The largest electric bus depot in the Nordic countries is now fully operational in the Danish city of Aalborg. Kempower, a leading supplier of fast charging technology for electric vehicles, has supplied GodEnergi A/S with its DC fast charging technology. The depot can now simultaneously charge more than 100 electric buses.
The biggest electric bus depot in the Nordics has become fully operational in the Danish city of Aalborg.
Leading EV fast charging technology provider Kempower has supplied over 100 of its Kempower Satellite chargers at the depot.
The facility also features Kempower ChargEye, a comprehensive cloud-based charging management system.
GodEnergi A/S has installed 124 Kempower Satellite chargers at the depot, which are connected to 18 Kempower Power Units. Additionally, six transformers have been fitted in the local area, and over 20km of cabling has been laid at the facility, capable of delivering the equivalent power to simultaneously turn on over 40,000 flat-screen TVs.
The facility also features Kempower ChargEye, a comprehensive cloud-based charging management system. Kempower ChargEye will enable GodEnergi A/S to easily monitor and manage the day-to-day operations of both the chargers and electric buses, continuously optimizing charging power and ensuring that the buses have enough charge to run according to schedule.
Read the original news published on Kempower website to know better how Kempower ChargEye will enable GodEnergi A/S to easily monitor and manage the day-to-day operations.
The picture is from the kempower website article on the subject
Stora Enso and Swedish electric car company Polestar have started collaboration to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030. Stora Enso gets on board Polestar 0 project as a partner to contribute to the car’s climate neutrality with their bio-based battery material Lignode® by Stora Enso, made from trees.
The Polestar 0 project, launched in 2021, aims to create a climate neutral car by 2030 by eliminating all sources of CO2 emissions – not only offsetting them – throughout the supply chain and production. Reaching full climate neutrality throughout the value chain, however, is a challenge for such a complex product as a car. Stora Enso takes on the challenge to contribute to the car battery’s climate neutrality with its bio-based battery anode material, Lignode® by Stora Enso, with the aim to become a commercial supplier for the outcome of the Polestar 0 project.
Graphitic carbon in car batteries today is either mined or made from fossil-based materials. Lignode® by Stora Enso is made of lignin which comes from sustainably managed Nordic trees that grow back once harvested. It is essential to revolutionise battery technology to sustainably cover the needs for energy storage in an electrified future. Stora Enso believes that the key to combating climate change involves the use of renewable materials.
Read the original news published on Stora Enso website to learn better how Lignode® by Stora Enso and The Polestar 0 project works.
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
That adage never felt more appropriate than at this year’s CES. It certainly felt like I walked a thousand miles to see everything worth seeing at the world’s largest consumer electronics show.
My colleague, Samuli, was delighted by the shift to sustainable technology at CES 2023. For me, the highlight was the focus on electric cars, smart mobility, and software-defined vehicles. No doubt about it, the car is now tech, and this trend is redefining the whole automotive industry.
The software-defined car is going mainstream
The shift toward software-based technology is revolutionizing the car experience for drivers and passengers alike. Just like your smartphone and computer, a software-defined car can be updated and upgraded over the air to add new features and capabilities without having to replace expensive hardware components. This development is becoming a major driver of innovation and competitive differentiation in the automotive industry.
With Vaisala Xweather, we have a clear goal. We want to help automotive innovators make every journey safer and more efficient. At CES, we showed three examples of how real-time weather data combined with reliable forecasts can improve safety, comfort, and convenience for drivers and passengers.
Supporting safer advanced driver assistance systems
Road surface condition is one of many parameters available from the Vaisala Xweather Road Weather API.
The race towards autonomous driving was on full display at CES. But there are still many challenges.
The set of conditions under which an autonomous vehicle (AV) is designed to operate safely is called the Operational Design Domain (ODD). The ODD includes information about the types of roads the AV can drive on, the speeds at which it can safely operate, the weather and lighting conditions under which it can safely navigate, and many other factors.
Vaisala Xweather is helping the automotive industry safely expand the ODD of autonomous vehicles by supplying accurate real-time road weather data.
Road weather refers to various weather conditions that can affect the safety and operation of vehicles on the road, such as rain, sleet, and snow, as well as other factors like fog and high winds. These conditions can have a significant impact on visibility, traction, and the overall stability of vehicles. In fact, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that every fifth road accident in the United States is weather-related.1
Road weather data helps reduce the risk of accidents by providing accurate real-time information about surface conditions beyond the vehicle’s line of sight. Weather-aware vehicles can also use road weather forecasts to find safer, more efficient routes and reduce drive time by avoiding roads with poor driving conditions.
Vaisala is ready to take this journey with you
Vaisala Xweather road weather data is trusted by the biggest names in the automotive industry: Audi, BMW, Bosch, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Rand McNally, Skoda, TomTom, and Volkswagen. Our advanced forecast models are built upon 85 years of weather expertise and over 20 years of pioneering work with road weather. But this is just the start.
The automotive industry is on the cusp of a major shift toward the software-defined car. This shift will bring a host of new challenges and opportunities for automakers, suppliers, and consumers alike. It is an exciting time to be involved in the automotive industry, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Drones will deliver groceries to your home and assist in farming and construction. These are some of the applications where developments will be brisk once European ground rules and safe airspace practices (U-space) are established for unmanned aerial vehicles. Advancements in this field are driven for instance by the need to reduce emissions from transport and logistics and by the opportunities offered by digitalisation.
The Finnish Parliament is currently debating a legislative amendment implementing EU regulations, under which airspaces for unmanned aerial vehicles, i.e. drones, may be established in Finland as of 26 January 2023. Similar legislation is being introduced in other EU Member States.
“The purpose is to coordinate manned and unmanned aviation and to facilitate drone flying in circumstances where the pilot has no direct visual contact with the drone. A huge market is opening up, as the EU expects the drone business in Europe to grow to a volume of up to EUR 14 billion by 2030. Prognoses show that more than 100,000 jobs may be created, which means that there will be substantial opportunities on the Finnish market too,” says Director Pasi Nikama from Fintraffic.
Eurocontrol, the Finnish National Technical Research Centre VTT and Fintraffic, the Finnish air navigation services provider, organised a summit in Helsinki on 26 January. The event was attended by a large number of top-level representatives from several European countries. The event included expert presentations on the European Commission’s recently published air traffic control strategy and on airspace management experiments carried out by various governments.
Eurocontrol chaired three workshops at the event, focusing on the key challenges in the field: the need for synergies between stakeholders, cyber security and operational concept.
“Drones are becoming increasingly common, and Finland must focus sufficient attention on providing lower airspace services. This calls for public investments as soon as possible, to allow the Finnish market to evolve in step with the rest of Europe. Drones must be acknowledged as a major factor in building the transport and logistics system of the future,” says Pertti Korhonen, CEO of Fintraffic.
“Through close cooperation, Finnish operators have been at the forefront of developments in Europe, helping create safe airspace management for drones,” says Ari Aalto, Vice President, Mobility and Transport at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. VTT is investing in research collaboration in this field in several national and international projects and cooperation forums. “Finland must remain an active player in order to keep up with other countries,” Aalto continues.
“Establishing airspaces for unmanned aviation is one of the most significant steps we can take towards efficient urban air transport. These solutions will open up business opportunities many of which we probably cannot even anticipate yet,” says Research Team Leader Petri Mononen from VTT.
In recent years, there have been several projects in Finland exploring the use of drones for various applications. Late in 2022, Fintraffic and VTT jointly ran a test under the Drolo project in Oulu, involving the flying of drones beyond visual contact with the aid of new digital services that will be introduced commercially at a later date. Fintraffic is currently developing a new generation of digital services that will form a basis in Finland for the coordination of manned and unmanned aviation and for commercial projects.
‘U-space’ is a system of systems designed to ensure the safe operations of any number of future aircraft, such as drones.
Semel Oy has launched together with Modulsystem Sweden AB a payment unit for parking and EV charging at eCarExpo in Stockholm in February 2023. TouchPayGo payment unit enables parking and charging payment with regular a credit card, no apps needed.
TouchPayGo is designed and manufactured in Sweden. It includes an easy to use 10” touchscreen display connected to a payment terminal. The payment unit controls several charging stations simultaneously. Customer selects the desired charging station and the parking and charging time. Based on the estimated charge, a pre card authorization is made. By feeding information, e.g e-mail, the customer receives a receipt after the parking and charging session.
The parking/charging operator can update tariffs and other settings into the system via a defined web portal. From here can also the charging stations be monitored, and reports can be downloaded.
TouchPayGo payment unit can easily be connected to Modulsystems DAC (DoorAccessControl) unit for managing access control to the parking garage.
TouchPayGo payment unit is available both as a wall mounted and floor version.
Semel Oy is a company established in 1971 that develops and manufactures cash register systems, information systems and equipment for the passenger transport industry. Focus is delivery of dispatching-, payment-, and management systems for taxi in all our market areas. Semel is today the largest supplier of taxi information systems in the Nordics. Through our subsidiary, we also act as a system supplier for public transport and parking, as well as for systems for charging electric vehicles. Semel has been part of the Swedish KG Knutsson AB since the 1990s.
In the Tampere City Region, there was an agile experiment to examine the drone use cases. Unmanned aviation has developed rapidly in the recent years. Company Insta Group Oy provided the drones and situational awareness solution for the theme park Särkänniemi event, what was coordinated by Business Tampere.
Tampere-based Insta ILS is a specialist in avionics, remotely piloted aircraft systems and high tech. It is naturally interested in experiments where the company’s fields of expertise are needed and solutions can be tested.
Lassila estimates that drone usage in event security is increasing significantly. For example, venues can be proactively inspected and their bottlenecks outlined with drones. While the event is happening, drones can be used to obtain real-time data on traffic, crowd flows and security issues.
When operating drones, one must know regulations
Miikka Nenonen, Field Operations Manager at Särkänniemi, tells that the theme park informs their visitors of the video surveillance in the area. The visitors usually take it positively, because surveillance makes them feel safe and comfortable.
The regulation to harmonise drone operation throughout the EU entered into force on 31 December 2020. There are circa 450 pages of the regulations, therefore anyone operating an UAS should really know the rules in order to obey them.
Miikka Nenonen, Field Operations Manager at Särkänniemi, tells that the theme park informs their visitors of the video surveillance in the area. The visitors usually take it positively, because surveillance makes them feel safe and comfortable.
Observations: monitoring traffic and security
Monitoring the flow of traffic has proved to be a significant use case for drones, especially when events are causing only occasional traffic jams. In that case permanent surveillance cameras may not be needed, but drones could be used to monitor traffic congestion in several locations.
Congestion data can be utilised to control the traffic. According to Nenonen, traffic jams could be alleviated by controlling traffic lights in cooperation with the City of Tampere, and informing the visitors to favour public transport when possible. Reducing traffic jams is also another way to improve customer experience.
Concerts held near lakes, like the ones organised in Särkänniemi, attract boat traffic. It is easy to monitor by drones, and in case of an emergency, rescue operations could be facilitated with the situational picture produced by a drone.
A thermal camera proved to be an excellent tool after dark. The experiment included a target person who stayed in the amusement park after the concert and had his location tracked by a drone.
– Our thermal camera contributed in an excellent way to existing surveillance camera system in the area, says Nissinen.
Other use cases for drones: maintenance, inspection
In the Särkänniemi agile experiment, other drone use cases were also considered: for example inspecting the amusement park rides, various maintenance tasks, like winter maintenance.
During the events drones can gather data in the venue: on what, when or where audience is doing. Drones can provide real-time situational awareness data and perform disturbance monitoring.
After the event drones provide data on the routes audience use to leave the venue, their timing and whether they’ve all left the venue. Traffic flows can be monitored in the nearby areas. Additionally, drones can monitor the venue for trespassers also outside event hours.
Finnish self-driving technology company Sensible 4 has carried out a successful autonomous driving pilot in Tampere, Finland, despite the worst and most challenging winter conditions in years.
The pilot, which started in January 2022 and lasted for 2.5 months, aimed to see how autonomous vehicles work with public transportation networks and collect feedback from users. Two self-driving Toyota Proace vehicles were used as feeder traffic for the tram trunk line in a suburb of Tampere — a city aiming to pioneer smart city development. The passenger feedback collected was mainly positive and focused on improving accessibility for people with disabilities.
Extreme Cold and Snow Storms
The vehicles were driven in extreme cold, as the temperature dropped from time to time below -20 °C. At other times temperature variation above and below zero degrees Celcius caused the road to be slippery. Heavy snowfalls covered the lane markings and the ploughing brought high piles of snow along the route.
One of the learnings was how to adapt to a snow ploughing track that in some cases was quite far from the bus stop. Another one is how freezing rain affects the hardware and the third is how to adjust to alternate-side parking.
Sensible 4 will continue operating pilots later this year in Norway, Switzerland, Japan and Germany.
SHOW Pilot In a Nutshell
Hervanta, in Tampere, Finland
3.1.-10.3.2022 (Mon-Fri)
5569 km
560 h
1663 passengers
Max 30 km/h speed
3,5 km route length
Mixed traffic
Harsh weather conditions
Temperatures below -20°C
Heavy snowing
Freezing rain
Slipperiness due to temperature variation around 0 degrees Celsius
Financial Times has listed European Climate Leaders 2022. The list includes European companies that achieved the greatest reduction in their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2015 and 2020. Vaisala is proud to be in the top 5 of the list, increasing its ranking from place 14 the previous year.
Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements, is ranked 5th on the Financial Times list of European climate leaders. IPCC’s latest report on climate change highlights the urgency of climate actions and emissions reduction more than ever. Financial Times brings up the achievements that have been made thus far but also encourages companies to do more.
“Sustainability really is at the core of Vaisala, and it is a great honor to be included on the top of Financial Times’s Climate Leaders list once again. Our ranking last year was 14, which is excellent, but it is a true honor to take place 5 this year. As the latest IPCC report states, climate change is an even more urgent global challenge than we have originally thought. This calls also for actions from the private sector to step up and drive the change for our planet,” says Kai Öistämö, President and CEO, Vaisala.
Basemark showcases its advanced automotive instrument clusters with Augmented Reality (AR) and HMI graphics, powered by MediaTek’s latest automotive infotainment platform.
Basemark, the automotive AR company, announced today it is showcasing its automotive AR and HMI graphics software at CES 2023, which is now validated for MediaTek’s latest MT2715 automotive infotainment platform.
As the demand for more advanced automotive in-cockpit experiences and driver assistance systems is growing rapidly, Basemark is the optimal choice given their forerunning automotive AR and HMI development and deployment software, Rocksolid AR. MediaTek provides high performance, automotive-grade platforms that are capable of powering Basemark’s advanced software.
MediaTek, the world’s 4th largest semiconductor company, and provider of innovative SoCs, for a wide range of products, recently launched its MT2715, offering best-in-segment performance, power efficiency, integrated capabilities, and cost-effectiveness. The collaboration with Basemark allows MediaTek to immediately offer a complete AR and HMI authoring solution for automakers to accelerate attractive new in-vehicle infotainment designs to market.
Integrating the latest technologies that drive vehicle personality and performance, Marelli utilizes Rightware’s Kanzi One to create its advanced vehicle platform which is on display at CES 2023.
The demo runs on a Qualcomm 4th generation Snapdragon 8295 processor and utilizes seven displays, eight cameras, and a wide range of sensors and data sources, all integrated and synchronized with Kanzi One. It showcases advanced features like a driver monitoring system (DMS) with drowsiness detection, surround-view monitoring, rear-seat passenger cameras, and more, all brought together in a beautiful, easy-to-use, highly functional UI created with Kanzi One.
The main cluster and Horizon Head-Up Display run on the QNX operating system, while other displays leverage Android™. As Kanzi One supports all major automotive platforms and offers uniquely deep integration with Android Automotive, these diverse systems perform as one to deliver a delightful experience for the user; all while requiring less work by the development team. This means faster iteration and less time from proof-of-concept to production.
Marelli relies on Kanzi One’s unique capabilities to
Seamlessly integrate myriad displays, cameras, sensors, and data sources
Easily create stunning 3D interfaces with photorealistic rendering and great performance
Implement a highly efficient modular workflow across internal teams
