Networking Innovation in the European Car Industry : Does the Open Innovation Model Fit?

The automobile industry is has entered an innovation race. Uncertain technological trends, long development cycles, highly capital intensive product development, saturated markets, and environmental and safety regulations have subjected the sector to major transformations. The technological and organizational innovations related to these transformations necessitate research that can enhance our understanding of the characteristics of the new systems and extrapolate the implications for companies as well as for the wider economy. Is the industry ready to change and accelerate the pace of its innovation and adaptability? Have the traditional supply chains transformed into supply networks and regional automobile ecosystems? The study investigates the applicability of the Open Innovation concept to a mature capital-intensive asset-based industry, which is preparing for a radical technological discontinuity - the European automobile industry - through interviewing purposely selected knowledgeable respondents across seven European countries. The findings contribute to the understanding of the OI concept by identifying key obstacles to the wider adoption of the OI model, and signalling the importance of intermediaries and large incumbents for driving network development and OI practices as well as the need of new competencies to be developed by all players.Peer reviewe

Platform-based design, test and fast verification flow for mixed-signal systems on chip

This research is providing methodologies to enhance the design phase from architectural space exploration and system study to verification of the whole mixed-signal system. At the beginning of the work, some innovative digital IPs have been designed to develop efficient signal conditioning for sensor systems on-chip that has been included in commercial products. After this phase, the main focus has been addressed to the creation of a re-usable and versatile test of the device after the tape-out which is close to become one of the major cost factor for ICs companies, strongly linking it to model’s test-benches to avoid re-design phases and multi-environment scenarios, producing a very effective approach to a single, fast and reliable multi-level verification environment. All these works generated different publications in scientific literature. The compound scenario concerning the development of sensor systems is presented in Chapter 1, together with an overview of the related market with a particular focus on the latest MEMS and MOEMS technology devices, and their applications in various segments. Chapter 2 introduces the state of the art for sensor interfaces: the generic sensor interface concept (based on sharing the same electronics among similar applications achieving cost saving at the expense of area and performance loss) versus the Platform Based Design methodology, which overcomes the drawbacks of the classic solution by keeping the generality at the highest design layers and customizing the platform for a target sensor achieving optimized performances. An evolution of Platform Based Design achieved by implementation into silicon of the ISIF (Intelligent Sensor InterFace) platform is therefore presented. ISIF is a highly configurable mixed-signal chip which allows designers to perform an effective design space exploration and to evaluate directly on silicon the system performances avoiding the critical and time consuming analysis required by standard platform based approach. In chapter 3 we describe the design of a smart sensor interface for conditioning next generation MOEMS. The adoption of a new, high performance and high integrated technology allow us to integrate not only a versatile platform but also a powerful ARM processor and various IPs providing the possibility to use the platform not only as a conditioning platform but also as a processing unit for the application. In this chapter a description of the various blocks is given, with a particular emphasis on the IP developed in order to grant the highest grade of flexibility with the minimum area occupation. The architectural space evaluation and the application prototyping with ISIF has enabled an effective, rapid and low risk development of a new high performance platform achieving a flexible sensor system for MEMS and MOEMS monitoring and conditioning. The platform has been design to cover very challenging test-benches, like a laser-based projector device. In this way the platform will not only be able to effectively handle the sensor but also all the system that can be built around it, reducing the needed for further electronics and resulting in an efficient test bench for the algorithm developed to drive the system. The high costs in ASIC development are mainly related to re-design phases because of missing complete top-level tests. Analog and digital parts design flows are separately verified. Starting from these considerations, in the last chapter a complete test environment for complex mixed-signal chips is presented. A semi-automatic VHDL-AMS flow to provide totally matching top-level is described and then, an evolution for fast self-checking test development for both model and real chip verification is proposed. By the introduction of a Python interface, the designer can easily perform interactive tests to cover all the features verification (e.g. calibration and trimming) into the design phase and check them all with the same environment on the real chip after the tape-out. This strategy has been tested on a consumer 3D-gyro for consumer application, in collaboration with SensorDynamics AG

Product grammar : construction and exploring solution spaces

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2004.Page 79 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-78).Developing a design methodology that accounts for system- and component-level parameters in the design of products is a challenge for design and manufacturing organizations. Designed products like automobiles, personal electronics, mass-customized homes, and apparel follow design processes that have evolved over time into compartmentalized approaches toward design synthesis. Many products are designed "by committee" because the nature of the problem is sufficiently sophisticated that isolating the different disciplines of engineering, design, manufacturing, and marketing has become the only way to produce a product. This thesis rethinks design methods by critically analyzing design rules and their role in product development. Systematic and unbiased mapping of possible configurations is a method employed in generative design systems. A mapping of a solution space is achieved by parameterizing the constraints of the problem in order to develop a feasible envelope of possibilities at the component and system level. Once parametric modeling begins, then a flexible hierarchical and associative assembly must be put in place to integrate components into the product structure. What results is a complex tree structure of the possible solutions that can be optimized to ergonomic, structural, aerodynamic, manufacturing and material perspectives. The tree structure is organized so that any changes in the component structure can be accommodated at any level. Subsystems can then be easily substituted in order to fit to mass-customization preferences.by Ryan C.C. Chin.S.M

Definition and verification of a set of reusable reference architectures for hybrid vehicle development

Current concerns regarding climate change and energy security have resulted in an increasing demand for low carbon vehicles, including: more efficient internal combustion engine vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Unlike traditional internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles contain a minimum of two energy storage systems. These are required to deliver power through a complex powertrain which must combine these power flows electrically or mechanically (or both), before torque can be delivered to the wheel. Three distinct types of hybrid vehicles exist, series hybrids, parallel hybrids and compound hybrids. Each type of hybrid presents a unique engineering challenge. Also, within each hybrid type there exists a wide range of configurations of components, in size and type. The emergence of this new family of hybrid vehicles has necessitated a new component to vehicle development, the Vehicle Supervisory Controller (VSC). The VSC must determine and deliver driver torque demand, dividing the delivery of that demand from the multiple energy storage systems as a function of efficiencies and capacities. This control component is not commonly a standalone entity in traditional internal combustion vehicles and therefore presents an opportunity to apply a systems engineering approach to hybrid vehicle systems and VSC control system development. A key non-­‐functional requirement in systems engineering is reusability. A common method for maximising system reusability is a Reference Architecture (RA). This is an abstraction of the minimum set of shared system features (structure, functions, interactions and behaviour) that can be applied to a number of similar but distinct system deployments. It is argued that the employment of RAs in hybrid vehicle development would reduce VSC development time and cost. This Thesis expands this research to determine if one RA is extendable to all hybrid vehicle types and combines the scientific method with the scenario testing method to verify the reusability of RAs by demonstration. A set of hypotheses are posed: Can one RA represent all hybrid types? If not, can a minimum number of RAs be defined which represents all hybrid types? These hypotheses are tested by a set of scenarios. The RA is used as a template for a vehicle deployment (a scenario), which is then tested numerically, thereby verifying that the RA is valid for this type of vehicle. This Thesis determines that two RAs are required to represent the three hybrid vehicle types. One RA is needed for series hybrids, and the second RA covers parallel and compound hybrids. This is done at a level of abstraction which is high enough to avoid system specific features but low enough to incorporate detailed control functionality. One series hybrid is deployed using the series RA into simulation, hardware and onto a vehicle for testing. This verifies that the series RA is valid for this type of vehicle. The parallel RA is used to develop two sub-­‐types of parallel hybrids and one compound hybrid. This research has been conducted with industrial partners who value, and are employing, the findings of this research in their hybrid vehicle development programs

Common global architecture applied to automobile electrical distribution systems

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112).Electrical and electronic components have a prominent role in today's vehicles. Particularly during the last two decades, functionality has been added at an exponential rate, resulting in increased complexity, especially of the Electrical Distribution System (EDS), which is the backbone of the Electrical and Electronic System (EES). Increased content and complexity of electrical systems, together with pressure to reduce the design cycle time - to bring a larger variety of products to the market and at a faster pace - are forcing car companies to re-evaluate their existing electrical development processes. One of the ways that car makers have devised to accomplish this is a common EES architecture strategy, which consists in combining communization, standardization, reusability and best practices to create flexible EES architectural concepts that will be used in a higher number of derivative vehicles. This common architecture has several benefits, the most important being: reduction of development costs and time, which translates in less time for putting the products in the market; architecture, concepts and components reuse; rapid platform modifications, to adapt to market changes and regional preferences. The EES architecture choice for a vehicle is the result of the implementation of the desired functions in hardware and software. Many considerations need to be taken into account: costs, network capabilities, modularity, manufacturing, energy management, weight, among several others. The present work aims to explain these considerations, as well as the elements of the common EES, and in particular their impact on the EDS. Another important aspect for the successful implementation of the common architecture is the EDS development process. Despite the availability of a wide range of software tools, the current EDS approach is intensely manual, relying on design experts to define and maintain the interrelationships and complexities of the core design definition. There is a need to redefine the process, from concept to manufacture using a systems engineering approach, which would yield key benefits, like shorten development time, produce accurate harness manufacturing prints, reduce wiring costs by synchronizing all input and output data. An analysis of the tools and methods for design and validation of wire harnesses will be presented in the last two chapters of this thesis.by Marcia E. Azpeitia Camacho.S.M.in System Design and Managemen

Automotive Intelligence Embedded in Electric Connected Autonomous and Shared Vehicles Technology for Sustainable Green Mobility

The automotive sector digitalization accelerates the technology convergence of perception, computing processing, connectivity, propulsion, and data fusion for electric connected autonomous and shared (ECAS) vehicles. This brings cutting-edge computing paradigms with embedded cognitive capabilities into vehicle domains and data infrastructure to provide holistic intrinsic and extrinsic intelligence for new mobility applications. Digital technologies are a significant enabler in achieving the sustainability goals of the green transformation of the mobility and transportation sectors. Innovation occurs predominantly in ECAS vehicles’ architecture, operations, intelligent functions, and automotive digital infrastructure. The traditional ownership model is moving toward multimodal and shared mobility services. The ECAS vehicle’s technology allows for the development of virtual automotive functions that run on shared hardware platforms with data unlocking value, and for introducing new, shared computing-based automotive features. Facilitating vehicle automation, vehicle electrification, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is accomplished by the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), cellular/wireless connectivity, edge computing, the Internet of things (IoT), the Internet of intelligent things (IoIT), digital twins (DTs), virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Vehicles become more intelligent, connected, functioning as edge micro servers on wheels, powered by sensors/actuators, hardware (HW), software (SW) and smart virtual functions that are integrated into the digital infrastructure. Electrification, automation, connectivity, digitalization, decarbonization, decentralization, and standardization are the main drivers that unlock intelligent vehicles' potential for sustainable green mobility applications. ECAS vehicles act as autonomous agents using swarm intelligence to communicate and exchange information, either directly or indirectly, with each other and the infrastructure, accessing independent services such as energy, high-definition maps, routes, infrastructure information, traffic lights, tolls, parking (micropayments), and finding emergent/intelligent solutions. The article gives an overview of the advances in AI technologies and applications to realize intelligent functions and optimize vehicle performance, control, and decision-making for future ECAS vehicles to support the acceleration of deployment in various mobility scenarios. ECAS vehicles, systems, sub-systems, and components are subjected to stringent regulatory frameworks, which set rigorous requirements for autonomous vehicles. An in-depth assessment of existing standards, regulations, and laws, including a thorough gap analysis, is required. Global guidelines must be provided on how to fulfill the requirements. ECAS vehicle technology trustworthiness, including AI-based HW/SW and algorithms, is necessary for developing ECAS systems across the entire automotive ecosystem. The safety and transparency of AI-based technology and the explainability of the purpose, use, benefits, and limitations of AI systems are critical for fulfilling trustworthiness requirements. The article presents ECAS vehicles’ evolution toward domain controller, zonal vehicle, and federated vehicle/edge/cloud-centric based on distributed intelligence in the vehicle and infrastructure level architectures and the role of AI techniques and methods to implement the different autonomous driving and optimization functions for sustainable green mobility.publishedVersio

Formula electric : powertrain

The Santa Clara Formula Electric team designed, and manufactured a powertrain for an electric racecar according to the rules prescribed by the SAE International Formula Electric competition. The powertrain is divided into subsystems: the battery pack, battery pack cooling system, motor controller, and the motor. The battery pack was constructed, but full electrical connection of all cells were not made. The pack was not integrated with the motor and motor controller. In addition, due to time constraints, extensive testing could not be completed

Using an alignment approach to enhance product development performance

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-212).In an attempt to improve their Product Development Processes (PDPs), many companies make considerable investments to have available cutting-edge technology such as virtual tools. While some companies have increased their productivity and time to market with them, some others have not. There seem to be fundamental factors above and beyond the use of these tools that can obstruct the PDP and one of them appears to be the misalignment between the product architecture and the organizational interactions of the actors working on it. While there has been significant work addressing the technical and social concerns of a PDP independently, the nature of the misalignment requires an integrated analysis of the product architecture and the organization. The present work studies them in an integrated approach by making use of network analyses. The research for this thesis was conducted in a Global Product Development (GPD) project of an automotive manufacturer. By first using as a reference the Multidisciplinary System Design Optimization (MSDO) to decompose the architecture of a product and then, using a specific type of Design Structure Matrix (DSM) [43] called N2 Diagram to identify the interfaces of the architecture, a network called theoretical sociogram was created. In addition, the relative sensitivity of some objectives describing the functioning of the product's systems was calculated to classify the strength of the ties in two levels: strong for those above an absolute relative sensitivity of 0.5, and weak for those with an absolute relative sensitivity lower or equal than 0.5.(cont.) Furthermore, through surveys and interviews, the organizational interactions for two different phases of the project were mapped to construct a new set of networks called actual sociograms. By comparing the sociograms and utilizing metrics that deal with the centrality of the actors in the network, the misalignments were identified. The misalignments provided guidance to identify the enablers and obstacles influencing the PDP. It was observed that, in some cases, when the sensitivity among variables was weak, engineering teams tend to use intermediaries to share information. In some other circumstances the direct interaction doesn't occur, due to reasons including cultural aspects, complexity of the information, the way the information is structured and organizational fuzziness, among others. Based on these findings, some recommendations based on literature review, lessons learned from other industries and conversations with Product Development (PD) actors, are provided.by J. Adrian Diaz Garcia.S.M

A next generation manufacturing control system for a lean production environment

This thesis focuses on addressing the need for a new approach to the design and implementation of manufacturing control systems for the automotive industry and in particular for high volume engine manufacture. Whilst the operational domain in the automotive industry has moved to lean production techniques, the design of presentday manufacturing control systems is still based on systems intended for use in a mass production environment. The design and implementation of current manufacturing control systems is therefore inappropriate when viewed from a business context. The author proposes that it is possible to create a more appropriate manufacturing control systems based on an optimised use of advanced manufacturing technology within the complete business context. Literature is reviewed to provide a detailed understanding of the relationship between modem operating practices and the application of contemporary control systems. The primary tasks of manufacturing control systems, within the context of a structured systems approach to manufacturing technology, production management and industrial economics are identified. A study of modem manufacturing control system technology is carried out, highlighting the fundamental principles that influence application engineering in this area. The thesis develops a conceptual design framework that aids the identification of attributes required of a next generation manufacturing control system (NGCS), in order to enhance the business performance of lean automotive manufacturing. The architecture for a next generation control system is specified and a Proof of concept system implemented. Potential advances over contemporary practice are identified with the aid of a practical implementation at a major automotive manufacturer