The Role of EMC Simulation and Virtual Drive Testing in the Development of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

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.

In a world of accelerating technological development, connected products provide the data for manufacturers to stay competitive. Discover how Toggled evolved from manufacturing commoditized lighting products to being a leader in connected building products. See what it takes to design and maintain a connected product ecosystem and the benefits of the data it collects.

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.

Industry 4.0 is bringing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology via the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). IIoT technology is making agricultural and mining equipment, trucks, and other heavy industrial assets smarter by adding connectivity. Antennas play a critical role in providing reliable connectivity. During this talk, we will show how advanced electromagnetic (EM) simulation tools can help in the placement and integration of antennas into tractors, heavy-duty trucks, trains, etc. This talk also will showcase, use of wireless propagation simulation tools for network planning and virtual drive test (VDT) scenarios.Presented at the ATCx Heavy Equipment in May 2021.

Speaker: CJ Reddy, VP Business Development–Electromagnetics, Americas, Altair

Duration: 20 minutes

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.

In this presentation hear about academic research at the Antenna and Electromagnetics Group at Queen Mary University of London. Examples include the use of Altair Feko to enhance a bee tracking radar performance and to design new generation compact antenna test ranges.

Presented at the 2nd Altair Academic Outreach Event in June 2021

Speaker: Dr. Rostyslav Dubrovka, Lecturer, Terahertz & Quasi Optics Research Unit Manager, Queen Mary University of London
Duration: 21 minutes

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.

Pete Darnell, Vice President, Software Development at Altair discusses why embedded development tools must track the ever-increasing complexity and feature set of microcontrollers as well as demands from new markets like the Cloud based “Internet of Things”. He looks at trends in the microcontroller space and discusses how block diagram model-based development tools can be used to abstract these changes to ease firmware development. He also looks at the thing side of IoT and the challenges of power management to extend battery life and what it will take to provide secure over-the-air firmware updates. The recording is about 19 minutes long, and was presented at the 2020 Global Altair Technology conference.

Dr Venkat Perumal, Senior Principle Engineer at Stryker Global Technology Center discusses the adoption of simulation in Medical Device industry and how it helps shorten the overall product development cycle time & cost. While adoption of simulation has the ability to reduce and time, physics-based models need rigorous verification, validation and uncertainty quantification. This talk will include examples, where physics-based simulation results lent insight of the product performance, materials modeling and structure-properties correlation. The role of industry-academia-private & public partnership in driving the change from 100% ‘make & break’ to ‘simulation driven product development’ including regulatory submission will be discussed. The video is 12 minutes long and was presented at the Altair Technology Conference 2020.

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.

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.

Automotive and smartphone cellular telecommunication system shares the same root. However, some design parameters should have differences because of different design environment and user experience. One of the big design differences can be found on antenna design, especially antenna gain on elevation angle radiation pattern. This presentation is about a study of the elevation angle for better automotive telecommunication systems antenna design.

Presentation by David Aviram , EM Expert in Israel, Altair. Presentation at the ATCx in Israel, Netanya on October 30, 2019.

Presentation by Tal Oz, Officer, Israeli Air Force. Many modern radars measure the radial velocity of airborne targets using Doppler shift to distinguish between real targets and clutter (trees, clouds, birds). Radial velocity and Doppler shift are directly related for regular airborne targets such as Boeing 747 but even a standing still helicopter will produce some sort of measurable Doppler shift. It is a computationally difficult task to find the relevant helicopter RCS but a feature provided by Feko, the ""Numerical Green Function"" can dramatically improve computation time of such problems. The lecture will begin with relevant Radar and RCS introduction, some highlights of important Feko features and dynamic RCS results of a CAD model of a helicopter. Presentation at the ATCx in Israel, Netanya on October 30, 2019.

Presenters: Rafael Morais Cunha, CAE Engineer in NVH, FCA Group & Frederico Luiz de Carvalho Moura, NVH CAE Leader, FCA Group

To make the driving experience more comfortable for passengers inside a vehicle compartment, in an increasingly shorter development cycle, predictive methods for the acoustic response characterization are used by vehicle engineering teams. The main purpose is to estimate the sound field in the car cabin. The FCA NVH team identified in Altair tools an excellent opportunity to develop a complete solution for acoustics simulation. Supported by the Altair technical team, new methodology was created to convert frequency domain analysis into actual sound waves. This method was used to study the NVH steady-state acoustic performances. And development is in progress to simulate an acoustic environment to reproduce all vehicle noises in operational condition. Using this methodology, it’s possible to virtually understand the acoustic behavior of vehicles, helping to make decisions in early design stages which could save design cost, time and also improve the driving experience for passengers.

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.