“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

Kodiak is testing and validating camera samples from Bosch and has integrated early prototype sensors into its SensorPods, which house autonomous driving hardware. The company is also evaluating Bosch vehicle actuation components as part of ongoing development and testing.

Since announcing their collaboration in January 2026, Bosch and Kodiak AI have progressed from strategic alignment to joint engineering work.

“The quick transition to tangible engineering progress underscores the velocity behind this collaboration,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak AI. “By validating Bosch’s sensors and components, we are deep into the ‘how’ of high-volume production. Our rapid progress is proving we have the shared ability to execute on the roadmap to industrialize the Kodiak Driver at scale.”

The collaboration is focused on building a robust, production-ready autonomous platform that integrates hardware, firmware and software interfaces required to deploy the Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s AI-powered driving system.

“Our progress highlights our readiness to move from strategic alignment to industrial execution as we work to bring scaled autonomous trucking to fruition,” added Peter Tadros, regional president, power solutions, Bosch North America. “This cooperation has accelerated and deepened our understanding of real-world autonomous vehicle requirements and helped us forge a path for scaling redundant autonomous driving technology for the entire ecosystem.”

By combining Kodiak AI’s autonomous driving technology with Bosch’s manufacturing expertise, the collaboration aims to support the development of a scalable autonomous trucking platform. The focus is on modular design, serviceability and system-level integration to enable future commercial deployment of driverless trucks.

Recent news, Univrses AI technology integrated into Pirelli Cyber Tyre platform

The hub is expected to employ around 200 technical specialists that will be responsible for enhancing the MyToyota and LexusLink+ applications, which are used by more than two million European customers to access remote vehicle functions, battery‑charge monitoring and a wide range of ownership‑convenience services. The team will also contribute to the development of the cloud infrastructure that enables connected services for Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe, while additionally providing cybersecurity support.

“Toyota has been present in Poland for 35 years and this project strengthens Toyota’s commitment in this market,” said Thierry Boitel, vice president of research and development, Toyota Motor Europe. “Poland was selected as the location for the Toyota Digital Hub due to its strong pool of highly skilled specialists and the presence of leading technical universities.”

The establishment of the Toyota Digital Hub marks a further investment by Toyota in Wrocław. Since 2015, the Shared Services Centre has operated in the city, providing accounting and tax advisory services for all Toyota units in Europe.

“The Toyota Digital Hub is set to play an important role in Europe by expanding Toyota’s software development capabilities and positioning Toyota Motor Europe as a trusted partner in future global software‑defined vehicle development,” said Luis Lopes, vice president information and technology, Toyota Motor Europe.

“The decision to locate Toyota Digital Hub in Poland confirms our country’s strong investment appeal and its solid position as a hub for modern technologies,” said Andrzej Domański, Polish minister of finance and economy.

Recent news, Pony AI launches self-improving physical AI engine PonyWorld 2.0

The agenda covered simulation, data management, diagnostics and test automation, with discussions underscoring interoperability, simulation credibility and data‑centric development. These themes emerged across sessions on ASAM standards OpenDrive, OpenScenario, OSI, ODS, SOVD, XIL, OTX, CMP, and digital‑twin integration through the Asset Administration Shell (AAS).

Cross-standard harmonization and the need to align toolchains across domains, suppliers and development stages remain priorities, with speakers citing inconsistent interpretations of ASAM specifications as a cause of fragmentation. Updates included co‑simulation workflows, higher‑fidelity OpenX modeling, interoperable data management, modular measurement architectures, digital‑twin concepts, ODD taxonomies and simulation‑quality assessment.

Regional updates and roadmap

Updates from ASAM’s ambassadors in China, Korea, Japan and the USA were shared by CATARC technical director Bolin Zhou, IVH CEO Daeoh Kang and ASAM Japan representative Yoshiaki Shoi. Priorities included co-simulation and merging standards in China; sensor simulation and ASAM SOVD in Japan; and study groups in South Korea supporting global application of standards, such as ASAM OpenDrive.

BMW IT specialist Michael Schwarzbach outlined the 2026 Technical Steering Committee roadmap, highlighting ODD-based testing, collaboration improvements, harmonized standards and a common ontology.

OpenX updates

ASAM technology managers Ahmed Sadek and Yash Shah (below) presented ASAM OpenX updates. Previous OpenX models defined traffic participants independently, creating toolchain inconsistencies. New concepts for ASAM’s simulation standards include combining ASAM OpenDrive with the Quantifying Simulation Quality (QSQ) initiative, and ASAM OSI adding high-fidelity sensor simulation support, such as spectral irradiance and radar waveforms. “No standard is developed in a silo,” Shah said. “We think feature-based, then collect standards experts for harmonization.”

Simulation integration

Clemens Linnhoff, founder and CTO at Persival, demonstrated co-simulation between Scenario Player and Sensor Model, with all assets linked in ASAM OpenScenario as a single source of truth.

ASAM ODS, MDF, CMP and digital twins

Technica Engineering technical fellow and head of media relations Lars Völker outlined Capture Module Protocol (ASAM CMP) improvements. “Before 2022, in‑vehicle DAQ was vendor‑specific and non‑modular. CMP 1.0 introduced modular DAQ and support for heterogeneous technologies. New use cases support raw Ethernet and define message transport across the vehicle system. Scaling HIL and test setups enables an elastic measurement infrastructure.”

Using slides from the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA), Stefan Romainczyk, senior product manager at Peak Solution, said, “Today’s digital twins are proprietary and one lifecycle element, whereas future twins have a complete lifecycle with efficient scaling. With ASAM ODS, AAS can create a comprehensive data profile for digital twins – standardized interoperability improves predictive maintenance, time and cost.”

SDV diagnostics updates

Following the launch of ASAM SOVD 1.2 in February with 29 global OEMs and suppliers, Vector Informatik manager Tobias Weidmann presented at the seminar the latest activities in the development of the standard. ISO 17978-4 Remote Access covers how to access vehicle information via authorization and defining the access path; possibilities include functional communication, new access methods to log information via a streaming interface, and large file handling via third-party service providers.

ODD taxonomy and AV deployment

Andreas Richter (below), engineering program manager – Operational Design Domains, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, outlined ASAM OpenODD implementation within MOIA America, VW’s autonomous‑mobility affiliate, formerly known as ADMT. VW Commercial Vehicles is the first group brand to introduce SAE Level 4 autonomous driving using the ID Buzz platform with integrated third‑party automated‑driving systems. Testing is underway in Hamburg and Munich in Germany, Oslo in Norway, and in Austin, Texas.

Richter noted that the industry is not always clear on ‘ODD’, ‘taxonomy’, ‘service area’ and ‘scenarios’. “To bring autonomous driving to life, we have to agree on the same terms,” he said, calling for ODD definitions that are unambiguously readable by humans and machines, supported by geodata analysis and enterprise‑ready tools for ODD and scenario management.

“ASAM OpenODD offers a taxonomy-agnostic, modular model to represent ODDs in different technical formats, [and] support development, storage and processing in a machine and human-readable way,” he explained. “Originally intended for scenario-based testing, ODD definition is now required in more process steps for developing, testing, approving and operating ADS. The ODD as a single point of knowledge ensures OEMs and authorities share definitions.”

VW’s internal elaborated ODD taxonomy demonstrates how modular definitions support understanding across organizations and regulators. The ODD management toolchain validates taxonomies and module definitions, supports multilingual concepts and connects to scenario‑creation and requirements‑management workflows. Using STIEF (scenario-accompanied, text-base, iterative evaluation of automated driving functions), engineers can preload scenario definitions via natural‑language inputs, while geodata analysis identifies new operational areas and generates challenging test routes.

Simulation credibility

In an ASAM QSQ update, Automotive Artificial Intelligence’s general manager Basit Khan highlighted the challenge of trusting simulation for virtual homologation.

“No standardized quality metrics exist for simulation frameworks, especially ADAS/AD sensors,” he said. “Many contributors – OEMs, suppliers, research and tool vendors – have different priorities and vocabulary. Through working groups spanning use cases, camera, lidar, radar and vehicle dynamics, our goal is to drive cross-sector innovation by building a unified standard upon proven, existing components. By harmonizing established concepts, we can create a practical framework that ensures simulation reliability without reinventing the wheel.”

Research and collaborations

Fraunhofer IOSB’s research group leader Jens Ziehn reported on how ASAM helps scale R&D results, for example where ASAM’s OpenDrive, OpenLabel and OpenScenario are used to deliver interoperability and reusable data across diverse acquisition sources in the AVEAS Brave10K project to scale automated driving in public transportation.

SAE’s Ed Straub outlined ASAM’s collaboration with SAE J3259 (ODD taxonomy), while ASCS’s Alexander Walsh emphasized the complementary role of ASCS and ASAM in simulation, AI and HPC.

Industry collaboration continues at Vehicle Tech Week Europe

Vehicle Tech Week Europe, represented by ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International, Automotive Testing Technology International and Automotive Interiors World, served as ASAM’s media partner.

Launching this June in Stuttgart, Germany, the three-day ‘festival of engineering’ will unite the full vehicle‑technology ecosystem – from EV and battery testing to autonomous‑vehicle development, UX/HMI, materials engineering and in‑cabin innovation – creating cross‑disciplinary value at a time when the industry faces intense technological and regulatory pressure.

ASAM is an association partner of Vehicle Tech Week Europe, and Yash Shah and Andreas Richter will continue their discussions about ASAM OpenX evolution and ODDs at the event.

Learn about Vehicle Tech Week’s partnerships here.

Find out more about ASAM’s International Conference, which will take place on November 4 and 5, 2026.

Related news, EXPO REVIEW: Automotive Testing Expo Korea 2026

kAIros is part of Horse Powertrain‘s wider strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of advanced manufacturing in Europe through the use of AI in development, simulation and industrial operations. By combining advanced supercomputing with cloud platforms, the company aims to provide the computing power, security and scalability needed to support these activities and enhance its long-term innovation capabilities.

AI Factory to support industrial AI applications 

At the heart of kAIros is the Horse Powertrain AI Factory, supporting AI use cases across engineering and production, including model training, simulation and digital twins, with the aim of accelerating industrial innovation and real-world deployment. A key part of the concept is the generation of training data to help continuously improve models and digital twins over time.

These capabilities enable the company to run advanced simulations and optimize operations in real time across products, factories, warehouses and logistics, with Google Gemini Enterprise used to deploy AI agents across the business, helping reduce coordination tasks that add limited value.

kAIros also supports physical AI by linking real-world operations with virtual systems in real time. This enables systems to interpret their environment, support autonomous decision-making, and interact with cobots, automated guided vehicles and smart machines. Applications include automated video-based quality inspection, faster product simulation and robotics for process optimization.

A dedicated Center of Excellence will lead the development of internal AI capabilities, bringing together cross-functional teams to build applications and scale expertise across the organization. Alongside this, the AI Factory will support scenario simulation, algorithm optimization and the development of intelligent propulsion solutions to improve efficiency and predictive performance. The initiative also aims to build long-term industrial AI capability to support advanced manufacturing in Europe.

Patrice Haettel, COO of Horse Powertrain and chief executive officer of Horse Technologies, said, “Industry advances at moments when technology doesn’t just follow change – it drives it. With kAIros, we are taking a decisive step into a new era where AI can redefine speed, cost, efficiency and sustainability.

“Our goal is to turn data into knowledge, simulations into real value, and innovation into competitive advantage. Horse Powertrain aims to be more agile and reliable because we understand that AI is not just a tool and kAIros is among the first AI factories in Europe for the automotive industry.”

Related news, GRAS launches new KEMAR head and torso simulator for acoustics analysis

McLaren can now explore more of the design space, run complex tests and simulations faster, and tune every component with greater precision. The platform also reduces manual, repetitive tasks through leveraging engineering agents.

Nick Collins, CEO of McLaren Automotive, explained, “This is a genuine strategic transformation for the business. By continuously compounding and optimizing our data, our intelligence and our engineering philosophies at unimaginable speed, we can deliver product developments at pace, while protecting the DNA of our company.”

The Rescale system is trained exclusively on McLaren data and uses Nvidia AI infrastructure, AI physics models and agentic engineering libraries. It connects McLaren’s CAE, systems engineering and design into a unified AI data fabric that continuously learns and optimizes, while adhering to McLaren’s quality standards and performance characteristics. 

“Our foundational platform allows McLaren to leverage the latest agentic engineering technologies powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure, providing a compounding source of competitive advantage for engineers in critical areas of product development, such as carbon materials, structural dynamics, durability and ultimately the programmatic scaling of engineering excellence across every discipline, to deliver world-class products faster,” said Joris Poort, founder and CEO of Rescale.

Tim Costa, VP and GM, computational engineering at Nvidia, said, “The future of automotive engineering is being rewritten by agentic AI and advanced simulation, turning decades of design heritage into a live, generative engine that accelerates every stage of the vehicle lifecycle. By integrating Rescale’s unified control layer with Nvidia’s open models for agentic AI and accelerated physics, McLaren is compressing years of traditional simulation into hours of real-time design exploration.”

University of Glasgow and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh conducted a study for TransiT, a national UK research hub using digital twins to identify the fastest, lowest-cost pathways to transportation decarbonization in the UK.

The work highlights major challenges to the operation of driverless vehicles and digital twins – digital replicas of objects, processes or systems in the physical world that are increasingly being used to improve the efficiency and sustainability of transportation through functions including predictive maintenance and route optimization.

The fifth-generation wireless technology 5G offers faster speeds and greater data capacity, enabling applications like intelligent transport systems, where vehicles communicate with each other and infrastructure to enhance transport safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

Dr Mohammad Al-Quraan, a research associate in autonomous systems and connectivity at the University of Glasgow, explained, “Driverless vehicles and digital twins both rely on ultra-reliable, uninterrupted communication systems that can transmit data at high speed and in real time – like ‘5G and beyond’ technologies.

“These are needed to ensure that driverless vehicles are continuously connected to the operations centers controlling them, and that digital twins can exchange decisions instantly – or in near to real time – with their physical counterparts in the real world.

“But our research shows that even next-generation communication technologies like 5G are vulnerable to blockages from obstacles like vehicles and pedestrians – which highlights the need for new innovations in this area.”

To understand how traffic affects 5G performance, the team built a detailed simulation of a 160m stretch of urban road representing a typical two-lane dual carriageway.

This included driverless connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), which use sensors including cameras and radar to monitor their surroundings and send a continuous flow of high-resolution data to their control centers, using high-speed two-directional communication links.

The researchers also modeled conventional cars, vans, trucks and buses traveling at realistic speeds of 10mph to 70mph. They then evaluated 5G signal performance under three scenarios: varying levels of traffic congestion (low, medium, high), and changes in both the number and height of roadside units along the road.

The results show that heavier traffic leads to more frequent blockages and weaker signals. Under high congestion, the main 5G link dropped in signal strength by about 20% compared to light traffic. The researchers say this could cause delays in sending sensor data or even force vehicles to fall back to slower 4G networks.

The team also found that raising the height of roadside 5G units can reduce blockages. At around 1m, all blockages disappeared in their tests. But placing antennas too high can weaken the signal due to distance, so planners must balance height with performance.

In very busy traffic, extra units sometimes increase the chance of both main and backup links being blocked at the same time. This suggests that simply installing more 5G equipment is not enough; smarter planning and coordination are needed.

Dr Al-Quraan said, “These 5G signals are very sensitive and even a car passing in front of them can cause a huge loss. Our research highlights the need for resilient communication systems that can predict and avoid blockages like these, so autonomous vehicles and digital twins have the connectivity they need to operate in our future decarbonized transport networks.”

The researchers suggested that using artificial intelligence could help predict signal disruptions, enabling 5G and future networks to maintain seamless, uninterrupted communication.

Related news, Agricultural vehicle OEM Kuhn implements real-time cloud monitoring in testing

Signal Plot is a free, downloadable extension for CanKing 7.4.0 or later that allows engineers to track multiple signals simultaneously, zoom into events, compare values using cursors and switch between live and pause modes. The extension provides engineering-unit graphing directly within the CanKing workspace, making it particularly useful for HIL bench bring-up and on-site debugging.

“Our goal with Kvaser CanKing has always been to give engineers the clarity they need with as little friction as possible. Signal Plot does exactly this; turning raw CAN and LIN data into clear, meaningful visuals in real time. It’s a simple yet powerful upgrade that delivers an immediate boost in understanding and efficiency,” said Martin Sventén, CEO of Kvaser.

The update is designed to provide engineers with faster, more intuitive insights into system behavior, making real-time monitoring and debugging of automotive networks simpler and more efficient.

The extension is the first built on Kvaser’s CanKing Extensions SDK, which was launched last year, to enable users to create web-based GUI extensions such as dashboards, gauges and custom interpreters without modifying the core application. The SDK leverages React and is compatible with both Windows and Linux systems.

CanKing 7.4.0 also adds support for LIN message logging and replay using MDF4.x files. Improved MDF4.x compatibility ensures that LIN data frames are correctly recognised, enabling the Message Logger and Message Replay nodes to function seamlessly across both CAN and LIN traffic.

CanKing 7.4.0 was unveiled at at Embedded World 2026 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Related news, Kia focuses on NVH reduction in EV2 development

“The T.50s is the most engaging car I’ve ever drive,” said Franchitti. “For pure fun factor, it surpasses all other track-only models, my favourite supercars of all time, and even the race cars I drove to multiple world championship wins. Gordon set out to create the greatest on-track driving experience ever. The team has more than delivered. The feedback, responsiveness, performance, sound, visibility, braking, stability … everything … it’s just perfect.”

The Bahrain circuit was chosen for its extreme thermal and mechanical stresses, enabling engineers to evaluate braking performance, tire wear, low-grip handling and high-speed stability. During testing, the T.50s reached 184 mph, experienced 2.7g lateral acceleration in corners and endured 3g longitudinal forces under braking. The lap demonstrated the production-readiness of the car and confirmed that aerodynamic and chassis setups met GMA’s specifications.

Professor Gordon Murray, CBE, executive chairman, Gordon Murray Group, said, “This car was never about setting lap times. We simply designed the lightest, optimally powered, most driver-centric track car possible – with the right formula, speed comes naturally. T.50s is designed from the ground up to deliver the greatest possible on‑track driving experience, without compromise.”

Each T.50s is named in tribute to one of Murray’s first 25 Grand Prix victories, with the Niki Lauda model honoring the three-time Formula 1 World Champion. The car is powered by a bespoke 3.9-liter Cosworth GMA V12 producing 772ps at 11,500rpm, with revs up to 12,100rpm. A six-speed paddle-shift Xtrac gearbox, central driving position and fully adjustable aerodynamic package generating up to 1,200kg of downforce combine with a carbon-fiber monocoque and unique race-optimized systems to deliver an immersive track-focused experience.

“Naming the car after Niki was deeply personal. He was a great friend and a remarkable racing driver, and I believe he would have appreciated the purity, focus and engineering integrity that define the car we named in his honour,” said Professor Murray.

Related news, CamMotive opens high-current battery testing facility in Cambridge

By using the web-based engineering platform Aqira, CETIM has sped up its e-mobility R&D, addressing the challenges of managing, analyzing and sharing large volumes of prototype electric equipment data.

“To catch the real-life duty cycles CETIM has to realize multiphysics testing campaigns on a wide range of equipment and machinery under diverse operating conditions, enabling comprehensive coverage of all product lifecycle scenarios. We needed a software platform capable of synthesising large volumes of data to optimize mechanical system design and validation,” said reliability engineer Denis Chojnacki, who is heading the mission profile project.

CETIM selected Aqira for its advanced features, nCode analytics capabilities and user-friendly web interface. The platform has been applied to numerous projects, including key mission profiles for electrifying mobile equipment such as mini-excavators and telehandlers.

Related news, Kistler launches RV-5 wheel vector sensor