Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) account for a growing proportion of the global car market. The rising prevalence of e-mobility is inherently leading to the development of more, increasingly complex functions. For example, EVs require thermal management systems to protect components, predictive efficiency assistants to provide actionable recommendations on the most efficient driving style, and functions related to HV charging. The ASAP Group offers its customers integrated functional development services in relation to e-mobility – from requirements management to developing models and control unit code to integrating solutions in the vehicle and validation. A key focus of ASAP’s Software service segment is functional development for charging system components. On the one hand, this includes developing charging strategies that control the charging process. On the other hand, ASAP’s development specialists are also responsible for battery monitoring functions. These prevent rapid battery ageing, including by curtailing the target charge level. In addition, ASAP is developing functions such as inductive and bidirectional charging, standardised error and termination management for the charging process and charging status notifications displayed to the driver via the HMI. For example, ASAP’s developers are working to create suitable visualisations so that different visualisation patterns can be displayed on the charging socket and the HMI depending on the charging scenario – initialisation, charging complete, charging terminated, error notifications and so on. This includes making sure that the display brightness adjusts depending on the ambient light level. Another focus topic is data storage, which involves determining which information from previous charging cycles is defined as relevant and stored by the system. The stored data, which can include reasons for terminating charging and the charge level, can be evaluated at a later point in time for quality assurance purposes.
The variety of parameter combinations resulting from country-specific standards presents a particular challenge for functional definition and development, with different standards for HV charging in different regions. Consequently, different charging infrastructure and standards must be considered in EV development. One fundamental distinction is between AC and DC charging. When it comes to DC charging standards, the CCS2 connector is standard in the EU, while Japan relies on CHAdeMO and China follows the GB/T standard. The voltage in the charging point therefore has to be adjusted to meet the relevant requirements during the charging process. This requires seamless communication between the EV and the charging point via the interface – without relying on any additional effort from the driver. Developers must ensure this happens for the different national variants and their charging standards and protocols. The additional functionality of bidirectional charging also represents a challenge to overcome during development. Bidirectional charging technology makes it possible to charge the EV but also for energy stored in the EV to be fed back into the public power grid or a domestic power supply. Once again, developers must ensure that the EV and charging points communicate seamlessly for this to function. ASAP’s services in this context include requirements management and analysing country-specific standards for the communication process. Additional functionality in this context arises from optimised bidirectional charging and discharging strategies. The function must be developed so that charging and discharging avoids damaging the HV storage system in order to extend the battery’s service life.
A-SPICE-compliant work with the PAK automation solution
ASAP’s functional development work always ensures compliance with the Automotive SPICE (A-SPICE) standard. Established in 2005, this automotive standard makes it possible to assess processes and facilitates improvements. ASAP relies on its PAK (Process Automation Kit) software not only to ensure its development activities are always A-SPICE-compliant but also to maximise tool chain and work step automation. PAK is a framework for individual, scalable and reusable automations and represents a useful addition to conventional DevOps practices. The PAK’s modular system concept enables users to define and automate development steps for specific developer roles and reuse them later for other processes. In addition, using the PAK makes it impossible to simply skip or forget individual steps in the development process, so users can always rely on adherence to specified quality standards and process conformity. Given that compliance with the Automotive SPICE standard is absolutely mandatory, this presents a crucial advantage for development processes. Ultimately, these factors facilitate more efficient collaboration and relieve the strain on employees while also ensuring a consistently high level of quality in development. So, by applying its PAK software, ASAP bridges the gap between series production of software and the automation of processes, methods and tools.