Politecnico and Mitsubishi Electric: working together for more efficient motors and new markets
Finding the right partner. Politecnico di Torino and Mitsubishi Electric have done exactly that, jointly building research pathways on enabling technologies capable of expanding a company's target markets. Mitsubishi Electric, a Japanese industrial group active internationally in electrical and electronic technologies, has built with Politecnico a well-established relationship that has delivered significant results over the years, and is already looking towards new opportunities for development.
Since 2019, the collaboration has continued to this day to the satisfaction of both parties, successfully combining research with patenting and now moving forward with the launch of a research doctorate.
"The main focus has been sensorless control of high-efficiency synchronous motors. The goal was to achieve simplicity in both application and use," explain Gianmario Pellegrino and Paolo Pescetto, both Professors at the Department of Energy "Galileo Ferraris"-DENERG and members of the Power Electronics Innovation Center-PEIC. They add: "Every year we managed to produce a patent after validating the results in our laboratories, an outcome that has had a positive impact for both sides. Another factor that made the work easier was the company's focus on research and innovation over the long term, keeping pace with emerging technological trends".
Over the years, the work has focused increasingly on simplifying motor control devices, for use in vehicles as well as in air conditioners, pumps, compressors, and servomotor applications for industrial automation and robotics.
"The basis for our collaboration with Politecnico lies in our core role within Mitsubishi Electric. MERCE (Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe), Mitsubishi Electric's French subsidiary and European research centre, is dedicated to monitoring emerging research and technology trends across Europe. Our role is to identify breakthrough innovations and integrate them into technology developments that can support Mitsubishi Electric's future products and business growth," explains Davide Barlini, Head of Research, Power Electronic Systems Division at MERCE, who continues: "Once we've identified the trends, we build a network of academic contacts. We need input from universities, particularly those that represent world-class excellence".
Barlini also notes that Politecnico is well known in Japan for its research into motor control, which made starting a collaboration a natural step. On working with the university, Nicolas Voyer, Chief Scientist, Power Electronic Systems Division at MERCE, adds: "Our collaboration came about because our lab is genuinely responsible for tracking the evolution of research in Europe. Politecnico has always been able to rise to our challenges".
The ability to share a common approach, method and scientific language is therefore at the heart of this long-standing relationship between the university and the company. Another source of added value comes from patents, which Mitsubishi views as a tool for generating value in the form of intellectual property. "In this case too – the two partners explain – working together meant going beyond the usual approach: we established specific rules for patenting, a practice that isn't standard in other university-industry collaborations".
The partnership between Politecnico and Mitsubishi Electric now continues with the support of a research doctorate, with an eye on what comes next. Barlini concludes: "Politecnico is an excellent partner. Research and technology are advancing extremely quickly. Funding a doctorate is a step in that direction, but other opportunities will come up too, including on different topics, not just those related to motor control. The doctorate itself, for example, isn't strictly about motor control, but rather about the concept of the digital twin; in other words, further step in bringing control and design closer together”.
Photo credits: Mitsubishi Electric