At the Hannover Messe of this year, Matthias Nienhaus and team from the Saarland University will be displaying an equipment that not only enables the wheels to “recognize” how and when to turn, but also allows them to function collectively in interactive teams.

This new technology can be utilized wherever there is a requirement for extra backing when pushing, driving, or pulling a system that utilizes wheels. The probable uses span from mobility aids, including wheelchairs and wheeled walkers, to wheelbarrows, shopping trolleys, and sack trucks. Merely supervising the information produced when the motors within the wheels spin, enables the motors and thus, the wheels to be managed without the requirement for any extra sensors.

The group of engineers will be displaying their new technique (April 23–27) at Hannover Messe at the Saarland Research and Innovation Stand. The aim of the study work carried out by Nienhaus is smart motors that produce operational information without the requirement for added sensors. Nienhaus explains, “Basically, the motor itself is twisted by us into a sensor, successfully producing a new type of sensor. It is an extremely cost-effective and potent technology.”

He further adds, “At present, we are executing several research developments in which we check how we can haul out the maximum probable amount of information from electric motors that can be used by us to manage the drives more competently. However, we also utilize the information to supervise whether the motor is functioning appropriately or whether there are signals of wear or signs of errors.”

For instance, the research engineers scrutinize how the electromagnetic field is scattered at specific places in the motor and how this field alters while the motor is functioning. A patent application has been logged to guard the innovative techniques that make the information even more dependable by computationally sorting unnecessary noise and artifacts.