Case Study: ebm-papst halves development time to deliver a sensorless auxiliary oil pump with MathWorks Model-Based Design

ebm-papst Develops Electric Auxiliary Oil Pump for Automatic Transmissions Using Model-Based Design

ebm-papst, a leading electric motor and fan manufacturer, faced the challenge of designing an electric auxiliary oil pump for automatic transmissions that could regulate pressure without a conventional pressure sensor (which often fails under high transmission temperatures). Under tight deadlines and with a microcontroller limited in processing power, the team needed to estimate pressure from motor current, characterize hundreds of motor–pump variants across temperature and speed ranges, and automate extensive testing and calibration. They turned to MathWorks and its Model-Based Design products, including MATLAB and Simulink, to meet these requirements.

Using MathWorks tools (Simulink, Stateflow, Simulink Coder, Simulink Real-Time, Signal Processing Toolbox, and Curve Fitting Toolbox), ebm-papst developed a model-based controller, built a real-time prototype on Speedgoat hardware, and automated a 24/7 test rig to characterize ~100 motor–pump combinations; they then deployed an end-of-line calibration that populates lookup tables in the controller. The MathWorks-based approach halved overall development time, cut system investigation time by about 60%, enabled deployment on the required low-power microcontroller, and brought the auxiliary pump into volume production for German automakers.

ebm-papst

Jens Löffler

Team Leader for Technology Development