Leading the Transformation in the Automotive Industry Through the Digital Twin

Abstract

A mobility transformation is taking shape across multiple industries. The transformation is a combination of technological, regulatory, and societal changes all pushing for greater safety, sustainability, and equity in human mobility. In the automotive industry, this transformation has manifested in the immediate push for vehicle electrification, the continuous increase in automotive electronic and software content, and the continuing development of connected, automated and autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. This transformation is pushing the complexity of vehicle development to new levels in multiple aspects. Electrification, autonomy, and connectivity are driving requirements for more computing power, more electronic control units, and clever packaging of these many devices into the vehicle. Meanwhile, more and more features are being implemented through software in all types of vehicles, increasing software complexity and drawing additional focus during vehicle development. As each of these subsystems becomes more sophisticated, the task of integrating them into a robust, safe, and high-quality vehicle becomes even more difficult. The question for today, then, is how to continue to advance automotive design, features, and technologies to realize the potential of the future of mobility, despite the challenge of growing complexity. We believe a new approach to vehicle development is necessary. Automotive manufacturers must embrace digitalization and break down the boundaries that often exist between engineering domains and the stages of product development and manufacturing. Key to this approach is a comprehensive Digital Twin that captures every aspect of the vehicle design and production. Using such a Digital Twin, automotive manufacturers can connect engineering teams from across the electrical, electronic, software and mechanical domains. This means automotive manufacturers will be able to design, verify and validate entire vehicle platforms, ensuring the highest standards of safety, reliability, and passenger comfort. In this chapter, we will discuss the major trends of electrification and autonomy and examine how digitalization and the Digital Twin will be crucial to the creation of the advanced vehicles of the future. Though we focus on the consumer automotive market in this chapter, the benefits of digitalization and the Digital Twin are equally applicable to other vehicle manufacturing industries, such as heavy-equipment and off-highway vehicles.