100 times cheaper and 100 times smaller

For the first time, therefore, it is not just the connected becoming intelligent, but also connectivity itself. Size and price set new standards. Leoni will be presenting to the public for the first time on Microsoft’s booth at the Hanover Messe trade fair how the technology works and what benefits it brings to users and cooperation partners.

„The megatrends of energy distribution and data management are the field in which Leoni has been established and operating for decades as a well-known manufacturer. The Company is now transforming from an experienced cable producer to be a technology partner to its customers – while making use of the opportunities of the digital age for the benefit of its customers and partners,” states Bruno Fankhauser, member of Leoni AG’s Board of Directors with responsibility for the Wire & Cable Solutions division.

The objective is to offer intelligent, customised and trail-blazing solutions. LEONiQ makes a crucial contribution in this respect, comprising three main elements:

1. Simulation for energy and data transmission: As early as the initial development phase, LEONiQ uses digital functional simulation of cable solutions to design them best for the respective application.
2. Sensor-integrated, intelligent connectivity solutions: The technology enables a new kind of monitoring function to be integrated in system-critical applications with sensor and electronic elements along the cable system. It continuously reads such different parameters as temperature, impermeability, mechanical stress and GPS position.
3. Data analysis and smart services: Algorithms in the cloud analyse the data, which the user can view on a dashboard; if need be, almost in real time. This process allows for a range of data-based smart services including early warning systems, active system control and pinpoint recommendations for action.

There is consequently complete transparency across all cable systems equipped with LEONiQ – no matter where in the world, no matter in which application. The recorded data is also fed into the functional simulation models. Thanks to this control loop, Leoni is able to steadily optimise all intelligent cable solutions in what is a kind of learning system.

This Leoni-developed technology combines the advantages of other, sometimes very costly measuring methods inside a very small space while simultaneously providing access via the cloud at any time: LEONiQ is about 100 times cheaper and 100 times smaller than comparable technologies and makes the use of intelligence in cables economically feasible for the first time.

That gives the user considerable added value, which is based on the cable system’s true usage data as well as its evaluation and interpretation.

This, in turn, facilitates such applications as predictive maintenance, pay-per-use models and overall system monitoring and control.

Application example: Charging electric cars becoming safer and more efficient 

Leoni can add intelligence to virtually any cable. The infrastructure for charging electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is one example for use of the LEONiQ key technology. Here it can contribute to monitoring and optimising high-voltage charging cycles.

For instance, based on sensor data from the charging station and the vehicle battery combined with the cable’s temperature, every charge can thus be run at the maximum possible power at all times. The vehicle is consequently more safely and quickly charged, and a fault is thoroughly identified before it becomes an actual problem – benefiting the user and the charging station operator.