At HANNOVER MESSE 2026, the drive engineers from Saarland University will demonstrate how far the technology they have developed has advanced. Minor touches on the vehicle and slightly deviating measurement data in the drives are enough for the system to intuitively assist with accelerating, braking, and steering—from transport carts to strollers. The electric motors in the wheels provide everything needed—without additional sensors.

“Driving feels much easier”

Every movement, no matter how small, every tiny impulse when pushing, pulling, or pressing tells the smart wheels what the person wants and where they want to go. The wheels understand these signals and put in the effort accordingly. As a result, all kinds of vehicles equipped with them start moving more easily, glide more smoothly around corners, and stop faster. “Driving feels much easier; a large portion of the mass is accelerated by the supporting electric motors in the wheels,” explains Professor Matthias Nienhaus. Unruly shopping carts or bulky hospital beds can be maneuvered with gentle touches instead of the usual back-and-forth tugging. Bike trailers are no longer just passively towed along, and walkers or wheelchairs actively assist their users.

Without additional sensors

Nienhaus and his team at Saarland University have spent years researching, developing, and refining this new technology. In 2018, the drive engineers demonstrated at HANNOVER MESSE that wheels can determine when and how to assist the ride based solely on the measurement data from the electric motors inside them—without the need for additional sensors. In 2023, they demonstrated how the wheels, in combination with a sensor handle, are capable of moving loads with ease: they accelerate or brake, turning slowly or faster as needed—each wheel individually or in unison. “With the combination of the sensor handle and wheels, we can now move more than four tons,” says Nienhaus. Until now, the sensor handle was necessary as an interface to the user, who specifies the desired direction. This is where the system’s control center—the microcontroller—was previously located.

Wheels that think for themselves: Support without a sensor handle

What’s new now is that in many cases, this sensor handle can even be eliminated. “This makes the technology simpler, more intuitive, and more affordable,” says Matthias Nienhaus. Minimal touches or other impulses are sufficient for the drives in the wheels to understand whether they should provide a gentle or powerful push. This is made possible because the drives, equipped with the appropriate control technology, can control themselves and issue commands. “The control system works through a combination of artificial intelligence methods, powerful algorithms, and the identification of the correct parameters from the data of the electric motors in the wheels,” summarizes Matthias Nienhaus.

The technology works without a handle for vehicles weighing up to 100 kilograms

So far, the technology works without a handle for vehicles weighing up to 100 kilograms, depending on the type of application and load. At HANNOVER MESSE 2026, the researchers will demonstrate, among other things, how smoothly a bicycle trailer moves thanks to the intelligent wheels. The team is continuing its research to transport significantly heavier loads without a sensor handle. For very heavy vehicles, wheels plus a sensor handle remain the solution.

Artificial Intelligence in the Wheel: Data Instead of Additional Sensors

The electric motors inside the wheel also serve as sensors; they function as sensory organs. When a wheel moves, the readings from its electric drive change. Tiny changes in these numbers reveal exactly what is happening with the wheel. “The wheels’ electric motors themselves provide all the measurement data we need to control them. So there are no costs for installing additional sensors,” says Matthias Nienhaus. In several research projects, his working group investigated how to extract as much information as possible from the drives using the measurement data that is generated in the wheels anyway when they rotate: for example, how the electromagnetic field is distributed at specific points in the motor and how this changes while rolling.

The researchers collected countless such measurement values from the drives and assigned them to specific motor states and wheel positions. From the mass of data, they identified signal patterns that they associated with typical processes. Nienhaus and his team also filed a patent application for a method that filters out interference effects, thereby making the data more meaningful. The measurement data reveals exactly how much force a drive is generating, how the position of the wheels changes, or whether they are under greater load on one side than the other.

Tiny impulses are enough: This is how the wheels roll wherever the rider wants

Mathematical models and intelligent algorithms can then be used to control the drives so they respond appropriately. It is also possible to monitor whether they are functioning properly. The motors in the wheels provide the data for this, and a microcontroller processes the signals. The wheels are highly sensitive; they constantly “sense” their position, speed, and load: even the slightest movements of the vehicle to which they are mounted—triggered, for example, by a touch of the hand—are sufficient for the drive to determine what is intended: The electronics read the motor signals, compare them, and provide the appropriate thrust—all information is transmitted via the standard cables that are already in place.

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