How are Companies Adapting to the Systems Engineering Approach in the New Era of Autonomous Vehicles?

Posted on March 24, 2022January 6, 2025 by Lakshmi Narayana

ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) technology is gaining traction across the globe as we look forward to Highly Automated Vehicles (Hands Off, Eyes Off – Conditional Automation & Hands Off, Mind Off – High Automation) and Autonomous Vehicles (Driver Off) with respect to Transportation and Mobility.

Several experiments are going on in the space of UAV, UGV, UUV and USV to bring a new era in the field of Autonomous Vehicles. There are several challenges to address the Automated Vehicle solutions with respect to traffic jams, auto pilot, highway auto pilot, urban auto pilot, self-driving.

Some of them are listed below:

How to sense the environment?
- Which sensor to be selected keeping in mind the safety and cost factors?
- Positioning of sensors impacting the weather conditions
Communication between Humans and Machines
Integration of Electrical/Electronic Architecture by making Vehicle centralization requires Big Data from sensors and cloud
Adaption of Vehicle Charging and its infrastructure
Remote Control of the Autonomous Vehicle
Collision avoidance with other Smart Systems
Safety alerts for pedestrians
Alerts for real time traffic, road conditions and so on…

Most of companies are looking for an integrated platform to manage the entire data namely Mechanical, Fluid, Electrical and Electronics with a Model-Based Approach. To address the above challenges, Dassault Systèmes has come up with a solution on how the Systems of Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems and its Sub Systems can be integrated. To manage the entire System, System of Systems and its sub-systems, there should be a seamless integration.

3DEXPERINCE platform from Dassault Systèmes not only addresses the challenges of integration, it also addresses the Real-time Monitoring challenge by having a Virtual Twin of an entire Assembly of a Vehicle or an Aircraft or complete Factory as well. It eases the workflow to have a First-Time Right-Information along with the possibility of successful Technologies to validate virtually with respect to Model-Based Systems Engineering. The below picture indicates how detailed upstream and downstream thinking processes take place from OEM to suppliers and the different disciplines involved from different domains that need to communicate with each other.

For any autonomous vehicle, camera, radar, sonar and lidar are essential which SENSE the environment through SENSORS and process the data through Software Applications like Apps, BSW, OS. Computing & Load Balancing is done through Processors, ECUs, GPU which will COMMUNICATE with Humans and Machines through Communication Protocols & Cyber Security (Cables & Wires, Wireless Communication) and Human Machine Interface (Head-Up Display, Voice, LEDs) which Act (Power, Move, Sound, Heat, Cool) using Actuators (Mechatronic Parts) and Power Management (Power & Battery).

The above process consists of lots of sensor-based applications, software applications, and mechatronics applications which needs to communicate very strongly in the R&D Phase of any product and it is very critical to have virtual testing before moving to real testing so as to achieve the “right” design for the first time.

The validation and digitalization of some areas are very critical as they play a major role in the emerging technologies

As electronics is transforming the automotive experience, it is always important to manage the electronics signal & power integrity workflow to be maintained digitally by capturing the requirement, schematic capture/ component placement, circuit simulation, pre-layout simulation SI/PI, post-layout simulations after importing, EMC compliance check.

As compliance for any new emerging technologies will play a key role, Dassault Systèmes through the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform is offering Industry Process Experiences to address these challenges.

There is a need to have full traceability for all the functional, logical, and physical requirements with respect to validation, testing and communication for which performance-driven architecture process available in 3DEXPERIENCE will help to streamline the processes.

EV technology poses lots of challenges to the R&D department to prove the concepts. This requires complete behavior modelling and multi-scale/multi physics simulations of aerodynamics, structure, ride & handling. These can be validated using 3DEXPERIENCE On Cloud solutions from Dassault Systèmes.

ADAS/AV sensor design & placement virtual validation is very important as all the modern cars come with complex electronic systems on four wheels. OEMs (and suppliers) are responsible for compliance/ electromagnetic compatibility, reliability, safety and comfort which 3DEXPERIENCE Platform provides by having a digitalized workflow of sensor modelling with antenna array design, EMAG field simulations, soil performance simulations and so on.

Vehicle antenna design displacement plays a vital role in ADAS technology to find the optimized antenna placement and vehicle shapes based on KPI’s.

There is a possibility of validating the design and get experienced in immersive environment through VR for the design reviews through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

With the automotive industry shifting gears to autonomous vehicles and many start-ups venturing into this segment, EDST is proud to have played a significant role in business transformations with proven industry solutions and applications. To experience the seamless integration with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, do contact our consultants at marketing@edstechnologies.com

Automate your CAD using CATIA V5 Macros

Posted on March 23, 2022January 6, 2025 by Mohit Aggarwal

Performing repetitive tasks manually leads to a loss of productivity. This is one of the major reasons why organizations are increasingly trying to automate processes which helps to reduce manual labour, design time and increase productivity. In CATIA V5, repetitive manual tasks can be automated using CATIA V5 Macros.

There are two ways to create CATIA V5 Macros:

Recording a macro.
Writing a macro.

How to Record a Macro in CATIA V5

Launch CATIA V5 & Go to Tools ? Macro ? Start Recording.

Now, you can specify the macro library in which you want to save the recorded macro, specify the name you want to give to the recorded macro & click Start.

Now, perform the operations which you want to automate in CATIA V5 e.g., Open Part Design Workbench ? Create A Sketch ? Create Pad.

Once all the operations that you want to automate are completed, click on Stop Macro Recording.

Now, to perform the task automatically, run the recorded macro by clicking Tools ? Macro ? Macros or simply by pressing Alt+F8 keys.

Now, select the Macro Library, the macro which you want to run & click on Run.

The task will now be performed automatically e.g.; pad is created automatically.

You can modify the recorded macro and use that macro to create all the variants of a product.

For example, if you need to create multiple bolts which are having different diameters then you don’t need to create all the bolts manually, you can automate the bolts creation process and the parameters can be entered using “input-box”.

How to Write a Macro in CATIA V5

CATIA V5 Macro can be written in three languages:

Visual Basic 6
VBA
VB Script / CATScript

Applications of CATIA V5 Macros

Macros can be used for Automating the Below set of Scenarios:

Repeated Set of Tasks: Create/Insert customised title block, saving images of annotation views to PowerPoint, extract BOM table to excel, etc.
Create Templates & Standardise the Company Workflow: For example, you have a standard template of part in which only few parameters might vary. The part can be created using automation and the parameters can be put in by the user.
Quality Checking Process: Macros can be used to automate the predefined quality checks like checking whether material is applied, font style in drawing, proper tree structure in assembly etc. Based on the check results, we can perform additional tasks.

Advantages of CATIA V5 Macros

Faster Completion: 90% of the time can be saved in product design using CATIA V5 Macros.

Error-free: As there is no human interaction while performing the repeated set of tasks, there are minimal chances of error.

Run the Automation During Non-Working Hours: As macros can work automatically, repeated set of tasks can be performed during non-working hours which ultimately increases productivity by reducing design time.

Digitalization of Lean Practices in Shop Floor

Posted on February 26, 2022January 6, 2025 by Murali Krishna Kumar

Lean Manufacturing

The word “lean” means no excess. So lean manufacturing can be explained simply as manufacturing which involves nominal waste. Lean manufacturing is all about reducing waste, not just physical waste, but labor and time waste caused by some processes. When all of these wastes have been eliminated from the system, only then can it be said that the system is truly lean and optimized. In short, lean manufacturing involves continual efforts to decrease or eliminate waste starting from the design process to the manufacturing, distribution and towards the product support and the phases beyond. This necessitates work and the development of a lean culture within the workforce, which ultimately leads to added value both for the customer and the company.

Managing a Lean Manufacturing Plant

The burden to deliver quality parts on schedule and at the same time to keep throughput times, residues and missing parts to a minimum is increasing in manufacturing planning. Shop floor management helps manufacturing companies achieve this goal. Companies have multiple teams which work to achieve the required level of productivity. Below is the representation of how many teams work to produce a product.

Deviating, even by any one team at any stage is not acceptable because it would affect the entire productivity of the plant.

Shop Floor Management

Constant practice of shop floor management approaches helps to form choices, recognize deviations in productivity results and successfully solve problems. Workplace meetings are the core for creating the culture of LEAN – embedding the behavior in all operators by making it part of their work to share learnings and ideas. Also key for sustainability, part of the daily process post which managers can customize the agenda.

However, each department within the company must collect a lot of information and compile it before having the meeting. Information flow in a company for a single department is shown in the below representation.

Collecting this information and compiling has to be done for easy understanding and discussion. More specifically, there are four paper practices:

(1) creating and adapting individual information spaces

(2) reinterpreting information

(3) combining information handover with social interaction

(4) visual cuing

After collecting and compiling, this information goes to the boards as shown below.

Challenges within the paper-based shop floor meeting

Time taken for updating the boards.
Information transparency is missed and reviewing previous days’ issues by management is very challenging.
No track/update of issues discussed, if they were closed or not.
Data retrievability could be a huge issue.

Digitalize Lean Practices

DELMIA 3DLean is a modern, customizable and interactive solution that gives managers the ability to capture, monitor, and track operational meetings on the shop floor. It enables manufacturers to bring about lean practices to make them an integral part of shop floor operations by providing critical coordination and communication capabilities. Enacting Lean practices on the shop floor help improve communication. Built on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, DELMIA 3DLean has a widget-based web app called HIGHLIGHTS that uses touchscreen technology to deploy Lean practices to team leaders, workers, and support teams.

Digitalization unites shop floor data with engineers’ intellect and breaks down organizational barriers and allows each team to take the correct actions, cascade results to stakeholders, and collaborate effortlessly regardless of their role or job. It helps companies by allowing teams to add human intelligence to shop floor data when addressing operational needs. It also animates Lean work place meetings with graphically presented functions for immediate action and follow through.

It also helps to track the discussed points. Each issue can be assigned in the board and status of the work can be checked and followed up with the responsible person for the details and solve the issues without any waste of time.

DELMIA 3DLean makes ‘Lean thinking’ a standard part of business, teams and culture by:

Allowing flexibility to adapt to new team scenarios and context.
Putting lean principles into action to handle operational waste, variability and efficiency.

How companies optimize their Design, Engineering and Manufacturing Processes?

Posted on December 15, 2021January 6, 2025 by Lakshmi Narayana

Organizations are adopting Lightweight Engineering solutions to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes. R&D departments in the Automotive and Aerospace sector is increasingly considering ways to adopt Lightweight Engineering solution to develop the new product designs.

There are multiple methods to optimize the weight, shape and material selection of parts and assembly. However, Lightweight Engineering is much more than this. Lightweight Engineering is the optimization of design, engineering and manufacturing processes which helps to create and evaluate new types of concepts and techniques that will make better lighter products.

There are multiple challenges which are faced while designing a part for Lightweight Engineering. Some of the challenges are listed below:

How to optimize the weight and shape of the design and further simulate and test virtually considering the entire Vehicle or Aircraft Design?
How to optimize fastening in complex assemblies?
How to achieve paperless engineering and manufacturing?
How to optimize the process for composites from design to engineering to manufacturing stages?
How to achieve a complex sheet metal part design right the first time in Aerospace and Automotive sectors?
How to manage weight and balance workflow to achieve the KPI?

To address the above challenges, there are multiple processes and digital validation solutions which traditionally work in silos. However, a single solution which can carry design, engineering and manufacturing processes with the same digital thread without any data loss is desirable and preferred as well.

CATIA for Lightweight Engineering solution addresses the above challenges through:

Cognitive Augmented Design with respect to Additive Manufacturing with best trade-off analysis approach
Simulation Driven Design for Digital Continuity with SFE concept
Reverse Engineering Processes with methodology and approach – from scan of “as built” or FEA deformation prediction results
Fastener analysis and review in earlier stages for complex Assemblies
Fully optimized process from design to simulation to manufacturing for composites
First time right approach for complex sheet metal parts by considering manufacturing constraints
Quicker design innovations in Mold Tool Designs
Predicting the change management with best impact analysis approach
Predicting mass distribution to balance weight in the earlier stages for large assemblies
Increasing the quality of manufactured products with minimal tolerancing and drawing interpretation errors by 100% Product Manufacturing Information in 3D for accurate & annotated geometric definition

Project Management & its Importance to Organizations

Posted on September 29, 2021January 6, 2025 by Goutham S R

Most of the organizations employ traditional operating procedures for Project Management. Data handling process is usually manual (file based) which means organizations manage their activity through Excel sheets.

The overarching question for organizations is why to invest on a software when the work is being managed manually?

The answer lies in Dassault Systèmes’ Project Management solution ENOVIA powered by 3DEXPERIENCE platform which delivers highly customized solutions with respect to specific industry verticals.

Not having a Project Management solution implies

Significant time is spent on non-value-added activities
Lack of traceability
No clarity on work allocation
Scheduling conflicts
Preparing data for a particular meeting involves time as well as manpower
Audit & compliance – collaboration with OEM & maintaining quality standards
Manual collection of project information which leads to process delay

Key advantages of having a Dassault Systèmes’ Project Management solution ENOVIA

Shorten product development time and reduce development cost
Collaborate efficiently across engineering domains and locations
Product portfolio planning & resource planning
Manage complexity of product configuration and need for traceability
Reduce reliance on manual collection of status by directly connecting to deliverables managed in the project
Optimize resources and schedule to deliver the products that lead to the highest combination of revenue and margins
Real-time, multi-site collaborative product development
Single, configured product definition for all disciplines and all authoring CAD tools
Connect engineering definition with product portfolio definition
Real-time information which can be accessed anytime from anywhere
Provide CAD user and managers with a web browser access to the 3D definition from any device
Edit product structure & 3D composition
Apply changes and configurations from web browser

Listen to how Suprajit Engineering benefitted from Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform

To know more about Project Management solution, visit this page: https://edstechnologies.com/enovia/project-portfolio-manager/

An Integrated Solution for Manufacturing Complex Parts

Posted on July 22, 2021January 6, 2025 by Goutham S R

Globalization and the fluctuations in customer demand in various industries have made manufacturing companies to rethink their current manufacturing process.

The components are becoming very complex to manufacture since they have to accommodate the growing need of customers’ expectation. How can these complex parts be produced? How can manufacturing companies avoid costly errors? How can companies ensure manufacturing is carried out in the most optimized way?

Traditionally, most of the manufacturing companies relied on conventional method which had a lot of silos. Dependency on multiple software solutions delayed the production & increased the production cost.

Traditional workflow

Let’s look at the challenges with respect to NC programming:

Due to part complexity, product development cost is increased. How can companies reduce this cost?
How to efficiently reduce programming lead-time from virtual manufacturing to actual production?
How to reduce time-to-market?
How to maintain quality and flexibility in a competitive environment?

Dassault Systèmes’ NC Programming & Simulation solutions provides unified access from design to manufacturing in a collaborative environment. Dassault Systèmes’ well-known brand CATIA delivers the high-end capability with respect to design & the brand DELMIA ensures the NC code generation, validation & machine simulation under one roof.

NC Programming & Simulation solutions ensure complete work flow from design to manufacturing without the need of any third-party applications.

Benefits of NC Programming & Simulation workflow with Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform

By adopting Dassault Systèmes’ NC Programming & Simulation solutions which is powered by 3DEXPERIENCE platform, manufacturing companies can address the above discussed challenges and gain the following benefits:

Ensure the quality of NC programming, simulation and optimization
Increase quality significantly by leveraging NC planning and programming automation
Reuse corporate rules and standards for tools & machining process
Improve productivity enhancements for tool management, NC setup preparation, NC program creation, NC program validation and NC program simulation

Category: Blog

How are Companies Adapting to the Systems Engineering Approach in the New Era of Autonomous Vehicles?

The validation and digitalization of some areas are very critical as they play a major role in the emerging technologies