If your main task at work every day is to play the racing game "Head Text D", running freely on various tracks, in order to optimize the millisecond-level data and the team's heated discussions and continuous improvement, is there a feeling of youthful dreams shining into reality? This is the daily work of Engineers in Ford Nanjing.
As the digital transformation of the automotive industry continues to upgrade, the use of digital tools for vehicle development and manufacturing has become a general trend. With a series of the latest digital tools such as driving simulators, NVH simulators, and 3D virtual test tracks, The Ford China team can not only optimize the vehicle development process, but also share resources and cooperate efficiently with ford's R&D teams in North America and Europe, so that Ford's model products can not only meet the world's strict R&D and test standards, but also meet the unique driving habits of Chinese consumers.
Compact static driving simulator
Driving Simulator Makes Lab Seconds "Racing Track"
Recently, Ford China built a complete set of driving simulation equipment in the Nanjing Engineering R&D Center, including a compact static cockpit, a 3D virtual test track and a software tool chain developed by Ford, which instantly transformed the vehicle dynamic laboratory into a virtual "racing track". Using this set of equipment, Ford vehicle dynamic engineers seem to be in a real test field, driving a simulated virtual prototype in front of an immersive curved large screen, and repeatedly testing and tuning the vehicle's steering and handling performance on the virtual test track, so that the team can participate in the early stage of vehicle development and optimize vehicle performance in time.
With the driving simulator, Ford China shares resources and collaborates with global R&D teams
"In the traditional vehicle development process, the vehicle dynamic team can only intervene after the physical prototype is out. With these digital tools, we can drive a simulated prototype in the lab to do subjective evaluation at the beginning of the development of a new car. Li Chao, head of vehicle dynamic performance at Ford China, said: "Of course, the actual measurement of the sample car is still an indispensable step in the development of new cars, but through the tuning and verification of the driving simulator, the first physical sample can be closer to expectations, effectively reducing the risk of experimental failure, and thus optimizing the vehicle development process." ”
It is worth mentioning that compared with the traditional physical prototype test, this set of simulated driving tools accesses the 3D virtual data of Ford's test tracks around the world, allowing engineers to conduct driving assessment tests under different road conditions around the world, ensuring that new car development not only meets the global unified and rigorous test standards, but also meets the driving habits of local consumers.
NVH Simulator lets you hear the vehicle "talking"
When it comes to vehicle tranquility, it is important to mention that an important item in vehicle development that needs to be optimized and tested , vehicle noise, vibration and smoothness (NVH), is designed to avoid unpleasant noise or jitter during the driving of production vehicles. Ford carefully polishes the NVH performance of each new car, so that consumers can enjoy a stable and quiet driving experience anytime, anywhere.
The desktop-level NVH simulator enables vehicle-level NVH evaluation early in the development of the project
The Vehicle Vibration and Noise Laboratory at ford's Nanjing Test Center has a well-equipped reverberation chamber, a semi-anechoic chamber, and a cutting-edge acoustic test system. Recently, the lab has introduced new digital tools, desktop-level NVH simulators and software toolchains, enabling NVH engineers to conduct vehicle-level NVH status assessments early in the project development stage, drive project decision-making, and accelerate the vehicle development process.
With this innovative tool, engineers can perform model model simulation on a computer and constantly update the data according to the progress of project development, so that the NVH performance of the simulation model is infinitely close to that of the physical prototype. Engineers can also hear the powertrain noise feedback of the simulated prototype in real time during dynamic driving such as gear shifting, acceleration and deceleration through headphones and speakers, and experience the highly accurate sound experience from smooth roads to rough roads to rough roads, and more intuitively evaluate the NVH performance of the vehicle.
Desktop-grade NVH simulator software toolchain
"This set of tools allows us to conduct vehicle NVH assessments before the first physical prototype is produced, increasing our confidence in NVH decisions in vehicle development." Jiang Shuangyan, NVH Development Director for Ford China Powertrain, said: "In addition, compared with traditional data reports, NVH simulators can use the 'listening' method to more intuitively show the NVH performance of current vehicles to non-acoustic professionals, more effectively improving R&D efficiency." ”
Efficient global collaboration, continuous expansion of application fields
Compared with China, Ford's R&D centers in North America and Europe were equipped with digital driving simulators for model development earlier, and actively cooperated with technology partners to develop driving simulator functions and expand application scenarios. The new Pioneer Smart Pure Electric SUV Mustang Mach-E is Ford's first production car to be tuned to a track-driving simulator.
Based on the global unified Ford self-developed software tool chain, Ford China can share model data and test track data in real time with engineers in North America and Europe, discuss test results in a timely manner, and quickly improve the local testing and research and development capabilities of the Chinese team.
In the future, with the continuous deepening of Ford China's technological innovation, digital tools such as driving simulators and NVH simulators will be applied to more and more fields, including vehicle tranquility, driving comfort, human-computer interaction and advanced driver assistance (ADAS) function testing, so as to make the R&D process more streamlined and efficient, help Ford's electrification and intelligent transformation, and continue to bring a better driving experience to Chinese consumers.
In the future, digital tools such as driving simulators will be applied to the testing of advanced driver assistance functions