8 development speed and methodology
Virtualization in the Connected Development Ecosystem
Virtualization is the change process that transforms a physical and hard-ware-
centric development process with a more extensive use of simulation
technologies and methodologies. Virtualization can be applied in varying de-grees
which are tailored to your needs. We call this the virtualization ladder.
FOUR STEPS TO VIRTUALIZATION
The virtualization ladder starts at step one, with a development workflow
that includes only physical testing in the lab and on the proving ground,
prior to SoP. In this scenario, data is shared manually between the lab and
the office, and there is a heavy reliance on costly prototypes. The whole
process is slow and expensive, and bringing products to market takes much
longer than is ideal.
In circumstances like this, where there is no virtualization competence,
our role is to introduce the customer to its benefits in the most accessible
way possible, taking them to step two in the process. We achieve this by
recommending application-related packages that begin to streamline the
relationship between the office and test environments, and reduce reliance
on prototype hardware.
The packages we recommend are implemented locally at critical points in the
toolchain. Test preparation is improved both in the lab and on the proving
ground with the application of our AVL Smart Mobile Solutions™ simu-lation
package. Complete vehicle modelling is powered by AVL ISAC™
and AVL VSM™ and test analysis is provided by AVL CONCERTO™.
Crucially, at this second step of the ladder no simulation expertise is re-quired
on the part of our customer, and we offer full integration support
and training to ensure the transition occurs as painlessly as possible. In-tegrating
our tools and methodologies into a development environment
where there were previously none is a simple and effective way of demon-strating
the powerful impact of virtualization.
CONNECTING THE
VIRTUALIZATION EXPERIENCE
At level two, most departments are
still working relatively independent-ly
with test orders and test results
being shared manually, and only
partial system modelling happening.
There is still a large requirement for
hardware and proving ground test-ing.
However, as we progress up the
ladder to level three, bridged appli-cations
with more simulation tools
are connected to enable data to flow
more freely.
Virtual testing is facilitated with
AVL Virtual Testbed™, which is
supported by our complete vehi-cle
modelling solutions to create a
virtual lab where simulated systems
or a complete virtual vehicle (a dig-ital
twin) can be built and tested.
Testbed.CONNECT™ links the
tools together in order to make the
most of the data, and feed the re-sults
of the testbed activities back
into the vehicle models.
With the further addition of our
market-leading solutions for test
preparation, optimization and re-sults
analysis, our customers can
With rapidly increasing system complexity, traditional development methods are
quickly becoming outdated. AVL’s new augmented ecosystem approach offers
a wide array of solutions and methodologies that revolutionize the development
workflow. One such solution is the application of virtualization.