The Future of Smart Devices

Digital Twin is enjoying a breakthrough, fueled by advances in the sophisticated use of physics-based simulation models of varying fidelities. Connected and informed by data from the field with the help of artificial intelligence, Leonardo S.p.A. validates the performance of product systems virtually in the early stages of design to accelerate the development of their next generation of products.

AAM has been providing mechanical drivelines to automotive customers for more than 25 years. As the automobile transitions to electrification, so too must the driveline. AAM has developed a suite of innovative, lightweight, compact and cost-optimized electric drive units and electric beam axles to meet the growing global technology demand as electric vehicles continue to expand over the next decade. Engineering simulation, optimization and validation tools were significant enablers to increase the validation confidence and reduce the time to market for these new products.

AI-powered real-time melt-pool analytics for accelerated product development and production.

The ever-advancing digitization is being driven by the convergence of simulation, data, and HPC. While virtual methods, interoperable tools, and standardized interfaces become state of the art, the engineers and their management will play a significant role to break down silos and benefit from a Digital Thread. In this fireside chat, we will discuss the importance of people to unleash the potential of Digital Twins, how they can combine the different fields of product development and what is still missing to make the connection.

What if you could create 1D simulation models that retain the precision of your 3D analysis while running up to thousands of times faster?

The Digital Twin concept is broadly applicable to all Altair customer base wanting to develop better products faster. We will explain how to maximize the value you can get from the Altair Platform for Digital Twins. We will illustrate how this solution helps diverse engineering teams develop better, more complex products faster by avoiding work in silos. This will include proven uses cases for the convergence of simulation and data.

Nowadays, many Machine Learning techniques able to identify dynamic models from data are taking hold. But, can we support the learning phase leveraging our expertise obtaining models with better generalization property? To tackle this need and others we have developed a novel approach, romAI. This application combines AI and system modeling techniques to generate reusable continuous dynamic models extremely time-efficient, hence used as Reduced-Order Models to speed-up system design and optimization or in Digital Twins/Simulators for real-time applications.

The goal for any design, structural and manufacturing simulation is to predict and fix defects early in the product development. This panel will discuss how design and simulation tools are helping engineers to be efficient. Experts will share their thoughts on current and future trends in manufacturing, focusing on how designs evolve using manufacturing simulations.  

Altair products are quickly evolving into AI-driven products. Starting from the modeling and visualization products, the latest release of Altair HyperWorks includes features like shapeAI, which quickly finds and classifies parts “by shape” inside geometry files or finite element meshes - when you want to locate all of the bolts, shafts, and gears in a complex assembly - by applying machine learning.

Several OEMs currently face the challenge of information silos due to poor integration of models across the product life cycle. Furthermore, there is limited reuse of models between programs and the variation of modeling maturity across various Engineering disciplines results in lack of traceability. In this short presentation, we will look at solutions and workflows that leverages a systems model as a common language of communication while facilitating various types of real time dashboards and visualization to help understand and optimize the entire Mechatronic system performance.

Presented at the ATCx Heavy Equipment in May 2021.

Speaker: Keshav Sundaresh, Global Director – Smart Systems & Mechatronics, Altair

Duration: 20 minutes

G.S. Vidyaprakash presents how Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. drives the design process with simulation. In his presentation First Time Right Machine Design with CAE Simulation, he discusses reliable simulation techniques to predict & prevent failure modes.

Controller strategy expert Lorenzo Moretti presents how to improve Cobot collaboration. In the context of virtual commissioning, he discusses how more meaningful controller design is possible with realistic plant models.

Dr. Fatma Kocer VP, Engineering Data Science at Altair showcases the impact of AI in development environments. In particular on how CAE tools will evolve and Design Exploration is taken to the next level.

Brett Chouinard, President and COO of Altair discusses Development challenges in Industrial machinery and illustrates how Altair's scalable simulation solutions provide the environment for simulation-driven innovation and how machine learning expands the capabilities furter.

Benoit Pelourdeau presents how Stanley Robotics SAS drives the design process with simulation, to develop the world's first robotic car storage service. Learn from him how the interdisciplinary mechatronic product development team succeeds with accurate virtual prototypes.

Christian Kehrer, Business Development Manager System Modelling, gives a Demo Sessions on Altair Simulation Solutions for faster evaluation of real-world machines, explaining how CNC control optimization is performed to realize toolpath error correction of a CNC milling machine, with system simulation and how more effective controller design with realistic plant models is realized.

Indradev Babu, Managing Director, UCAM PVT LTD, explains how he developed a CNC Jobshop to the largest manufacturer of CNC Rotary tables—presenting different development examples, he explains how Simulation Driven Design helps him to differentiate and what simulation Strategies he implements in the customer-centric development for the following generation Machine Tools at UCAM.

Industry expert Dennis Baum presents how Weber Maschinenbau applies simulation, how simulation can be used along product lifecycle and which benefits arise to customers and internal processes.

Industry Innovator Luca Gatti Luca invites you to a virtual coffee break, to see why it is necessary to model and deeply study the physics behind a cup of coffee. Learn why Gruppo Cimbali SpA is creating digital twins of their coffee machines to fully embrace the digital transformation.

Mr. Vijay Zala and Mr. Pragnesh Zala present development methodologies for new economic machine generations and showcase why Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd. sets simulation at the core of the development strategy.

Andrew Dyer, Senior Tech Specialist at Altair in the US, Gabriele Piombo, EngD Partner with Altair at the University of Warwick, and finally Prof. James Marco, Professor of Systems Modelling and Simulation at the University of Warwick, present - Rapid Battery Layout Optimization using 0D / 1D in a Systems Environment. Together they will discuss the use of a 1D Systems approach to simulate a battery module. This includes the cell, cooling plate & busbar and is subjected to a typical extreme duty cycle. A typical event is simulated where the maximum allowable temperature is exceeded which triggers an increase in the cooling flow rate. This system is then optimised.

Dr. Royston Jones, CTO and Dr. Anthony Hahnel, Technical Director, give their keynote presentation during the ATCx Driving Innovation in Electric Powertrain 2021.

In this presentation, MIRDC’s Bionic Intelligent Automatic Guided Vehicle (BI-AGV) is introduced. This “collaborative handling module” has three characteristics of wireless intelligence, flexible use and flexible movement. Through the wireless intelligent collaborative handling system, it can control several automatic guided vehicles (AGVS) in real time, and several vehicles can conduct remote control and serial connection to carry out handling tasks. At the same time, the 360-degree mobile omni-directional wheel design framework is adopted. It has the advantages of flexible use in the area where the traditional unmanned vehicle cannot run smoothly in the indoor narrow space.

The world is full of bulk and granular materials. From ores being mined, soil being excavated, rocks being conveyed, or powders being processed - over 70% of all industrial processes involve the handling or processing of these challenging materials.

Altair’s portfolio of simulation-driven design solutions covers – amongst many other disciplines – electromagnetics (EM) and electronic design automation (EDA).

Winning the innovation race for mechatronics products requires a tool set which can support a multi-disciplinary development process from early concept design up to in-service support.

These success stories illustrate how customers are leveraging Altair's Math & Systems technology for Model-Based Development to develop better products, faster. Simulations involve 3D, 1D, and/or 0D modeling approaches based on the integrated use of Altair MotionSolve™, Altair Activate™, and/or Altair Compose™.

Gonçalo Pereira, Principal Applications Engineer at Altair presents at the 2019 UK e-Mobility Seminar. Trade-off Studies between Battery Pack, e-Motor, Range etc. System Model Generation to Explore Sensitivities.

Industry 4.0 Meets Additive Manufacturing

With the prospect of increasing labor shortages among a wide variety of industries, combined with the significant costs of occupational injuries and the ever-increasing pressure to increase productivity, leading robotics company, Sarcos is in a unique position to deploy industrial robotics designed to increase productivity while eliminating injuries, by augmenting rather than replacing human workers. Chris Beaufait, COO of Sarcos, discusses the current robotics landscape, why automation is not the right solution to the problems industries are facing, how Sarcos and its product lineup - including the full body, fully powered Guardian XO exoskeleton - will play a critical role in defining the workforce of tomorrow, and his vision for the robotics industry over the next five to 10 years.

Sendyne, part of the Altair Partner Alliance, provides a virtual, physics-based battery model called CellMod Virtual Battery for real-time co-simulation for individual cells and packs. This presentation provides a brief overview of the battery model and benefits as well as an example of system simulation using Altair Activate using the Functional Mock-up Interface standard for co-simulation.

Presenter: Christian Kehrer, Business Development Manager, Altair

This presentation discusses the multi-disciplinary evaluation of truck platooning, with the lead truck sending out acceleration, braking and steering signals for the following trucks to react accordingly. The benefits address safety requirements, fuel savings, traffic capacity and convenience. The presentation demonstrates why platooning requires a holistic approach in the sense of connecting different modeling and simulation methods for a virtual evaluation of this system of systems.

Presenter: Nino Michniok, Mechanical Engineering Student, University of Kaiserslautern

The first part of the presentation shows the detailed process of building the multibody system of an actuated exoskeleton in MotionView/MotionSolve (MV/MS). The required movements are transferred to the corresponding joints by “Motions”. By this the exoskeleton can Stand Up, Walk diagonally across the floor and Sit Down. In the second part the “Motions” in MV/MS are replaced by controllers (position control) whichdeliver a certain torque to actuate the exoskeleton. The main topic here is the implementation of the co-simulation between Activate and MV/MS. In the end the presentation gives a quick outlook of similar works at the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern in Germany.

Presenter: Dario Mangoni on behalf of Alessandro Tasora, Engineering Professor and Digital Dynamics Lab Leader, University of Parma

This presentation address the use of the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) deep reinforcement learning algorithm to train a Neural Network to control a robotic walker and a robotic arm in simulation. The Neural Network is trained to control the torque setpoints of motors in order to achieve an optimal goal.

Presenter: Kaustubh Deshpande, Chassis Engineer, Nikola Motor Company

This presentation describes Nikola Motor’s progression of design maturity from 1D CAE to 3D CAD/CAE for chassis system engineering work on their electric trucks. This progression spans from Voice of Customer to Functional Requirements to Functional Deployment to Structural Deployment. Nikola Motor starts with a ‘First Principles’ model of their truck/trailer vehicle dynamics, then they perform system modeling & simulation with Altair Activate using quarter- and half-truck/trailer models. Block diagrams are created using both signal-based blocks and physical-based blocks (with Modelica). Through this methodical process, Nikola Motor is able to derive more and better insight earlier in their development process regarding important vehicle characteristics for their trucks – ranging from ‘yaw rate of the tractor for loaded vs. unloaded trailer’ to ‘full-trailer load distribution sensitivity due to fifth wheel location’. Work is in-progress to tighten the connection between their 1D CAE simulations in Altair Activate™ and their 3D CAE multi-body dynamics simulations.

Presenter: Ronald Kett, Technical Specialist, Altair

For a Stewart-Gough-Platform (Hexapod), various software tools were used to study and design highly dynamic hydraulic drives together with an overall system control. Calculation of Eigenfrequencies, control design and comparison, hydraulic system design, and overall simulation control were done in Altair Activate, the mechanics of the Stewart-Gough-Platform was taken from a CAD model into Altair Inspire Motion. The co-simulation between control + hydraulics and mechanics was performed using Activate and Altair MotionSolve. Altair HyperView and HyperGraph were used to analyze and visualize the results. With the highly integrated solutions, the results could be achieved within a very short time. The different types of models (linear/simplified/full mechanics/hydraulics) made it possible to start with fast development cycles and finally achieve reliable results.

Presenter: John Straetmans, Computer Engineering Student, University of Michigan

This project attempts to build an accurate real-time (RT) drone simulator through the full integration of a 1D functional model of a drone created in Altair Activate®, along with its corresponding geometry, into Unreal Engine via the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) standard. Then, VR, peripheral controllers, and other functionalities were added to the representation. This task was accomplished by modifying the Altair RT Vehicle Package, making it able to handle not just vehicles, but any system model located in an FMU for co-simulation, in this case a quadcopter model. Once the FMU containing the Altair Activate® drone model was successfully loaded into Unreal Engine, the tools provided by the application allow additional features to be added, such as VR support. By implementing an FMU, together with its geometry, into Unreal Engine, we can visually analyze the dynamics of the system to further verify the drone model and its performance. In the future, this integration process should be facilitated to automatically load any FMU following just a few steps.

Presenter: Dario Mangoni, Engineering Professor, University of Parma

In the modern car industry, the advent of hybrid and electric vehicle systems is driving radical changes in the car electronics and software, demanding more and more advanced controlling techniques. Self-stopping, self-starting, ultimately self-driving cars are nowadays possible, because of the multitude of sensors, controller units and actuators making the vehicles “smart”. To simplify and make the interaction between the user and the machine more and more intuitive and user-friendly, a much broader and deeper investigation of different use scenario combined with the human interaction and intervention is critical. In this context, higher-detailed vehicle models are required to provide a valid prototyping tool which can be reliably used to test innovative controlling strategies, such as testing with the Man-In-the-Loop. The Car Real-Time Modelica library proposed here aims at providing a highly valuable tool for the vehicle control system design and test. The key competitive advantages in this approach are in the Maple model-based compiler for supporting high-level of details modeling; the adoption of the Modelica language which allows a transparent and physical approach to the modeling activities and finally the Activate platform which offers real-time capabilities within an environment meant for the signal-based control design. To graphically validate the library results, a visualization framework for realistic real-time simulations that assures high-fidelity scenario in which to test user experience was also realized.

Presenter: Rajiv Rampalli, Sr VP in HyperWorks Core Development team, Altair

Altair’s products for multi-body system simulation (MBS) – MotionView, MotionSolve, and Inspire Motion – form a key component of multi-disciplinary system simulations. In this presentation, we will look back on several achievements this year, in the form of customer successes as well as recent enhancements to these products which significantly extend the depth and breadth of capabilities. Some of these application examples also involve connections from MBS to other Altair technology or to 3rd-party technology such as to Altair OptiStruct (for flexible bodies and light-weighting) and Altair Activate (for hydraulics) and EDEM (for discrete element modeling of bulk materials).

Presenter: Christian Kehrer, Altair [on behalf of Oliver Höfert, Simulation Engineer at Kampmann]

The increasing virtualization of engineering methods is inevitable. This also holds true for the design of systems that take care for the thermal well-being of humans, e.g. in buildings. If it comes to simulation of so-called HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) systems, very often high fidelity approaches like CFD are connected to it. In contrary, this contribution illustrates a 1D modeling approach of a heat exchanger in use of Altair Activate. The presentation explains the implementation of the NTU (Number of Transfer Units) method in a system simulation environment. This includes a short description of the approach itself as well as its current limits. Based on the implementation of a single cell, differing network configurations for the evaluation of use cases of varying complexity will be shown.