Due to the proliferation of ICT Technologies, manufacturing industry is undergoing substantial transformation in terms of HW but also in terms of Cyber-Physical Production Systems and the SW and services used within production environments. In parallel, the manufacturing processes of the future are changing and need to be highly flexible and dynamic in order to satisfy customer demands for, e.g. large series production, mass customization, or changing orders. To keep pace with the needs of the manufacturing industry of the future, in Manufacturing 4.0 companies need to flexibly react to these demands and be able to offer production capacities in a rapid way. Thus companies looking for manufacturing capacity need to be supported by the means to find these capacities, configure them, and integrate them into their own manufacturing processes. To achieve this, one obvious approach is to port successful concepts from the field of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) and Cloud computing to manufacturing to mirror agile collaboration through flexible and scalable manufacturing processes: • Leasing and releasing manufacturing assets in an on-demand, utility-like fashion • Rapid elasticity through scaling leased assets up and down if necessary • Pay-per-use through metered service Applying these principles, Cloud manufacturing can move manufacturing processes from production-oriented to service-oriented networks by modelling single manufacturing assets as services in a similar way as SaaS or PaaS solutions. By modelling all process steps and manufacturing assets as services it is possible to realize cross-organization manufacturing orchestrations and integrate distributed resources and ultimately manufacture products more efficiently. While the theoretical foundations for Cloud manufacturing are manifest there are no proven tools and technologies exist in the market - CREMA aims to change this fact by providing Cloud-based Rapid Elastic Manufacturing based on SaaS and Cloud model

Nature uses foam or sponge-like structures in various organisms for purposes like shock absorption, noise reduction, and vibration compensation in a remarkable example of evolutionary adaptation and functional design. On the other hand, many products still rely on non-sustainable materials of fossil-based origin, for example foams and elastomeric used for vibratory motion, sound, harshness, energy, and shock-impact absorption in industries such as automotive, aerospace and marine. Example of such Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH) materials are rubber and engineering resins. Bio.3DGREEN develops and demonstrates a novel manufacturing approach for a cost-effective bio-inspired platform of bio-based components based on graphene foam (GF) to meet the industrial needs, i.e. vibration, sound and shock-impact absorption and durability in extreme conditions. Bio.3DGREEN democratizes graphene technology and enables the unscalable fabrication of graphene-based components of complex geometries to be demonstrated at TRL 6 through a high throughput, laser-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) procedure. The procedure is bio-inspired, mimicking structures such as the human bone, and is based solely on bio-based graphene system with vegetable oil as the raw material, resulting in carbon-positive manufacturing of the new components. Bio.3DGREEN demonstrates the superior bio-based GF parts in four different industries, aiming to drive the optimization of the new manufacturing approach through an application-driven approach: Automotive suspension systems & isolation panels, aerospace applications and quiet shipping. Bio.3DGREEN achieves a multi-disciplinary approach to develop, optimize, and improve smart manufacturing application-driven, bio-based GF components, also considering the performance of current materials used, their cost, market size, wastage and recyclability, sustainability of manufacturing process, inclusion in Europe’s circular economy and LCA, LCC aspects.

Innovation technologies in ground vehicle engineering require strong interdisciplinary and intersectoral investigations with an international dimension. In this context the project EVE proposes sustainable approach based on intensive staff exchange that leads to collaborative research and training between universities and industrial organizations from Germany, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, South Africa, and the USA. The project includes basic and applied research, development design, experimentations, networking, and dissemination and exploitation activities. The research objectives are focused on the development of (i) experimental tyre database that can be used in the design of new chassis control systems and subjected to inclusion into Horizon 2020 pilot on Open Research Data, (ii) advanced models of ground vehicles and automotive subsystems for real-time applications, and (iii) novel integrated chassis control methods. It will lead to development and improvement of innovative vehicle components such as (i) an integrated chassis controller targeting simultaneous improvements in safety, energy efficiency and driving comfort, (ii) new hardware subsystems for brakes, active suspension and tyre pressure control for on-road and off-road mobility, and (iii) remote network-distributed vehicle testing technology for integrated chassis systems. The project targets will be achieved with intensive networking measures covering (i) knowledge transfer and experience sharing between participants from academic and non-academic sectors and (ii) professional advancement of the consortium members through intersectoral and international collaboration and secondments. The project EVE is fully consistent with the targets of H2020-MSCA-RISE programme and will provide excellent opportunities for personal career development of staff and will lead to creation of a strong European and international research group to create new hi-tech ground vehicle systems.

Focused on BEV architectures with distributed multiple wheel drives, and, specifically, in-wheel powertrains, HighScape will explore the feasibility of a family of highly efficient power electronics components and systems, and including integrated traction inverters, on-board chargers, DC/DC converters, and electric drives for auxiliaries and actuators. The proposed solutions will be assessed on test rigs and on two differently sized BEV prototypes. The project will result in: i) component integration with the incorporation of the WBG traction inverters within the in-wheel machines to achieve zero footprint of the electric powertrain on the sprung mass; the functional integration of the traction inverter with the on-board charger, and the incorporation of the latter and the DC/DC converters within the battery pack; and the implementation of multi-motor and fault-tolerant inverter solutions for the auxiliaries and chassis actuators; ii) novel solutions, including the implementation of reconfigurable winding topologies of the drive, as well as integrated and predictive thermal management at the vehicle level, with the adoption of phase changing materials within the power electronics components; iii) the achievement and demonstration of significantly higher levels of power density, specific power and energy efficiency for the resulting power electronics systems and related drives; iv) major cost reductions thanks to the dual use of parts, subsystem modularity, and model-based design to eliminate overengineering; and v) increased dependability and reliability of the power electronics systems, enabled by design and intelligent predictive health monitoring algorithms. Through HighScape, the participants will establish new knowledge and industrial leadership in key digital technologies, and, therefore, directly contribute to Europe’s Key Strategic Orientations as well as actively support the transformation towards zero tailpipe emission road mobility (2Zero).