development speed and methodology
The virtualization
ladder transforms
the traditional
development
environment into
a future-proof
connected tool-chain
that even
considers the
in-use phase.
9
C O L L E C T I O N 2 0 2 2
frontload many of their test activ-ities
before any hardware has even
been built. Furthermore, real hard-ware
testing can be carried out on
the testbed in combination with vir-tual
components, to explore syner-gies
and cross-system influences at
every development stage. The data
generated from these tests is then
shared to improve the accuracy of
the digital twins, before prototype
vehicles are built for testing on the
proving ground and SoP.
NEXT LEVEL
VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT
As we reach the fourth and final
step on the virtualization ladder,
the real power of data and digi-talization
is harnessed. A central
data hub accelerates the genera-tion,
analysis and sharing of data
between the office, the virtual lab
and the physical lab. This enables
complex concepts to be quickly
brought to life and refined on the
virtual testbed in order to meet tar-gets
at system and complete vehicle
level. As hardware is rigorously
tested and validated in the lab, the
results are quickly fed back to the
office and the virtual lab, and fur-ther
refinements and trade-offs can
be quickly introduced to the vehicle
model, which then further informs
more hardware testing.
At step four,
proving ground
testing can now feed di-rectly
back into the workflow,
further validating the simulated
models, and enabling thorough
testing under real conditions. Cru-cially,
with the advent of connected
vehicles, development can now be
extended to the in-use phase. Real
drivers become part of the devel-opment
team, and their behavior,
maneuvers, and fleet-wide data that
is simply impossible to collect dur-ing
formal testing can now be fed
back into the development loop.
This in-use data can inform the next
generation of vehicles, and can be
used to create firmware updates
to improve vehicles already on the
road.
Virtualization is a key tool in the ac-celeration
of complex vehicle devel-opment,
and at AVL we are already
employing it to help OEMs shape
the future of mobility.