The 2026 VI-Grade Smart Prototypes Summit, is taking place in Udine, Italy, this week (May 19-22), with a focus on the integration of virtual and physical testing and on how to extract meaningful insights from data – which the supplier also discusses in detail in the upcoming June edition of ATTI.
“It was a great start yesterday (May 19) with the launch of our smart prototyping concept with lots of positive feedback from customers and partners,” said Tanneke Reinders, executive VP at HBK. “From this morning’s presentations we really see ‘smart testing’ coming alive. The key is transforming from data creators to data interpreters – that’s the main shift for us. It’s about connecting data in one ecosystem. When we talk about data, especially the amount of data and fragmentation of it, we want to support.”
This year there are multiple tire-focused presentations, highlighting the critical role of the tire and its relationship with the vehicle. It seems tire and vehicle developers are working closer together than ever to refine their use of simulation and tighten the integration between the digital and real worlds. This was exemplified in the opening presentation by Alessandro Capobianco, R&D specialist for tire models and vehicle/DIL simulation at Bridgestone, and Eric Walter, vehicle dynamics CAE engineer at VW (both above), who provided an insight into their vehicle/tire co-development work, which has involved the sharing of a steering wheel model.
Another of ATTI’s highlights from the summit was the Nissan and Horiba Mira presentation (right), in which the two speakers, Leo May, lead simulation engineer, Nissan Motor Corp, and Stratos Stratoudakis, a consultant at Horiba Mira, detailed how they are working together to prioritize virtual development by moving it further forward in the cycle, with the ultimate aim of reducing development time by 25%.
Marc Hedrich, a development engineer at event exhibitor Team Rosberg Engineering, said, “We are presenting our expertise in providing simulation models. The focus for us is to learn new things because software is ever evolving and you don’t want to be left behind. I like this year’s approach of trying to get the best data and not the most. I’ve learned already how others such as Mercedes-AMG are using these tools. It’s cool to connect with companies that are doing similar things and others that are doing things we’ve never heard of.”
This morning concluded with a presentation from the rarely heard-from Tesla (top), which gave insights into the company’s NVH analysis using a simulator.
Francesco Calabrese who is attending as an exhibitor representing Fraunhofer ITWM as well as the institute’s spin-off, Virtual Tire Technologies, said, “It’s a good event to push the word for using more simulation with the goal of spending less money on prototypes. What I like is the excitement in this field as it grows – every year there are significantly more people which is a sign people are understanding the importance of it.”
More to come.
Related news, rFpro develops Japanese test route digital twin for virtual vehicle development
