析測(cè)試變速箱、發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)、底盤零部件系統(tǒng)時(shí)，自然也會(huì)涉獵電動(dòng)技術(shù)和功能。
說(shuō)是“全新”，其實(shí)不然
Hemphill說(shuō)道，其實(shí)“傳統(tǒng)”機(jī)械零部件系統(tǒng)供應(yīng)商很多年前就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始研究電動(dòng)化了，這點(diǎn)大家都清楚，“10年前，甚至是15年前，我們就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始研發(fā)所謂的‘機(jī)械電子’驅(qū)動(dòng)系統(tǒng)。剛開(kāi)始是變速箱，現(xiàn)在拓展到了發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。比如在雙離合變速箱執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)技術(shù)方面，我們就投入了很多精力。”
“我們研發(fā)的是裝有微型控制器和軟件的智能執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)，可以顯示功能性安全讀數(shù)和其他參數(shù)。而我們現(xiàn)在的產(chǎn)品在保留了所有機(jī)械元素的基礎(chǔ)上，還增加了印刷電路板、傳感器和軟件。”
“我們其實(shí)在機(jī)電一體化上已經(jīng)積累了豐富的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。我們?cè)跈C(jī)械技術(shù)方面的背景讓我們獲益良多。舍弗勒在一體化技術(shù)方面的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，是我們最引以為豪的優(yōu)勢(shì)之一。我們正在開(kāi)發(fā)一款針對(duì)該市場(chǎng)的全新混合動(dòng)力模塊。從零件到系統(tǒng)層面，我們將結(jié)合工程師和生產(chǎn)部門的力量，思考全新的整合方式。”
“這一直是我們的一大優(yōu)勢(shì)。借助這一優(yōu)勢(shì)，我們新模塊的最終軸長(zhǎng)比客戶要求的還要短60毫米。我們本來(lái)就在生產(chǎn)扭矩轉(zhuǎn)換器，所以我們可以研究用不同的方式連接轉(zhuǎn)換器和電機(jī)，這樣節(jié)約了不少的空間?？梢?jiàn)，我們?cè)跈C(jī)械技術(shù)方面的積累，對(duì)于公司的電氣化和機(jī)電一體化轉(zhuǎn)型也不是完全無(wú)益的。”
一個(gè)詞：軟件
Hemphill表示，對(duì)于舍弗勒而言，進(jìn)一步發(fā)展機(jī)電一體化，需要借助另一項(xiàng)重要技術(shù)的發(fā)展——軟件和相關(guān)電控技術(shù)，該技術(shù)對(duì)汽車業(yè)建立全新的整合型商業(yè)模式而言至關(guān)重要。難道說(shuō)，完全整合供應(yīng)商現(xiàn)在必須具備軟件開(kāi)發(fā)能力了嗎？
對(duì)此，Hemphill解釋道，“這取決于產(chǎn)品。比如，針對(duì)不同的執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)或模塊產(chǎn)品，供應(yīng)商和整車廠到底誰(shuí)來(lái)開(kāi)發(fā)軟件，或者開(kāi)發(fā)多少，答案是不一樣的。”
“針對(duì)有些執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)，我們只需要根據(jù)整車廠給定的位置提供簡(jiǎn)單的接口，他們說(shuō)需要裝在扭矩閥，那我們就做扭矩閥執(zhí)行機(jī)構(gòu)。但對(duì)于另外一些設(shè)備，我們會(huì)起到更多的主導(dǎo)作用，這完全取決于項(xiàng)目?jī)?nèi)容。當(dāng)然，我們現(xiàn)在也有數(shù)百名軟件工程人員。確切有多少人，軟件開(kāi)發(fā)又到底占我們研發(fā)經(jīng)費(fèi)多少，準(zhǔn)確的數(shù)字我要去查一下。不過(guò)，雖然軟件開(kāi)發(fā)很重要，但它不是我們的研發(fā)重點(diǎn)。”
舍弗勒坐擁強(qiáng)大的研發(fā)實(shí)力，Hemphill自己就擁有100多項(xiàng)專利，一些已頒發(fā)，一些仍在申請(qǐng)中。他說(shuō)，目前舍弗勒在全球各地?fù)碛谐^(guò)6000多名研發(fā)人員。他解釋道，對(duì)于當(dāng)今的主要供應(yīng)商而言，研發(fā)工作其實(shí)包含兩部分，一是為推動(dòng)企業(yè)發(fā)展而不斷研發(fā)，二是為滿足客戶需求而改進(jìn)創(chuàng)新。
“我認(rèn)為兩者是相互交融的，”他說(shuō)，“我們當(dāng)然以我們的創(chuàng)新實(shí)力為傲。這些年來(lái)，我們也在不斷進(jìn)取。我們的零部件涵蓋了整個(gè)傳動(dòng)系統(tǒng)甚至整個(gè)車身，這就讓我們可以從系統(tǒng)的高度看待問(wèn)題，進(jìn)而找到獨(dú)特的解決方案。”
“我們會(huì)經(jīng)常展示這些解決方案。我們已經(jīng)在全球各地做了很多樣車展示，有一些樣車是我們和整車廠合作研發(fā)的。有時(shí)候，整車廠會(huì)先提出一個(gè)想法，我們?cè)僭诖嘶A(chǔ)上延伸，將這個(gè)想法付諸實(shí)踐。所以這是相互合作。我們很高興能有所貢獻(xiàn)。但是，現(xiàn)在單靠一家整車企業(yè)或一家供應(yīng)商，是無(wú)法應(yīng)對(duì)汽車行業(yè)所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)的。大家都在絞盡腦汁地思考出路。”
在科技圣地立足
舍弗勒最近在硅谷建立了圣何塞新廠。此舉似乎也表明，不僅是在電動(dòng)化，舍弗勒在各個(gè)方面都是不甘落后。盡管面對(duì)席卷而來(lái)的電氣化和自動(dòng)化浪潮，舍弗勒目前最顯著的研發(fā)成果還只是一體化輪轂電機(jī)，但是Hemphill相信，在加利福尼亞的技術(shù)大本營(yíng)建廠是正確的選擇，這將幫助舍弗勒探索并研究新的商業(yè)模式。
“硅谷有著無(wú)限的創(chuàng)意。如果你能發(fā)現(xiàn)一兩個(gè)好的、正確的想法，再幫助它們成型，那么最終你可能會(huì)成就一番大事?；蛘撸覀円材苷业揭恍┏鮿?chuàng)公司，他們的技術(shù)正好是我們需要的。”
“毋庸置疑，混動(dòng)化電動(dòng)車出行是一個(gè)蒸蒸日上的領(lǐng)域，這也是我們主要的項(xiàng)目研究課題。但與此同時(shí)，我們還是保留了部分研發(fā)精力，用于最前沿的自由研發(fā)。我們希望在跟緊潮流的同時(shí)也能勇立潮頭。”
“我們非?？春眉冸妱?dòng)汽車。我記得有一組預(yù)測(cè)數(shù)據(jù)提到，2030年前美國(guó)的純電動(dòng)汽車市場(chǎng)普及率將達(dá)到約25%，全球范圍的普及率會(huì)更高。所以我們十分看好電力驅(qū)動(dòng)系統(tǒng)。畢竟和添加一排氣缸相比，增加電機(jī)長(zhǎng)度的難度要小很多。”
但是Hemphill也強(qiáng)調(diào)，“這也意味著未來(lái)大約70%的汽車即使裝有電機(jī)，也依然會(huì)搭載內(nèi)燃機(jī)和相應(yīng)的變速箱。傳統(tǒng)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)在很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間內(nèi)都不會(huì)消失，只是所占比例或多或少的差別。內(nèi)燃機(jī)可能會(huì)和電機(jī)一起使用，我們要做好兩手準(zhǔn)備，研發(fā)一體化的智能系統(tǒng)。”
他補(bǔ)充道，自動(dòng)駕駛的未來(lái)也差不多如此：
“前不久，我們?cè)诘聡?guó)巴登巴登的技術(shù)會(huì)議上推出了‘eCorner’的概念，其中包含了一體化輪轂電機(jī)，這是專門為機(jī)器人出租車、配送車等自動(dòng)駕駛汽車而設(shè)計(jì)的。我們馬上就會(huì)分拆出一家子公司來(lái)生產(chǎn)我們的微交通Bio Hybrid概念車。”
“未來(lái)有無(wú)限的可能。舍弗勒想力爭(zhēng)上游，能更快地判斷未來(lái)的發(fā)展方向，找到我們的立身之處。”
There might be few more incisive examples of the industry’s organic technology transformation than what’s going on with Germany’s Schaeffler. The company’s name invariably arises in discussion of key baseline technology for all manner of driveline systems. An engineer from GM’s Global Propulsion Systems, for example, recently noted that GM collaborated with Schaeffler for development of an innovative damper for GM’s new 8-speed automatic transmission that varies its effect based on the amount of torque-converter slippage dictated by the powertrain controller.
The Schaeffler Group includes the 113-year-old FAG brand that’s intimately associated with specialty bearings and clutch and friction-material specialist LuK. Schaeffler’s foundation essentially rests on the “basics” of internal combustion-related technology.
Then what’s the idea with bricks-and-mortar in Silicon Valley and a new e-mobility business unit, both established early this year?
“Well, we're certainly on a journey,” said Jeff Hemphill, Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer of the Schaeffler Group for the Americas, in a recent interview with Automotive Engineering. “The technical founding of the company is the cage-guided needle roller bearing—it's about a least-electronic product you could think of,” he quips.
But with responsibility for new-product development, analysis and testing of transmission, engine and chassis components and systems for conventionally- and hybrid-powered vehicles, Hemphill and Schaeffler are enmeshed in the adoption of electrified technology and features that has become the byword of almost all major multinational suppliers.
What’s ‘new’ isn’t, really
It’s of course no secret, said Hemphill, that suppliers of “traditional” mechanical components and systems have for years been electrifying: “It's been 10 or 15 years, probably, that we got into what you would probably call ‘mechatronics’ or lead systems. That was started on the transmission side and now also on the engine side. We do a lot of actuation for dual-clutch transmissions, for example.
“And those are smart actuators with embedded microcontrollers and software and functional safety readings and the whole works. So, we now have a product that got our mechanical bits in it but, also has a printed circuit board and sensors and software with it.
"So we actually have quite a lot of experience with that. And, our mechanical background has really helped us with that. One of the things that we're most proud of is our degree of integration. One of our new [developments] is a hybrid module for this market. We can get the design engineers together and the production people together from all the little bits as well as from the system level—and think about new ways to integrate them.
“That has been for us pretty powerful. In that hybrid module, for example, it allowed us to take out, I want to say, 60 mm of axial length compared to the customer's original request—just because we [already] make the torque converters. And we were therefore able to figure out a different way to connect it to the electric motor that took out a lot of space. So, it did turn out not to be that bad of a background for an electrical and mechatronic company.”
One word: software
For Schaeffler, the process of evolving mechatronics effectively led to another important evolution, said Hemphill: development of software—as well as associated electronics-controls “skills”—vital for the new integrated business models the auto sector has come to demand. Is it now inescapable that it’s incumbent on fully-integrated suppliers to have software-development competency?
“It varies by what product we're talking about,” Hemphill explained. “For some of our actuators [and other modules], let’s say, there's a line drawn, usually, between the supplier and the OEM who does how much of the software.
“Some of our actuators, we just provide a simple interface where they can tell us, for example, a torque value and we go to that torque; and in some of them, we have much more ownership of the control strategy and so on. It just depends on the project, but we certainly have hundreds of people doing software now. I could look up an exact number, or what percent of our R&D is doing software; it's important, but it's still not the majority of our R&D force.”
Hemphill, himself holder of more than 100 issued or filed patents, said Schaeffler’s global R&D workforce currently numbers well more than 6000 persons. For major suppliers, he explained, today’s R&D environment is comprised of internally-driven research and response to customer requests for certain developments or innovations.
“I would say it's a combination of both,” he said. “We're certainly proud of our innovative capacity. And we also have developed over the years—because we make parts throughout the powertrain or even throughout the vehicle—we can take system-level perspective on things and sometimes arrive at some unique solutions.
“We'll often demonstrate those solutions. We have a number of demonstration vehicles all around the world that we've shown off; a couple of them we actually did in conjunction with OEMs. And then sometimes the OEM will come to us with an idea, and we'll take that on and execute it. So, it's a mix and we're pretty happy with our contribution there. But the challenges facing the industry go beyond any one OEM or multiple OEMs and one supplier. We're all thinking our brains out here.”
Proximity to tech
Schaeffler’s new Silicon Valley site in San Jose seems to be evidence of the company’s intent to keep pace—and not necessarily just with electrification. Although integrated wheel-hub motors are one of the company’s most-visible developments aimed at the coming twin wave of electrification and automation, Hemphill believes being in California’s tech nest is the right move to help identify and analyze new business models, Hemphill said.
“Out in the Valley there is someone thinking about everything. If you can pick out a couple [ideas] that end up being right and help them get going, you can really be part of something big. And the other side of that is there may be startups we find that have technology that we need.
“e-Mobility hybridization in electric vehicles is certainly a growing area. And probably the bulk of our projects are dedicated to those. But we do keep a certain piece of R&D forward-focused in free-thinking kind of research and advanced development just to make sure that we're trying to lead the curve as well as keeping up with it.
“We're pretty bullish on full-electric vehicles. We do have a U.S. forecast number that shows something in the mid-20s [percent market penetration], I think, by 2030 for pure electric vehicles and more than that globally. So, we're believers in electric propulsion systems. It is a lot easier to add lengths to an electric motor than to add a bank of cylinders to an engine!
“But even with those numbers, that means that 70-some percent of the vehicles will still have a combustion engine and therefore some form of transmission with it—even if it has an electric motor on board. It's almost a matter of degree where the combustion engine will be around for a long time. It may have an electric motor with it. We have to be prepared to engineer both of those and put them together into an intelligent system,” Hemphill asserted.
And it’s a similar outlook for autonomy, he added:
“One of the concepts we just showed in our technical symposium in Baden-Baden we call the eCorner. It has an integrated electric wheel motor; it’s specifically designed for autonomous—you could say robo-taxis or delivery vehicles. And we're just about to spin off a company to produce our Bio Hybrid [micro-mobility concept vehicle].
“There's every possibility out there. We basically just want to be close to the leading edge and have an earlier chance to assess where it might go and not go—and where to get involved.”
Author: Bill Visnic
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine
以機(jī)械零部件起家的舍弗勒正在大力擴(kuò)大版圖，雄心壯志從Bio Hybrid微交通概念車中可見(jiàn)一斑。舍弗勒已在籌備該車型的投產(chǎn)。
舍弗勒認(rèn)為，輪轂電機(jī)將會(huì)顛覆電動(dòng)汽車架構(gòu)
純電動(dòng)車橋融合了舍弗勒在內(nèi)燃機(jī)傳動(dòng)系統(tǒng)上積累的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和新的電動(dòng)技術(shù)。
48伏驅(qū)動(dòng)橋是舍弗勒實(shí)現(xiàn)全面混動(dòng)化愿景的途徑之一。