instrumentation and test systems
“In-vehicle testing is still in the dark
ages,” explains Gianluca Vitale,
Global Business Segment Manager
for Smart Calibration and Virtual
Testing at AVL. “It is very unstructured,
decentralized and data is not
stored in a central place.”
Labour intensive and lacking in connectivity,
which results in data siloes
and security issues, this development
phase is full of weaknesses. And so
AVL is revolutionizing the process.
2 2 2 0 1 9
A NEW ERA FOR
ON-ROAD TESTING
WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE POWER OF
BIG DATA, AND IT’S ON THE ROAD THAT
WE FIND THIS, WHERE WE CAN GENERATE
THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF DATA WITH
MANY VEHICLES EXPOSED TO MANY
“We would wish to frontload a lot
of this testing and bring it into the
lab,” says Vitale. “But you can’t
completely avoid in-vehicle testing
for various technical, safety and legislative
reasons. Yet it is very expensive
and time consuming. We want
to change that.”
For example, traditionally RDE
testing has required two experts to
carry it out – one driver, and a technician
to conduct the testing, backed
up by a support team. That is about
to change with the introduction of
a range of intelligent apps that can
simplify the process.
The new Smart Mobile Solutions require
no additional equipment, enabling
comprehensive test routes to
be generated and then downloaded
to tablets or smartphones. Slotting
easily into the existing test architecture,
they allow a single, non-expert
driver to conduct on-road testing so
that the experts can use their time
more effectively in the lab.
REAL-WORLD SCENARIOS.
GIANLUCA VITA L E • AVL,Global Business Segment
Manager for Smart Calibration and Virtual Testing
The apps are user-friendly and feature at-a-glance information so that the
driver is not distracted while driving. They provide information on where to
drive, how to drive, and which manoeuvres to undertake in order to complete
all the test objectives. Tests can be re-run if any test criteria have been missed.
“It is fundamentally a data solution,” explains Vitale. “We always talk
about the power of big data, and it’s on the road that we find this, where
we can generate thousands of hours of data with many vehicles exposed
to many real-world scenarios.”
For the next step, we developed the platform AVL Device.CONNECT™
to connect vehicles and testing systems. Essentially employing a Smart Hub
data is encrypted and securely transmitted to the client’s site. It can then be