International experts in fluid technology met in mid-June to share their knowledge and expertise. Fördervereinigung Fluidtechnik e.V. (Society for the Advancement of Fluid Power), the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), RWTH Aachen University and the Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems (ifas) came together to organize the 13th IFK Symposium in Aachen, which this year was entitled “Fluid Power: Digital, Reliable, Sustainable.” Thomas has been a regular at the event for over 20 years and was back again this time too, showcasing smart solutions and contributing to debates.
The IFK is one of the world’s largest scientific conferences on fluid power. Researchers, industry leaders and policymakers meet every four years to discuss topical issues relating to hydraulic and pneumatic drives and control systems. This year too, the three-day congress at the Eurogress Aachen conference center attracted a healthy number of visitors who could look forward to an extensive program. The first day alone featured a symposium boasting 12 papers – with many more from a total of 14 specialist fields lined up to follow over the next two days.
Thomas delivers whitepaper
Thomas was an active contributor once again this year, presenting its whitepaper entitled “The path to distributed hydraulic actuation – model-based system design of enhanced mechatronic pilot systems” in the “Valve Actuation” workstream. This introduced our Electro Hydraulic Actuator with Thomas Electronic Standard (EHA TES), a smart mechatronic pilot system for mobile machines, and focused on two aspects in particular: the model-based development of decentralized axis control for partial automation of working hydraulics and the question of whether automatic self-adaptation can reduce the outlay required to commission hydraulic axes.
Spotlight on sustainability and energy efficiency
“The IFK is invaluable as a forum, because it’s a place where specialists from all over the world discuss trends, current challenges and developments, get inspiration and motivate one another,” says Michael Lutz, Director Sales & Marketing in the Customer Unit Off Highway Solutions at Thomas.
The in-depth dialogue with customers, scientists, and other industry heavyweights is particularly important for Thomas in its capacity as a technology leader. Ultimately, with our Sense. Think. Act (STA) products, we have long been demonstrating the huge potential offered by electrification and the trend toward smarter and more complex systems, including in the off-highway segment. Products such as our electromechanical actuator (EMA) and compact pilot actuator (CPA) thus attracted a great deal of interest in Aachen.
The whitepaper “The path to distributed hydraulic actuation – model-based system design of enhanced mechatronic pilot systems” is available to download.
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The global political situation at the moment meant that sustainability and energy efficiency issues were very much in the spotlight this year. People are more interested than ever in the ongoing trend for smart hydraulic systems.
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