Cyber-physical systems: Collaboration of Virtual Vehicle and Silicon Austria Labs

© Virtual Vehicle

Virtual Vehicle and Silicon Austria Labs (SAL are now pooling their expertise in order to accelerate cooperative and industry-driven applied research “Cyber Physical Systems” (CPS).

Whether the "Internet of Things", "Industry 4.0" or other smart and autonomous systems, the basis for such future technologies are so-called "Cyber Physical Systems" (CPS). With Virtual Vehicle and Silicon Austria Labs (SAL), two leading research institutions in Austria are now pooling their expertise in order to accelerate cooperative and industry-driven applied research in this area. The resulting innovations in electronic components and systems (ECS) are intended to bring the development of software and simulation technologies for the vision of the virtual vehicle as well as the hardware and software development of cyber-physical systems closer together.

Above all, the priorities of developing assistance systems and automated driving stand out within the context of the extensive research focus on the field of cyber-physical systems. The joint development of sensor prototypes and embedded systems to upgrade ADAS/AD software stacks is planned. The integration of these technologies in the automated driver demonstrator vehicles of Virtual Vehicle enable the firms to jointly realise application cases. The feedback from practical testing generates enormous advantages for both companies.

• Embedded systems: they serve as the basis for realising applications, for example in the field of "Unmanned Aircraft Systems" (UAS). For these Unmanned Aircraft Systems such as drones, prototypes of sensors and embedded systems are potentially insufficient due to the stringent requirements with respect to low weight, low power and high performance. For this reason, the enhanced performance of the systems comprises an important key to success for miniaturisation in realising applications for drones.
• Simulation architecture of virtual validation: the virtual validation of complex systems, for example for autonomous driving, drive trains and energy management, complemented by success-critical process issues such as simulation governance, credible simulation and agile product development, represent a crucial competitive factor. The integration of EBS subsystems in the simulation architecture should solve virtual verification tasks and thus close any gaps with respect to high fidelity modules.

Predictive maintenance and digital operation

This subject area is already being actively handled by both partners. In this regard, Virtual Vehicle focuses on the monitoring of rail vehicles, whereas Silicon Austria Labs is conducting research into the situation modelling of industrial plants and energy production. In addition to the complementary contributions, such as the modelling of mechanic systems by Virtual Vehicle or edge computing architectures and sensor development on the part of Silicon Austria Labs, the primary focus is on the virtual representation of the systems in the meaning of "digital twins" and algorithms for artificial intelligence (AI) for the purposes of driving environment perception, predicting and decision support.

Virtual Vehicle is a leading international R&D centre for the automobile and railway industry. The centre concentrates on the consistent virtualisation of vehicle development. Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) is a top European research centre for electronics-based systems.

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