Intelligent Systems for Energy and Mobility

The research focuses on intelligent systems for managing integrated system components in areas such as energy management and supply, driving dynamics, electric drives, driver assistance, and integral vehicle safety. Within the energy sector, the emphasis is placed on utilising renewable energy sources.

The following professors are active in this field of research:

Akkordeon

Research Projects

Please use the Current Research Information System (CRIS) to view the research projects in this research field.

Insight into the Research

The researchers present the research field in an interview.

Prof Bikker & Prof Cerbe at an e-charging station

‘We are making our contribution to the major issues of the future’ - Prof Bikker and Prof Cerbe in an interview about the research field

Energy and mobility are important areas, both economically and socially, as well as ecologically. In this interview, professors Gert Bikker and Thomas Cerbe explain why the research field of 'Intelligent Systems for Energy and Mobility' is so important at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences. They also discuss the projects they are using to drive development, and explain how teaching can benefit from research.

Professor Bikker and Professor Cerbe,
Research activities in the fields of energy and mobility play a major role at Ostfalia. What distinguishes your field of research from others?

Gert Bikker: While it is true that energy and mobility are also important topics in other fields of research, There, our scientists focus primarily on the further technical development of components and subsystems. Our task is to skilfully combine these subsystems using information systems and digitalisation to create new functions.

Thomas Cerbe: EV sharing is a good example of this. Car sharing is a system that combines sophisticated technologies, ranging from communication and GPS to digitalisation. It enables people to share a vehicle and use it as and when required — that is intelligent mobility. But what happens when the vehicles are not in use? The fleet has a lot of storage capacity and can therefore store surplus energy in the grid, becoming an energy supplier in the process. This combines an intelligent mobility system with an intelligent energy system.

What requirements must be met for such a system to succeed

Thomas Cerbe: We need a functioning business model because an operator must be able to make money from the system. Technology is one thing; user acceptance and profitability are other things. At the Institute of Traffic Management at the Ostfalia Campus Salzgitter, we have launched projects in which we are looking at how these systems can be accepted by people. Our research field is not only home to engineers, but also social scientists. This is our great advantage.

Gert Bikker: Electromobility is a topic that unites us all — unlike in the past, when each discipline worked in isolation. Today, interdisciplinarity is firmly anchored in our field of research. This is also thanks to the Ostfalia Centre for Electromobility, or CEMO for short. Researchers from six faculties work together here: Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Transport, Sport, Tourism and Media, and Supply Engineering.

What about networking outside the university?

Gert Bikker: We are supporting a project in the Wolfenbüttel district together with car manufacturers, energy suppliers, and many citizens. In this project, we ask ourselves: What does electromobility mean for rural areas? In other words, how does it differ from larger cities, where distances and ranges are different? Concrete tests are being carried out in communities to see how intelligent networking can improve mobility in rural areas, for example through the development of charging infrastructure and EV sharing systems. Our project partners benefit from the expertise available at CEMO.

Thomas Cerbe: Cooperation between universities has increased, both in the field of energy with TU Clausthal and in the field of mobility with TU Braunschweig. We are linked by many joint doctoral programmes, and we all benefit from the exchange of experience.

What else are you working on?

Gert Bikker: Electric mobility is just one topic. Others include energy management and supply, driving dynamics, driver assistance and integral vehicle safety. Vehicles are becoming more connected to the outside world. They are networking with each other and with the infrastructure in order to communicate. Our research projects support this development. We answer questions about which use cases arise from the open interfaces and how we can implement them technically. We also investigate what this development means for vehicle safety, including system reliability and preventing unauthorised access.

Why are energy and mobility such important topics at Ostfalia?

Gert Bikker: Because they ensure the economic success of our region. We are doing our part to address the major issues of the future.

Thomas Cerbe: ... and because the two systems are increasingly converging, even in our homes. In the future, we will be able to connect our vehicles to our energy systems. Major changes are on the horizon in the areas of energy and mobility, and we want to help shape this development. There is another good reason, too.

Which one?

Thomas Cerbe: We conduct research for ourselves as well as for others, so that Ostfalia can gain new experience and continue to develop. I love it when I can learn something in a research project and pass on my knowledge to the students. Research and teaching are particularly closely linked in the fields of energy and mobility.

If you have any questions about research at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, please contact the Knowledge and Technology Transfer team (external link, opens in a new window).

Intelligent Systems for Energy and Mobility

Akkordeon

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Faculty of Automotive Engineering

Faculty of Trade and Social Work

Faculty of Computer Science/IT

Faculty of Mechanical engineering

Faculty of Transport, Sports, Tourism and Media

Faculty of Supply Engineering

Research Projects

Insight into the Research

‘We are making our contribution to the major issues of the future’ - Prof Bikker and Prof Cerbe in an interview about the research field