"apply & innovate 2012" - IPG Technology Conference, September 18-19, 2012

Around 150 delegates from more than 50 companies in the automotive industry and renowned research institutions met at the "apply & innovate 2012" - IPG Technology Conference held in Karlsruhe on September 18 and 19, 2012. The high-caliber international event was fully focused on current methods and tools of seamless vehicle development and virtual test driving.

The number of networked systems in vehicles is continually growing. A multitude of highly complex components has to be successfully integrated in the whole vehicle and included in a standardized evaluation process as early as possible.

Plenary speakers Dr. Wolfgang Runge, former managing director of ZF-Lenksysteme, and Prof. Albert Albers from the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), provided impressive descriptions of the solutions corridor for future vehicles.

In line with the motto of the event, "apply & innovate," more than 30 specialists presented the latest research and development results achieved by using powerful vehicle dynamics simulation and intelligent rig test technology. They showed how components and systems can be integrated and evaluated as hard- and software in virtual test driving. The wide range of topics demonstrated the versatile uses of simulation tools ranging from modern driver assistance systems, vehicle dynamics, integrated safety systems, electrified drive systems and energy efficiency, networked control systems and vehicle dynamics through to simulation-based homologation.

There was unanimous agreement among the experts that virtual test driving is playing an ever more important role. This is particularly true with respect to increasingly agile vehicle, system and software development requiring closer as well as interdisciplinary research collaboration and a large part of the development time being expended without the use of any vehicle prototypes whatsoever - a trend which continues to grow. As one of the participants summed up the challenges faced by developers, "Interactions in networked systems lack transparency. Instead of specifying we have to increase the amount and scope of joint testing, and we need to do this as early as in the virtual vehicle."

Another highlight of the event was the "Technology LIVE Tour at KIT" at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology where diverse forward-thinking technologies centered on virtual test driving and X-in-the-Loop test methods were presented.

The feedback received from participants was positive: "apply & innovate 2012" yet again provided an excellent opportunity to look beyond one’s own scope, to engage in an exchange with professional colleagues and to benefit from methods and solutions used by adjacent functional areas." IPG also takes positive stock of the conference, stating that the significant increase in the number of papers presented and the higher attendance rate prove the growing response to the topic of virtual test driving.