The massive electrification of automotive vehicles will necessarily involve the development of low cost, highly compact and low environmental impact electrical machines (EM). The objective of the MAXIMA project is to develop and validate a complete methodology to design an EM as well as the associated production system for the automotive core market. This methodology will have to deal with often incompatible constraints such as efficiency, costs reduction, high performances in terms of power/torque density, and high recyclability, especially for critical raw materials. To achieve this objective, MAXIMA will focus on a dedicated topology: Axial Flux Synchronous Machine (AFSM). ASFM currently on the market are very efficient but cover only a niche market due to their high manufacturing costs. They also offer strong exploited or unexplored options, in terms of topologies and materials. Unlike radial flux EMs, the margin for improvements of AFSM is really significant by acting on both EM design and manufacturing process flow, thus allowing higher performances and lower cost while keeping a low environmental impact. The consortium brings together research teams and companies from the entire value chain, from raw material suppliers to car manufacturers along with a recycling company. Together they can face the main technological and scientific challenges in the electromagnetic, mechanical and thermal fields, reaching a solution close to market. At the end, beside high TRL5 prototypes, the project will provide a validated methodology to accelerate the design, thereby reducing the time to market, and new technologies, such as EM digital twins, to operate EMs to their full potential.

RENEE envisions flexible remanufacturing using AI and advanced robotics for circular value chains in EU industry. The objective of RENEE is to implement human-centric production systems relying on advanced robotics and AI to accommodate the remanufacturing of diverse states of used products. Additionally, RENEE will accelerate the workforce upskilling/reskilling by deploying a remanufacturing educational platform and a set of operator support technologies. RENEE follows a holistic approach providing product, process and resource-level enablers for remanufacturing applications including: - Circular value chains configuration toolbox: Including software solutions for product state diagnosis and classification, methods for product ‘design for remanufacturability’, Digital Product Passport, and for remanufacturing value chain configuration and planning. - Digital infrastructure for remanufacturing management: including a) tools for the planning and orchestration of flexible remanufacturing systems, b) deployment of Digital Twins customized for the remanufacturing process, and c) tools to enable product traceability and efficient management of the remanufacturing supplier network. - Robot skills & flexible production modules for remanufacturing: Enabling the resource level autonomy for remanufacturing through the deployment of dedicated robot skills libraries, AI methods for decision-support and process optimization as well as advanced robotics integrated in hybrid production specialized in remanufacturing, - Upskilling/reskilling the workforce for remanufacturing: Supporting operators both during the remanufacturing tasks via inclusive interfaces as well as providing the infrastructure (Educational platform) and required material (courses) for training them to meet the requirements of diversified remanufacturing operations. The RENEE modules will be validated in 4 pilots from the household appliances (refrigerators), robotics, and mobility (electrical motors and bikes) sectors