To address this, rFpro has launched the AV Elevate In Cabin add-on package that enables automotive OEMs, Tier 1s and sensor developers to tune, train and test driver and occupant monitoring systems in simulation to improve the speed and consistency of in-cabin testing.

“Euro NCAP’s 2026 scoring changes make in-cabin monitoring one of the most consequential areas of vehicle safety development,” said Matt Daley, technical director at rFpro. “When you combine that with ADDW becoming mandatory, it is clear that the demand to develop and validate these systems faster and earlier in the program will only grow. We have taken our proven exterior simulation solution and applied the same techniques to the interior. AV Elevate In Cabin is a physically accurate, engineering-grade  simulation environment enabling thousands of tests to be conducted before anything physical has even been built.”

AV Elevate In Cabin addresses three core areas of in-cabin simulation: the fidelity of the virtual cabin environment, the control of occupant behavior within it and the physical accuracy of sensor perception.

Interior fidelity

rFpro has improved the fidelity of its vehicle interior models by adding sub-structures that are invisible to the human eye and to cameras but are detected by radar. The metal framework within seats, for example, is now modeled to ensure radar-based sensing systems encounter realistic returns.

The object library has been expanded to include items commonly found inside vehicles, including rucksacks, laptops, child seats, pets and other personal belongings. Skin simulation has also been improved, with higher-detail facial models to support systems that assess driver state from facial features.

Controlling the virtual environment 

A high-density bone rig within rFpro’s human models enables fine control of facial and limb movements, supporting simulation of the macro and micro expressions that driver monitoring systems must detect. This includes ‘owl movement’, where the driver turns their head, and ‘lizard movement’, where only the eyes shift away from the road.

“We have even considered details like opening and closing vehicle windows,” said Daley. “That is not something you need to think about for external sensor simulation, but it fundamentally changes how light and radar energy travel through the cabin. If you are developing an in-cabin system that needs to work reliably in the real world, these are the kinds of variables you have to account for.”

Sensor modeling

Most in-cabin systems use a mixture of radar sensors, visible light cameras and IR cameras, that see using their own IR energy source. rFpro’s new IR camera sensor integration accurately models the energy emitted by the camera and how it interacts with every cabin surface.

Specific IR reflectivity and radar properties have been assigned to all interior materials, including the driver’s skin, seats and windows. These material characteristics have been correlated with laboratory measurements conducted under the Sim4CamSens research program, with the National Physical Laboratory and Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult involved in the testing. Skin reflectivity, for example, has been characterized down to the difference between a nose, chin and cheek to improve the realism of IR camera data.

“Looking further ahead, understanding who is in the cabin and what they are doing is essential for autonomous vehicle operations, not just for safety, but for the passenger experience,” said Daley. “If you know where occupants are, you can optimize everything from airbag deployment to noise-cancelling audio. We are looking to partner with sensor developers and OEMs to help drive the direction of this capability further.”

Related news, Gazoo Racing unveils GRMN Corolla

The development of the higher-performance version of the GR Corolla drew on Gazoo Racing’s motorsport experience, specifically its participation in the Super Taikyu Series, and input from Morizo himself, as well as extensive testing at the iconic German racetrack.

The GRMN Corolla was put through its paces in Japan’s Super Taikyu Series and validated using advanced driving simulators, with the Nürburgring playing a central role in the vehicle’s development. According to the engineering team, the circuit’s unique combination of surface changes and road inputs exposed challenges not encountered on conventional test tracks. These conditions were used to refine the vehicle’s handling and responsiveness.

GR has applied the insights gained from GRMN Corolla development to the evolution of the base GR Corolla. For the 2026 GR Corolla, announced in September 2025 and launched in November of that year, the application of structural adhesive was extended by 13.9m to 32.7m to reinforce the body structure, and an added cool-air duct now reduces the rise in intake air temperature during high-load driving. Both were the result of applying lessons learned at the Nürburgring, Toyota said.

Aerodynamic performance

In Super Taikyu Series and similar races, and at the Nürburgring, cars constantly travel at high speeds and experience high g-forces. Maximizing vehicle performance under these conditions requires all four wheels to maintain firm contact with the road.

The GRMN Corolla features aerodynamic performance parts for enhanced road holding. Its hood duct, fender ducts, front side spoilers and rear wing incorporate know-how gained from racing and tested on the hydrogen engine-powered GR Corolla that competes in the Super Taikyu Series.

Fine-tuning of the aerodynamics came at the Nürburgring. This included adjusting the rear wing angle, which features a five-step adjustment mechanism, in 1° increments during driving tests with professional drivers to verify effectiveness and determine the optimal specification.

Suspension fine-tuned 

The GRMN Corolla’s suspension employs exclusive front and rear monotube shock absorbers with rebound springs for improved inner-wheel traction during cornering and for enhanced high-speed cornering performance.

The Nürburgring road surface has areas that induce significant vertical suspension travel beyond that found on typical circuits. To ensure high stability for confident driving, extensive Nürburgring tests were run to facilitate optimization of bump-stop characteristics. The exclusive shock absorbers were developed by adjusting their stroke down to a millimeter at the front and rear for optimal balance.

The control program of the GRMN Corolla’s EPS (electric power steering) was modified from that on the base vehicle to generate the required amount of assistance torque even during cornering under high g-forces. The exclusively tuned 4WD control system provides optimal rear torque distribution during straight-line driving and enhanced stability at the onset of steering input at extremely high speeds.

Internal combustion engine evolution via the hydrogen engine-powered Corolla 

Through its participation in the Super Taikyu Series with a hydrogen-powered GR Corolla, GR has used endurance racing to support the development of hydrogen combustion technology. The high-load racing environment has also provided insights into the performance and durability of core internal combustion engine components.

Drawing on lessons from the Super Taikyu Series, Toyota increased the GRMN Corolla’s maximum engine torque to 415Nm, up 15Nm from the base model. Development focused on improving torque delivery in the 3,600rpm-4,800rpm range commonly used during circuit driving. To help maintain consistent performance during sustained high-load operation, the GRMN Corolla was been equipped with an intercooler spray system in addition to the cool-air duct introduced on the 2026 GR Corolla.

A cockpit designed to unlock an even higher level of performance

To further enhance performance, the GRMN Corolla features a two-seat configuration, with the rear seats removed as part of a weight-reduction program. Toyota says this contributes to a 30kg reduction compared with the base vehicle.

The GRMN Corolla features a redesigned cockpit focused on driver engagement, including a bespoke full-bucket driver’s seat developed using experience from the Super Taikyu Series. Based on race-car driving positions, the seat was been designed to provide increased lateral support while maintaining everyday usability. Its glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) construction helps reduce weight, and its dimensions were refined to support pedal operation.

The GRMN Corolla will be available in limited quantities, primarily in Japan, North America and Australia.

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“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 were 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.

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 of the company’s attendance at the summit: “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 was 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.”

Another OEM getting to grips with driver-in-the-loop simulation was Alpine. Rémi Auman, expert leader in simulation for ride and handling, noted that his team is targeting three areas for 2026 (see image below): enhancing driver immersion – an ongoing challenge for all developers; increasing the use of sim-workbench services; and improving multibody models. For comfort studies, Auman stated that the auto maker’s models are quite mature, so the next steps will be to adjust the settings and, “maybe in the future, we’ll be able to achieve real-time simulation,” he said.

With the conference’s emphasis on data harnessing, Cosin Scientific Software, which has been a partner of VI-grade for more than 15 years, launched its fresh approach to tire data management. With an increasing amount of users, the company has run into scaling problems when distributing high-quality input data. Developing countries especially cannot afford high-quality input data. To address this, the company has created a marketplace with a digital rights management system where tire data providers can market their data through Cosin’s software on the platform.

Cosin MD Gerald Hofmann explained, “Up until now, tire data has been sold as data files. This means once the data is out your hands, then it’s out in the wild. You can’t build a business model on this, which is why this data is very expensive. By putting the data under a digital rights management scheme, then the data provider can sell it using pay-per-use models.”

According to Hofmann, the development of this tire data library was an unexpected but welcome development for visitors: “We are very excited to see how this will be adopted through workflows which are currently very static. We’re hoping to break this up by giving access to a variety of input data. Users can allocate budget for a library of tires to choose from during the development cycle.”

AI specialist JuliaHub exhibited its latest technology, Dyad 3.0, which combines scientific machine learning with Gen AI. According to JuliaHub head of business development Europe Michael Hoffman, its name comes from its dual capabilities in performing controls and system modeling.

Asked what the company’s USP is, Hoffmann emphasized that having a single AI agent that can replace multiple tools is a powerful offering: “When we started Dyad we had AI mind – it wasn’t an afterthought where we had to do a plug-in. This means that the agent knows our architecture, and it only has to deal with one language.”

As expected, Dyad was met with both excitement and skepticism at the HBK SPS.

“We feel when talking about smart testing, we can add value,” added Hoffmann. “You have the measurements and we have the people to get the mathematical models or to refine their simulation models. For example, our value proposition to Rebel Dynamics [a servo platform partner of VI-grade], is that they have a mathematical model of their system, but they also have measurements, and there are differences between the two. We could help them minimize those differences so they can achieve better control.”

Related news, rFpro develops Japanese test route digital twin for virtual vehicle development

The project showcases Bcomp’s ampliTex natural-fiber composites, and brings together emerging Chinese automotive designers and advanced sustainable composite technologies.

The winning concept was penned by CAA master’s student Alisson Liu (Liu Diannan/刘殿南), whose design centers on sleek lines, state-of-the-art technology and carbon neutrality. It was subsequently developed into a full-size, driveable concept show car in China in partnership with Shanghai Tianjian Industrial Design.

Gabriele Grezzana, business development manager for APAC at Bcomp, said, “Alisson Liu’s striking new concept signals a bright future for Chinese automotive design and lower-carbon materials.”

From concept to reality

Design leadership came from CAA, with Tianjian providing critical technical and manufacturing execution. Tianjian’s core role was production fabrication and engineering realization. Leveraging its proprietary digital-twin review system and full-size adjustable review fixture, Tianjian enabled thorough vehicle-level validation throughout the design phase.

The project demonstrated a collaborative and replicable model for university–industry cooperation that could be adapted by Chinese art and design institutions in their respective contexts.

Emerging automotive designers in China are increasingly aware of environmentally conscious manufacturing and are open to using lower-carbon materials. Prof. James Hope, director of the CAA Institute of Transportation Design, commented, “By providing the opportunity to use these materials in a real-world, from-zero-to-one project, we have gained the experience and expertise to specify their use with confidence, opening direct pathways to OEM design teams and partner institutes in the future. Now, the next generation of Chinese design can take sustainability even further, utilizing lower-carbon materials and understanding how they can be used at scale in automotive production.”

Bcomp’s biocomposites

The CAA Institute of Transportation Design applied ampliTex extensively throughout Revelation, including in the front bumper, rear bumper, body side skirts, seats and wheel-cover hubs. This included exposed-fiber parts, with the weave visible beneath the clear coat.

For the exterior, the team selected ampliTex in gray; for the wheel hubs, ampliTex in charcoal was used, and the parts were overpainted in black. A high-gloss clear coat accentuated the composite’s weave and tone, delivering a modern automotive finish.

AmpliTex is woven from flax fibers, a renewable material that does not compete with food crops. Compared with other high-performance composites, such as carbon fiber, it reportedly reduces cradle-to-gate CO₂ emissions by up to 85%. Once parts have reached the end of their service life, they can be used for thermal energy recovery, rather than being landfilled.

Liu said, “It has been an honor to see my concept, Revelation, come to life. My intention was to build upon fundamental principles of automotive design while embracing the electrified future and harnessing more sustainable materials. Bcomp is a pioneer and innovator in this area, taking sustainable composites from a niche technology to mainstream automotive production. We used ampliTex for many of the surfaces on Revelation, and the result is very impressive.”

In recent news, Kodiak AI announces autonomous trucking pilot in Canada

In the initial phase of work, Kodiak will pilot the use of its self-driving technology to transport timber from forest sites to one of West Fraser’s Alberta processing facilities in Western Canada later this year. Results of the pilot will be used to inform any future long-term deployment of Kodiak Driver-equipped trucks for commercial driverless operations.

Logging truck routes often involve challenging, remote resource roads with uneven and rough terrain. By leveraging the Kodiak Driver, West Fraser hopes to improve the safety of its logging transportation operations, address the industry-wide shortage of drivers and increase the consistency of its raw material supply to mills.

“Innovation that improves safety and sustainability has long been central to how West Fraser operates,” said Mark Cookson, woods operations manager, West Fraser. “This pilot gives us the opportunity to test autonomous technology that can help address driver shortages and enhance safety by reducing human exposure to the risks of remote, rough-terrain resource roads.”

The Kodiak Driver is designed to handle the complex variables seen in industrial trucking environments. Its modular technology is built to withstand the dust, vibration and extreme weather conditions typical in industrial environments, including the oil and gas and forestry sectors.

“We built the Kodiak Driver to be the most versatile autonomous system on the market, capable of handling everything from interstate highways to the toughest industrial environments, from arid West Texas to the forests of Western Canada,” added Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “Our work with West Fraser is the perfect opportunity to support our expansion into logging, because it is an industry leader with a deep understanding of the logistical complexities of timber. By bringing the benefits of autonomous trucking to the wood products industry, we are demonstrating that our technology can thrive in even the most demanding settings.”

FPInnovations, a private non-profit research and development center, facilitated the collaboration between Kodiak and West Fraser. Supported by federal and provincial governments as well as over 50 forest-product companies, FPInnovations brings decades of expertise in advancing transportation solutions that address the unique challenges of the Canadian forest sector.

“This is an important step toward making autonomous transportation in Canada’s forests a reality. The adoption of new key technologies is critical for the Canadian forest sector to remain competitive,” said Christoph Schilling, program manager transportation for FPInnovations. “Deploying these technologies strategically, safely, with real operational purpose and in close collaboration with industry, technology providers and regulators will be crucial for its adoption.”

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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

To address this, Pony.ai has launched PonyWorld 2.0, the latest upgrade to its proprietary world model and a major advancement in the core training system behind its autonomous driving stack. The key advancement is its ability to identify its own weaknesses and guide targeted improvements. The upgrade introduces three core capabilities: self-diagnosis, targeted data collection in areas where performance is still limited and more efficient training focused on the most challenging cases.

Since 2020, Pony.ai has developed PonyWorld not as a basic synthetic data simulation tool, but as a full reinforcement learning system spanning cloud-based training and in-vehicle deployment. As the system has matured, improving the Virtual Driver has increasingly depended on enhancing the world model that trains it, particularly its ability to accurately represent real-world dynamics and interactions.

“PonyWorld 2.0 is an important step toward a more self-improving approach to autonomous driving development,” said Dr Tiancheng Lou, founder and CTO of Pony.ai. “As AI systems become more capable, they can play a larger role not only in learning to drive, but also in guiding their own improvement – making L4 development more scalable over time.”

PonyWorld 2.0 is already being applied across Pony.ai’s L4 driverless fleet and R&D system.

After validating robotaxi unit economics in two major Chinese cities with its seventh-generation fleet, the company is accelerating commercialization across China and international markets, targeting over 3,000 vehicles and 20 cities globally by year-end, nearly half overseas.

New training for scalable autonomy

As driverless operations grow from hundreds of vehicles to thousands and beyond, it becomes both harder and more important to keep improving safety and performance without regression.

Pony.ai defines a true world model as more than a tool for generating virtual scenarios. It must establish what good driving means, accurately model the physical world and replicate realistic interactions between the AI driver and other road users across both edge cases and normal traffic.

PonyWorld 2.0 is designed to make that process more efficient. A structured intention layer enables the model to form an internal representation of why it made a decision, making large-scale self-diagnosis possible. The system can review its own decisions, compare intent with outcomes and identify the types of scenarios where additional learning is needed. It can then generate targeted data-collection tasks for human teams, which gather the relevant real-world samples, feed them back into the cloud, and help recalibrate the world model for more precise training.

In the early stages of autonomous driving, progress depended heavily on human engineers to design rules, label data and decide what to train next. PonyWorld 2.0 points to a different model. As AI systems become more capable, they can take over more of their own improvement cycle, while human engineers increasingly serve as operators of a directed data-collection loop shaped by the system’s own learning needs.

Pony.ai believes PonyWorld 2.0’s approach, combining high-accuracy world modeling, self-diagnosis and targeted improvement, could apply to broader physical AI systems that must learn safely and efficiently in real-world environments, extending beyond autonomous driving.

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The hydrogen-powered trucks use high-pressure, direct injection (HPDI) technology, which the company says improves energy efficiency, reduces fuel consumption and increases engine power compared with conventional hydrogen combustion engines. HPDI works by injecting a small amount of ignition fuel at high pressure to enable compression ignition before hydrogen is added. Volvo already uses this technology in its gas-powered trucks, with over 10,000 units sold worldwide.

The hydrogen engine technology is derived from its diesel powertrain, delivering “diesel-like performance” while substantially cutting CO₂ emissions, the auto maker said.

“On-road testing is an important milestone for our hydrogen combustion engine trucks. I feel confident that they will be the best in the industry if you look at fuel efficiency, power, torque and drivability,” said Jan Hjelmgren, head of product management at Volvo Trucks. “Customers will be able to operate them just like diesel trucks. Our experience with HPDI technology in more than 10,000 gas-powered trucks is strong proof of its performance.”

Hydrogen combustion engine trucks will be especially suitable over longer distances and in regions where there is limited charging infrastructure or time for the recharging of battery-electric trucks.

Volvo trucks with combustion engines powered by green hydrogen have the potential to deliver net-zero CO₂ well-to-wheel when using renewable HVO as ignition fuel. They are categorized as Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) under the agreed EU CO₂ emission standards.

The hydrogen-powered combustion engine trucks will complement the company’s offering of other alternatives, such as battery electric trucks, fuel cell electric trucks and trucks that run on renewable fuels, like biogas and HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil).

“We see great potential for hydrogen combustion engine trucks and they will have a role to play in the transformation to zero-emission transport,” said Hjelmgren. “Several technologies will be needed to decarbonize. As a global truck manufacturer we offer a variety of decarbonization solutions and help our customers choose the best alternative based on transport assignment, available infrastructure and green energy prices.”

Related news, Swiss Council for Accident Prevention joins Euro NCAP as affiliate member

“Euro NCAP is delighted to have BFU as an affiliate member of the car program. Their strong expertise in accident research and prevention, together with a unique Swiss perspective and their contribution to our technical working groups, will help ensure that our ratings continue to reflect real-world risks and drive meaningful vehicle safety improvements,” said Dr Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general at Euro NCAP.

As an affiliate member, BFU will actively participate in Euro NCAP’s technical working groups, contributing to shared goals in vehicle safety and the long-term development of assisted and automated driving technologies. The organization will provide Swiss accident insights and national data, combining expertise in engineering, human factors and behavioral science to identify where safety systems can prevent severe crashes.

BFU will also support the alignment of Euro NCAP’s assessments with evolving regulations and promote road safety and public acceptance of new technologies through its national activities. The collaboration will further enable BFU to contribute to the development of Euro NCAP’s future strategic roadmaps.

“At BFU, we are very pleased to become a new member of Euro NCAP. Euro NCAP’s independent safety ratings provide important impetus for manufacturers, policymakers and consumers alike. As BFU, we aim to contribute to ensuring that new vehicle technologies realise their full potential in preventing accidents and reducing serious injuries. We see this membership as a major opportunity to amplify the impact of our work,” added Dr Stefan Siegrist, director, BFU.

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