The start-up company Wiferion has won the "LogiMAT BEST PRODUCT 2020" award thanks to its etaLINK 12000 inductive rapid charging system. The system supplier of charging and storage technology received the coveted award in the category of picking, conveying, lifting and storage technology.
etaLINK 12000 enables in-process charging of the lithium-ion batteries of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), industrial trucks and mobile robots. Charging processes can therefore be flexibly integrated into intralogistics procedures. The scalable energy solution is the world's first contactless battery charging system with an output of 12 kW and an efficiency of 93%. The energy level of the vehicles remains at a constantly high level thanks to the intermediate charging process. The result: For the same vehicle performance, the battery capacities can be reduced by more than 30% in most cases, thus considerably reducing procurement costs in the battery sector. As additional charging breaks and thus downtimes are eliminated, vehicle availability is increased by up to 30%.
Easy to integrate and a flexible design
Wiferion's patented charging technology consists of a stationary transmitter unit with a wallbox and charging pad as well as receiver electronics that are installed in the AGVs and industrial trucks via Plug and Play. If a vehicle drives to the charging point, the charging process starts automatically in less than a second. It does not matter which direction the vehicle approaches the charging station from. An integrated CAN interface transmits data about battery status and energy level to the fleet management system. etaLINK 12000 is compatible with all available battery systems.
"We are very proud that our energy solution etaLINK impressed the jury", says Florian Reiners, co-founder and CEO at Wiferion. "The award clearly shows the enormous efficiency increases and cost benefits that can be achieved using inductive rapid charging solutions. In-process charging will be standard in intralogistics in a few years."
Retrofitting of industrial trucks
As a system supplier of charging and storage technology, Wiferion's battery tray etaTRAY also allows for existing forklift fleets to be retrofitted. Even old forklifts and AGVs can be continuously charged during logistics processes by replacing lead-acid batteries for the energy solution consisting of a charging unit and lithium-ion battery. Thanks to the standardized and modular design, the conversion can be carried out quickly and reliably. Users can thus exploit the full potential of lithium technology and the advantages of in-process charging.
About Wiferion
Wiferion is the leading solution supplier for the mobile, wireless power supply of electric industrial vehicles. The start-up company was founded in 2016 by four former employees of the Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme and is one of the technology drivers in the field of wireless charging. Wiferion has set itself the goal of advancing the electrification of the global economy and laying the foundations for a resource-saving and sustainable energy supply.
From inductive charging technology to lithium-ion batteries and energy management solutions, Wiferion offers its customers the entire spectrum for an efficient energy supply for industrial trucks and driverless transport systems. This also includes retrofit projects to optimize existing fleets. The flexible and scalable integration of Wiferion products means that users can sustainably increase their utilization and fleet efficiency.
The system supplier of charging and storage technology has well-known reference customers from the logistics, industry and automotive sectors. These include leading suppliers of automation solutions such as the robotics companies KUKA and Magazino.
etaLINK 12000 enables in-process charging of the lithium-ion batteries of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), industrial trucks and mobile robots. Charging processes can therefore be flexibly integrated into intralogistics procedures. The scalable energy solution is the world's first contactless battery charging system with an output of 12 kW and an efficiency of 93%. The energy level of the vehicles remains at a constantly high level thanks to the intermediate charging process. The result: For the same vehicle performance, the battery capacities can be reduced by more than 30% in most cases, thus considerably reducing procurement costs in the battery sector. As additional charging breaks and thus downtimes are eliminated, vehicle availability is increased by up to 30%.
Easy to integrate and a flexible design
Wiferion's patented charging technology consists of a stationary transmitter unit with a wallbox and charging pad as well as receiver electronics that are installed in the AGVs and industrial trucks via Plug and Play. If a vehicle drives to the charging point, the charging process starts automatically in less than a second. It does not matter which direction the vehicle approaches the charging station from. An integrated CAN interface transmits data about battery status and energy level to the fleet management system. etaLINK 12000 is compatible with all available battery systems.
"We are very proud that our energy solution etaLINK impressed the jury", says Florian Reiners, co-founder and CEO at Wiferion. "The award clearly shows the enormous efficiency increases and cost benefits that can be achieved using inductive rapid charging solutions. In-process charging will be standard in intralogistics in a few years."
Retrofitting of industrial trucks
As a system supplier of charging and storage technology, Wiferion's battery tray etaTRAY also allows for existing forklift fleets to be retrofitted. Even old forklifts and AGVs can be continuously charged during logistics processes by replacing lead-acid batteries for the energy solution consisting of a charging unit and lithium-ion battery. Thanks to the standardized and modular design, the conversion can be carried out quickly and reliably. Users can thus exploit the full potential of lithium technology and the advantages of in-process charging.
About Wiferion
Wiferion is the leading solution supplier for the mobile, wireless power supply of electric industrial vehicles. The start-up company was founded in 2016 by four former employees of the Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme and is one of the technology drivers in the field of wireless charging. Wiferion has set itself the goal of advancing the electrification of the global economy and laying the foundations for a resource-saving and sustainable energy supply.
From inductive charging technology to lithium-ion batteries and energy management solutions, Wiferion offers its customers the entire spectrum for an efficient energy supply for industrial trucks and driverless transport systems. This also includes retrofit projects to optimize existing fleets. The flexible and scalable integration of Wiferion products means that users can sustainably increase their utilization and fleet efficiency.
The system supplier of charging and storage technology has well-known reference customers from the logistics, industry and automotive sectors. These include leading suppliers of automation solutions such as the robotics companies KUKA and Magazino.
