EuroBrake 2024: review

In memory of EuroBrake founder, Harald Abendroth

Foreword  

The contemporary global braking industry faces significant challenges and considerable opportunities. The rapid advancement of technology presents unprecedented possibilities, from enhancing safety features to improving sustainability. At the same time, challenges come in the form of regulatory changes, supply chain disruptions, and the ongoing need for innovation in response to evolving consumer demands. 

EuroBrake serves as a crucial platform for addressing these issues, fostering collaboration, and driving progress.  

EuroBrake 2024 took place over three days in Mainz, Germany, and featured expert panel discussions on topics of critical relevance, keynotes from influential engineers and engineering leaders, and technical sessions covering every important aspect of braking technology. 

This year’s event saw the return of the EuroBrake Student and Young Engineer Opportunities Programme, which welcomed 18 international students, whose hard work was made available to all delegates to view on their posters. 

EuroBrake continues to be a pivotal platform for the exchange of ideas, the forging of collaborations, and the advancement of the braking industry. The knowledge and insights shared at EuroBrake 2024 will undoubtedly drive the future of braking technology and safety, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, and driving the industry forward.  

Work has already begun on EuroBrake 2025, and we look forward to seeing you at the event in Barcelona! 

Jan Münchhoff 
Chair, EuroBrake 2024 

EuroBrake 2024: Euro 7 and AI dominate discussions 

Evolving braking technology from state-of-the-art into solutions capable of supporting next-generation mobility relies on invention and innovation. 

The EuroBrake 2024 agenda was built around the most cutting-edge developments in the field of braking technology, including the evolution of brake-by-wire, the impact of Euro 7 and GTR24 on braking systems, the potential for artificial intelligence and Big Data analysis in brake systems engineering, and the quest for zero particle emissions from mobile sources. 

30 years of brake-by-wire 

Brake-by-wire—the electronic transmission of braking commands between the pedal and the physical brake—is still the braking technology of the future for mainstream passenger cars but it has been in use in the trucking industry for nearly 30 years, said Jochen Buck of Daimler Truck. Introduced in 1996, brake-by-wire has been delivering safety, efficiency, and comfort for truck drivers, fleet owners, and all other road users ever since. Not surprisingly, the technology has evolved significantly in line with improvements in materials and pneumatic brake technology, as well as software and CPUs. Trailer brakes play a key role too, with electronic braking systems on tractor and trailer delivering significant reductions in braking distance.  

A tragedy in 1987 led ultimately to the introduction of brake-by-wire in trucking as a critical safety feature—and brake-by-wire’s success hinges on a compelling safety concept. Electrification is central to electronically controlled braking system development, and longer term, brake-by-wire technology will be a key enabler in the introduction of automated driving functions. 

Euro 7 and GTR24: emissions control comes to braking 

The difficulty when making a standard is getting sufficient buy-in to make it…a standard. And that’s the challenge facing regulators as well as automotive industry stakeholders as they seek to tackle non-exhaust emissions such as particles from brake and tyre wear. 

It starts with a technical regulation, which for the measurement of brake emissions is Global Technical Regulation No. 24 on the Laboratory Measurement of Brake Emissions for Light-Duty Vehicles, as adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Known more commonly as “GTR24”, it has been adopted by Australia, China, the EU, India, Japan, Norway, the Russian Federation, South Africa, and the UK. 

Brake wear has been identified as a major source of non-exhaust particulate matter (PM) and a contributor to overall vehicular PM emissions. The incoming Euro 7 regulations will include the measurement and monitoring of PM emissions from brake wear and tyre wear. 

When a country or region adopts GTR24 as part of the 1998 Agreement on Global Technical Regulations (GTRs)—an international agreement for developing and adopting GTRs for vehicles, parts, and equipment—it commits to transposing GTR24 into its national legislation, explained Francois Cuenot of the UNECE.  

Euro 7 is the European Council and European Parliament’s fulfilment of that commitment. Theo Grigoratos, Scientific/Technical Officer at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre, explained during a panel on brake particle emissions that Euro 7 is the first regulation worldwide introducing brake emission limits for all vehicle categories. “Euro 7 allows for regulating brake PM and particulate number (PN) of light and heavy-duty vehicles, regardless their powertrain type and technology.” 

Countries which have abstained from GTR24 adoption include South Korea, Canada, and the US, although individual US states can adapt the GTR procedure and implement their own cycle for particulate matter emissions. 

By contrast, although China has adopted GTR24, “research on the test method for automotive particle emissions is still in the preliminary stage, and there is no mature testing system or method,” said Libing Hou, a senior engineering professor at Xianyang Non-metallic Mine Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. 

Furthermore, he said, the Euro 7 light vehicle WLTP brake emission test cycle is based on automotive WLTP databases from Europe, the US, Japan, South Korea, India and other markets, but not China. He called for a worldwide comparison test that includes input from national and regional laboratories. 

Carlos Agudelo of LINK Engineering drew parallels between rail and road emissions testing; Ulf Olofsson, of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), discussed the toxicity of PM emissions in the air we breathe; and Agusti Sin from ITT Friction Technologies explored the challenges of balancing regulatory compliance with technical performance. 

The issue of non-exhaust emissions is a global technical problem in need of a global technical solution, and it has created a new specialisation in brake emissions testing. AVL brought its brake pad emissions testing truck to EuroBrake 2024, to highlight the capabilities of the AVL Brake Wear Testing Solution, an all-in-one testing solution for the measurement of particle mass and number concentration of braking systems. And Horiba displayed its brake dust measurement and emissions analysis solutions. 

Lifecycle assessment – critical for the future of braking 

Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is the future of environmental impact evaluation, said Francois Cuenot of the UNECE in his technical session presentation. For LCA to work, however, it’s essential to ensure data standardisation, accurate data collection, and efficient data cleaning. A level playing field is critical for LCA, which relies on the use of real data rather than averages and assumptions. 

There are notable differences in emissions between the different vehicle lifecycle phases, but most particulate emissions still occur during the use phase; where previously the dominant issue was exhaust emissions, the transition to electrification has seen the level of fleet-wide exhaust emissions decline, with a greater focus now on tyre, brake, and road emissions. And as Euro 7 comes into effect, more attention will be paid to the other lifecycle phases, namely production and recycling. 

AI in braking systems  

For most drivers, brakes remain an unseen function that simply needs to work perfectly, every time. But even on the same roads and in the same car models, no two people drive the same, and one driver may drive differently from one day to the next. The challenge, explained Merten Stender of TU Berlin, is to develop a highly accurate algorithm to analyse braking styles, predict braking intent, and adjust product development accordingly. 

This can have significant implications for vehicle safety, brake pad and disc performance, durability and wear, and—critically for electrification—energy consumption and regenerative braking potential. 

If you think you know artificial intelligence (AI) because you’ve used ChatGPT, think again, he said: AI’s capabilities extend far beyond, and will play a key role in supporting the development of next-generation mobility. 

EuroBrake 2024 Strategy Panel: experts discuss Big Data and AI 

With data and AI gaining importance in every aspect of engineering, the EuroBrake 2024 Strategy Panel focused on the data science, AI, and machine learning tools increasingly being deployed across the brake industry. With a reliable data set, and AI capable of analysing that data, engineers can improve efficiency in brake development, testing, validation, and simulation, as well as in the use phase in vehicle functions, cloud services, and digital business models. 

Chaired by EuroBrake 2024 Chair, Jan Münchhoff and Georg-Peter Ostermeyer of TU Braunschweig, the panel’s mood was cautiously upbeat about the potential for Big Data and AI in braking.  

Imad Khalek of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) shared case studies of Big Data in everyday life and in specialist non-automotive projects, to illustrate how learnings can be deployed in brake system design. 

Friedrich von Bülow of Volkswagen AG, noted the ability for AI to learn highly complex correlations that humans simply cannot, and Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, Professor at RWTH Aachen University, said Big Data will be critical for brake systems throughout their lifecycle. 

Andrea Cerutti shared how Brembo has been responding to the rise of AI in recent years and incorporating digital and data-driven solutions for almost a decade. This includes a data science team to support all business units, and the Brembo Inspiration Lab in Silicon Valley, the source of the company’s AI innovations for applications such as production line quality control and data analysis in test and validation to save time on dynos and test benches. 

The opportunities presented by AI are clear, but there are risks, including cyber security, reliance on analysis of imperfect data, and varying levels of corporate competence. Merten Stender of TU Berlin, suggested “there are ways of sharing data without sharing data.” And Torsten Treyde of ZF noted emphatically that, “As engineers, we need to identify what AI can do for us, and what we don’t want it to do—and we shouldn’t use it just because senior management suggested it.” 

The panel agreed that AI will ultimately be integral to brake system development, and returned to a comment Merten Stender made in his keynote the day before: AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace humans who don’t. And he noted that the same statement could be true if the word ‘humans’ were to be replaced by ‘companies.’ 

Euro 7 is coming…will the OEMs be ready? 

A question from the audience during the Voice of the OEM panel addressed the imminent introduction of the new brake emissions regulations. With Euro 7 coming into effect in a staged introduction from November 2026, will the OEMs be ready? 

The automakers on stage openly admitted that developing efficient Euro 7 compliant brake systems is an overwhelming challenge, but they remain confident they will be ready, with no major roadblocks to meeting compliance.  

The OEMs featured on stage represent more than 50 percent of vehicle sales in Europe, noted co-moderator Rick Kaatz of KB Autosys America. The panel featured Giovanni Berardo of Toyota Motor Europe, Thomas Sprengel of NIO, Volkswagen AG’s Florian Guckeisen, Marc Rettig of Ford, Kai Struck of Stellantis, and co-moderator Sebastian Gramstat of Audi. 

While meeting Euro 7 is seen as a challenge, Ford’s Marc Rettig noted as a success the fact that the industry had agreed directly with the EU on the particulate emission limits, providing the automotive brake industry with a clear target. 

Having the regulation in place is just the first step, noted Kai Struck: now the work begins for automakers to implement solutions through every car line and vehicle portfolio. 

Regenerative braking—referred to by one speaker as perhaps the OEMs’ most powerful weapon in their portfolio of solutions for meeting Euro 7—relies entirely on the transition to electrification. However, the current speed of battery electric vehicle adoption means we won’t see widespread adoption of ‘regen’ braking any time soon—much to the disappointment of the automaker braking specialists. One noted that if the OEMs could use regen braking for the complete process of deceleration, they would no longer need friction brakes and could significantly downsize the brake system—with obvious financial and weight advantages—while also avoiding the need for costly Euro 7 compliance processes. 

EuroBrake poster winners 

The EuroBrake Poster Session featured an overview of the posters on display during EuroBrake, as well as from talented EuroBrake students and young engineers. 

Session chairs discussed the topics presented, and an expert panel of judges reviewed the poster to select the top three winners of the poster competition, along with the best EuroBrake Student Opportunities Programme poster winner. 

First Place, Best Poster was awarded to Pietro Tonolini of Brembo; Sangbum Kim of Hyundai MOBIS took second, and Cecilia Gomiero of Università degli Studi di Torino was awarded third place.  

The judges made Special Recognition of the work of Aleandro Diana of Università degli Studi di Torino and Lukas Lindl of Technische Universität Graz won the best EuroBrake Student and Young Engineer Opportunities Programme poster. 

The tradition of recognising young engineers for their innovative ideas and contributions to the industry is an important feature of EuroBrake and the work of all Poster entrants adds value to the wider development of brake technology. 

EuroBrake: a global event 

Despite its name, EuroBrake brings together brake engineering leaders from around the world, making it the place to discuss and develop global brake system and friction technology solutions. 

EuroBrake 2024 may have come to an end, but EuroBrake attendees are encouraged to see EuroBrake not as a three-day event, but as a 365-day community offering collaboration, networking, and knowledge-sharing in the pre-competitive space for the leading players in the brake industry. 

The date has been set for the next EuroBrake event: EuroBrake 2025 will take place as part of the FISITA World Mobility Conference, 3-5 June 2025 in Barcelona. To discuss commercial opportunities, please contact FISITA Head of Sales, Kerry McDiarmid. Ticket sales will open 12 July 2024.  

EuroBrake 2024 sponsors 

Thank you to the sponsors of EuroBrake 2024:  

  • Figure Intelligent Transport 
  • Brembo 
  • LINK Engineering 
  • Nitrex 
  • Applus+ IDIADA 
  • DVS 
  • EMAG 
  • HORIBA 
  • Indo-Mim 
  • ITT Friction Technologies 
  • Metco Joining & Cladding 
  • Frasle Mobility 
  • Frimeco 
  • Fagor Ederlan 
  • Omnia Advanced Materials 
  • AVL 
  • Laserline 
  • Meneta 
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