Greater Energy Autonomy
Collect and retain local energy so that products can reduce dependence on external power sources.
CUSTOM SOLUTIONS · FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
From autonomous products to autonomous services.
FET sees the evolution of its technologies as a progressive reduction of dependence on external infrastructure and human intervention: products able to collect energy, store it, understand their environment and continue providing their function autonomously.
Autonomy · Awareness · Continuous operation · Connected systems
THE EVOLUTION WE SEE
Autonomy is not a single function.
It develops through the integration of energy availability, sensing, control and service continuity. The same direction can be applied at very different scales, from personal products and outdoor systems to electric traction and autonomous mobile platforms.
Environmental Awareness
Use sensors and local information to understand operating conditions and the surrounding environment.
Autonomous Behaviour
Allow the system to react, move or adapt its operation according to conditions and service requirements.
Continuous Service
Reduce interruptions and human intervention through self-management, automatic charging or energy replacement.
ONE TECHNOLOGICAL DIRECTION, DIFFERENT PRODUCTS
Evolution can start from products that already exist.
SFU, the Smart Backpack, structural photovoltaic components and electric traction systems represent different starting points for increasingly autonomous functions.
OUTDOOR SYSTEMS
From SFU to self-managed outdoor services
Energy harvesting, storage, environmental response and automatic operation can progressively increase service availability without requiring continuous external support.
PERSONAL MOBILITY
From Backpack to autonomous personal services
A portable product can combine physical function, local energy, lighting, localisation and future context-aware services while remaining mobile with the user.
ELECTRIC MOBILITY
From electric traction to autonomous operation
Storage, motors and control can evolve toward environmental sensing, autonomous guidance and increasingly independent mobile systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING & AUTONOMOUS CONTROL
The system can progressively understand where it operates.
Future architectures can integrate environmental sensing, obstacle and proximity detection, positioning, navigation and supervisory control. The objective is not automation for its own sake, but the ability to maintain the required service with less external intervention.
For mobile systems this can extend from remote control to autonomous guidance. For stationary products it can mean adapting operation to sunlight, weather, presence, energy availability or other local conditions.
CONTINUOUS OPERATION
Autonomy also means managing the interruption before it occurs.
Where continuous service is required, the energy system itself can become part of the autonomous process. Charging, battery availability and maintenance operations can progressively be managed without stopping the service for manual intervention.
Automatic Energy Management
The system monitors available energy and modifies its operating strategy according to the remaining autonomy and required service.
Autonomous Charging
Mobile systems can identify and reach charging infrastructure when energy replenishment becomes necessary.
Automatic Battery Exchange
Where service continuity requires it, a vehicle can reach an energy station, exchange its battery automatically and resume operation.
DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
From one autonomous device to a network of autonomous systems.
Connected products can share status, operating information and service requirements. In future distributed architectures, individual devices can coordinate their behaviour while retaining local energy and control capabilities.
This creates the basis for systems in which availability is no longer dependent only on a single device, but on the coordinated operation of multiple autonomous elements.
DEVELOPMENT PATH
A progressive evolution, not a technological jump.
Each level builds on functions already developed or being consolidated within FET projects.
01
Autonomous Product
Primary function supported by local energy.
02
Self-Managed Energy
Storage and control optimise local availability.
03
Environmental Sensing
The system acquires information about operating conditions.
04
Autonomous Operation
Control reacts to conditions and service requirements.
05
Continuous Service
Charging and energy replacement become part of autonomous operation.
06
Connected Systems
Multiple autonomous elements coordinate within a distributed architecture.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT & COLLABORATION
Future solutions can start from a real application today.
FET can evaluate new applications combining structural photovoltaics, storage, electric traction, sensing and autonomous control, developing the architecture progressively from concept to prototype.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS