Cooperation with ARTHUR BUS
Last summer, we established cooperation with a German-Polish company ARTHUR BUS. The result of our cooperation is a new 12-metre hydrogen bus called ARTHUR H2 Zero, designed and manufactured in a record time of only 12 months.
The vehicle manufacturer has started to operate on the European market only recently, thus the short time in which the new bus was developed should be considered a great success. ARTHUR BUS was founded in early 2021 by Mr. Gerhard Mey and Mr. Philipp Glonner. The company currently employs over 45 engineers. Its headquarters is located in Planegg near Munich, while other branch offices are located in Poland – in Lublin and Wrocław.
From the very beginning, ARTHUR BUS has set a very ambitious and clearly defined goal – to design, build and obtain a whole vehicle type-approval for a modern hydrogen-powered city bus, in just 12 months. However, ARTHUR BUS does not focuse solely on the delivery of a product – a bus- but the entire ecosystem with refuelling infrastructure, fleet management software, telemetry and developing innovative solutions.
The new hydrogen ARTHUR BUS will be certainly used, both in the small towns and in large cities ensuring zero-emission, quiet, cost-effective and modern transport. The mission of the ARTHUR group is to help the society reduce CO2 emission, but without sacrificing the comfort, quality and efficiency of the passenger transport.
These services required close cooperation between the technical department of the vehicle manufacturer and our R&D Department. Thanks to the very effective two-way communication characterised by a high technical level, all agreed deadlines were met. Persistence and full commitment of both teams allowed for the vehicle track tests, held in the presence of the representatives of approval authority, as early as March 2022.
Right after the trade fair the vehicle went on road tests and approval tests, which were successful. Thus, ARTHUR BUS received the full-vehicle approval yet in June.
One of the most noticeable on-board equipment is the FAP+ driver’s workplace, with the state-of-the-art 12-inch MultiViu Professional display. Our team of engineers was responsible for the implementation of the design developed by the Customer. ARTHUR H2 Zero is equipped with DTCO 4.0 smart tachograph, tire pressure and temperature monitoring system (CPC Continental), Alcolock V3 alcohol ignition interlock, UDS ATpro accident data recorder (black box), WM-526 electronic throttle control (electronic floor pedal) by Curtiss – Wright and CAN radio by Continental.
In August 2021, the German-Polish manufacturer invited us to take part in the project to develop the above-mentioned 12-metre hydrogen bus. From the beginning, the project was expected to be completed within 12 months, starting in May 2021. Our work involved the supply of components and support in the development and implementation of software solutions, based on the KIBES-5 system, including comprehensive training of the ARTHUR BUS engineering team. Despite a very busy schedule and a short time for the project implementation, engineers from our Research & Development Department decided to take on the challenge. They smoothly developed and implemented the KIBES5 multiplex system, both in terms of electricity and programming. Our engineers also performed integration of the system with other components and software provided by other suppliers.
“We have been operating in the industry for nearly 40 years. The company has been successfully growing and competing in the market year on year. I can already say that thanks to hard work our R&D Department became a global provider of services related to the full-vehicle integration. We are almost on every continent and provide our services ‘everywhere’”.
The growth we observe is the proof of our efficiency. Customers striving for excellence in their prototype and series production vehicles value our professionalism and the way we run our internal processes to gain their recognition. Examples include companies such as Arthurbus, Eurabus and Karsan. Cooperation with these companies does not end with a single project, but we are entrusted with the further ones. References issued by such major-league companies motivate us for further action and continuous development of competence.
“We are not slowing down and the portfolio of our satisfied customers… is still growing”.
”The number of Drabpol engineers is constantly increasing. Also the portfolio of our products and services is successively expanding. A milestone in the development of the full-vehicle integration is the market introduction of PI Innovo controllers, which meet the requirements of even the most demanding customers. We place a huge emphasis on implementing the Functional Safety procedures (ISO26262) and keeping up with changes in Automotive, such as the General Safety Regulations. These are our key points for this year.
Using Dana OpenECU platform for software development we are a reliable, quick in action and effective partner.
Drabpol has big ambitions to come into existence on every market. It is worth mentioning that, over the last six months, we have managed to finalise some very interesting projects. We have remotely launched, on three different continents, six different M3 class vehicles, equipped with different powertrain systems and having various purposes. Moreover, we have successfully introduced the IC Infotainment for one of the world leaders in the agricultural tractor industry.
We warmly invite you to cooperate with us.
We feel dynamics of the automotive market. We still develop and introduce new systems, which – among other things – allow for the remote diagnostics and parametrisation of all devices included in the vehicle topology. Such software solutions allow one not only to read parameters or log the component behaviour in various formats, but also to upload of a set of parameters and firmware changes, provided that the device manufacturer has predicted such a possibility.
It is worth betting on Drabpol – a partner providing stability, flexibility and predictability. ”
In the weeks that followed, ARTHUR BUS did not slow down for a moment, and as early as from 27 June to 6 July, the H2 ZERO model took part in the pre-premiere tests of a hydrogen refuelling station ready for LOHC liquid hydrogen storage, located in Bavaria, which was established by several leading German companies. The aim of tests was to confirm the efficiency and capacity of the built infrastructure. At the beginning of July 2022, the new vehicle was used as a shuttle bus, hosting on-board the representatives of the German Government with the President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. During tests in Bavaria, the ARTHUR BUS H2 Zero hydrogen bus travelled more than 600km on a single refill. (For testing purposes, the tanks were filled up to 80% – re-fuelling took place from 20% of the initial state).
We congratulate ARTHUR BUS on the H2 Zero hydrogen bus and thank its team for the cooperation on this ambitious and highly successful project.
Source: DRABPOLNews
