5 trends in the automotive industries - Future by Semcon # 2 2013

future by semcon

#2 2013

“I don’t get out of the water until I can do the trick”

HELÉN HOLMGREN

AFTER WORKname Helén Holmgren.at work Technical illustrations for companies like Volvo Cars and Qoros.after work Kitesurf as often as I can. current challenge Fixing a “blind judge”, which is a difficult kitesurfing trick.

TE

XT

: MA

GN

US

CA

RLS

SO

N F

OT

O: A

NN

A S

IGV

AR

DS

SO

N

About me“I’m very stubborn and don’t give up until I’ve done what I set out to do. I’m 30 years old and live with my boyfriend in Göteborg, but it sometimes feels like I live on the motorway to the sea. I surf as often as I can, meaning lots of trips to and from Varberg on the Swedish west coast.”

About work“I started at Semcon as a construction engineer, but after a while wanted fresh challenges and became an illustrator. I currently work a lot with illustrations for Volvo’s product and service information. It’s creative and a lot of fun.”

About kitesurfing“I started five years ago after taking a kite surfing course in Varberg, and then I was addicted to it. When I surf I can really let go of everything else and just focus on what I’m doing. I surf as much as I can and have been on surfing holidays to Australia, the Philippines and Zanzibar.

I’m a team surfer for a shop in Varberg, but I don’t compete. I com-peted in athletics when I was younger and became so tired of competing that when I stopped I promised never to compete in anything else again.”

What I’ve learned from kitesurfing“Kitesurfing has made me tougher. I now know that it’s possible to be good at anything, even if you find it hard to be-gin with. When I make up my mind to do a trick I don’t get out of the water until I’m satisfied and have done the trick. I’m sometimes out very late in the evening, so it’s a good job that the sun doesn’t set until very late during the summer.”

FACTS: KITESURFINGKitesurfers use a kite and a surf-board to make their way through the water. The sport was developed in the 70s when people experi-mented with various forms of kites, but it only became commercially popular at the end of the 90s.

+

A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE ART OF CREATING THE FUTURE # 2 2013

TRENDS THAT ARE CHANGING

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

VOLVO TRUCKS EYEING THE FUTURE

ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRA ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DESIGN

HOW CRYO KEEPS HELIUM (REALLY) COLD

2 FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013

CONTENTS #2.2013ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON

36 Future modelVolvo Trucks has spent ten years developing its flagship, the Volvo FH. Join us on the test track and in the design studio where Semcon has helped with the development.

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 3

32 MEET SEMCON’S SHARPEST MINDSIn Semcon Brains meet Charlotte Wellrath-Jacobsson who saves spare parts and money for customers, Xuehong Fu who develops engines for Daimler and Erika Klingler who coaches customers in successful leadership.

14 SAFE APPS IN CARSConsumers demand them, but how do you make apps in cars safe and functional? Semcon, along with Volvo Cars, took on the challenge as part of an innovation project.

Website: semcon.com Letters: Future by Semcon, Semcon AB, 417 80 Göteborg, Sweden. Change of address: [email protected] Publisher: Anders Atterling, tel: +46 (0)70-447 28 19, email: [email protected] Semcon project manager: Madeleine Andersson, tel: +46 (0)76-569 83 31, email: [email protected] Editorial production: Spoon, spoon.se. Editor: Katarina Misic. Designer: Mathias Lövström. Repro: Spoon. Printing: Trydells Tryckeri, Laholm. Translation: Cannon Språkkonsult AB. ISSN: 1650-9072.

EDITORIAL

The future is already here

22 LIQUID HELIUM – A CHILLY CHALLENGEStoring helium is a chilly piece of preci-sion, where a few degrees of inaccuracy can cost millions of kronor. Cryo is one of few companies that can do this and con-struction engineer Matthew Hawkins from Semcon has been helping them.

28 SOUND DESIGN THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCEElif Özcan Vieira researches how consumers are affected by products’ sound design. Read more about how product sounds can be used to strengthen brands, enhance feelings and promote the product experience to new levels.

MARKUS GRANLUND, CEO SEMCON

T he auto industry has been a goldmine and driving force for new technologies for over 100 years. It’s given us free-dom and mobility in a way that would

have been hard to imagine a century ago. But it’s also an industry facing challenges and change, which will change the bedrock of its business and products it creates. Many in the auto in-dustry’s ecosystem consider this development disturbing, others see it as a way of creating new opportunities for innovative technological development.

In this issue of Future by Semcon we look closely at the five trends we believe will shape the auto industry’s future – and what’s striking is that the future, to a certain degree, is already here. Semcon’s ambition is to create the future together with its customers and it’s in the auto industry that we will encounter many new, ex-citing challenges over the coming years.

In this issue we have also visited Volvo Trucks’ test track and design studio to take a closer look at their flagship, the Volvo FH. You can also read about how to keep helium really cold (-269°C) at Cryo, how to work with IT se-curity at the highest level at secunet in Germany and why you should invest in designing sound into your products. You also, as usual, get to meet some of our experts at Semcon who are the foundation of our own and our cus-tomers’ future. Happy reading! 1


PEOPLE #2.2013PEOPLE IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON

The auto industry is facing challenges that could revolutionize the entire industry. Meet some people in Future by Semcon who talk about the future of the auto industry.

elif özcan vieira, bsc in sound design and assistant professor at design aesthetics ide/tu delft What does sound design mean for cars of the future? “A car has two listeners: the driver and the person on the street. Tomorrow, like today, sound will be needed to provide drivers with informative feedback about speed, braking and engine problems. But I’m hoping for a change in the outside sound – quieter cars that warn of their arrival in other ways.”

viacheslav izosimov, safety systems manager at semcon Are driverless cars a realistic future vision? “Yes. We’ll be seeing a completely autonomous car really soon. But it’s down to customer demand. Nobody wants to make a product that won’t sell. It’s about creating volumes. The technology already exists.”

17PAGE

36PAGE

28PAGE

rikard orell, design manager, volvo trucks product design What’s the biggest challenge for heavy vehicles in the future?“Energy and fuel consumption. Clarify-ing this and all other sub-systems in a functional, well-arranged design. Also expressing Volvo’s philosophy and core values in the pure form.”


charlotte wellrath-jacobsson,spare parts aftermarket specialist, semconHow much more can the auto industry optimize handling spare parts in future?“It’s all about optimizing everything, design, production and the af-termarket. One way of tackling the problem is examining what parts are changed at various service and repair intervals. It would then be possible to “kit” various parts by packaging them together under a common article number. Do it cleverly and it would be possible to use different “kits” on a number of models. Saving money.”

fu xuehong, team leader design engineering/integration and powertrain/chassis, semcon How do you think car engines will develop over the next 20 years?

“I believe that the entire auto industry’s focus over the next 20 years will be governed by how energy sources develop. Consumers have strict demands, but

our natural resources are in decline. The question is if e-mobility is really the best and ultimate solution for an eco-friendly world with cars. I’m not so sure.”

anders lindbom, technical specialist, infotainment, volvo cars

What’s the biggest challenge in putting apps into cars? “Making it interesting and simple for third party developers to

come up with apps that suit our cars. Infotainment functions are increasingly important when customers choose their cars. The pre-requisites for suppliers shouldn’t be too specific, while Volvo wants

to be able to provide its customers with unique experiences.”

33PAGE

32PAGE

14PAGE

New conditions are providing new opportunities for the automotive industry. Whoever cracks the code will have the key to a huge market. Here are the trends that will affect what you drive, how you drive – but also who will drive tomorrow’s car.TEXT MARCUS OLSSON

TRENDS CHANGING THE

AUTOMOTIVE

INDUSTRY

Steve Mahan closes the door to his house, goes out to his light blue Toyota Prius parked outside, gets in and drives off to do his daily errands. Hardly a revolutionary act, except that Steve Mahan is nearly blind and the car he’s in drives itself with

a rotating radar on the roof. The clip of Steve Mahan on YouTube has been seen by over 4 million viewers since Google posted it in March 2012 and is, of course, not quite as straightfor-ward as it may seem. The route Steve drives is carefully programmed in advance and beside him there is a Google technician who can inter-vene if something goes wrong. There are still many technical challenges and legal hurdles before Steve can actually use a driverless car in his day-to-day life, but no one can deny that Google has come an amazingly long way since it started its driverless car project in 2010.

EVERYONE, HOWEVER, IS NOT as impressed. The chairman of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, com-mented at a recent conference that “Google’s self-driving car looks like a moon-landing vessel”. For Zetsche, the future was more about embedded sensors with wireless communica-

tion that can assist the driver during dull mo-ments like traffic jams, but could hardly rule out the driver completely out of the driving ex-perience. Who will be right in the end remains to be seen, but it’s an issue that could funda-mentally change the car industry. Especially considering that there are new players, such as Google, Microsoft and Apple, starting to take an interest in the future of mobility.

Driverless cars are not the only trend challeng-ing the automotive industry. Views about mobili-ty, about what we can do with a car, about the sta-tus of owning a car, are in transition. In addition, there are the technical challenges regarding how the car of the future will be driven and how it can be made safer, easier and smarter. Car manufac-turers have to contend with endless choices in a fragmented global market, still partly influenced by the recent financial crisis and with new players

FOCUS:THE AUTO INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE

“It is almost impossible to predict beyond 10 to 15 years. It is extremely difficult to predict the technologies of the future.”

Dr Irene Feige, director of the Institute for Mobility Research

PH

OT

O: K

AR

EN

BLE

IER

/AFP

/SC

AN

PIX


knocking on the door, while at the same time it has never been harder to predict what the future will look like. Future takes a look at the key trends that can shake up our view of mobility, cars and the industry that has given us dreams of freedom over the last 100 years.

1 THE CAR BUYER IS CHANGING. Dr Irene Feige is director of the Institute of Mobil-

ity Research in Munich. Together with her colleagues, she’s trying to figure out how our view of the future of mobility and transporta-tion will look.

“Our timeline for various scenarios is usu-ally between 10 and 15 years. It’s virtually impossible to predict beyond that. Otherwise it almost becomes Utopian. It’s extremely difficult to predict the technologies of the future,” she says.

On the board of the institute are players such as Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn, MAN and Siemens, but the institute is part of BMW and demonstrates the importance of these issues for one of the world’s most successful car manufacturers.

“Many factors will change our views about mobility. The fact that we are getting older is one thing, the fact that we are becom-ing healthier and living better is another. This means that more people are driving for longer, which in turn means that there will be more cars in the future. One of our analyses shows that this will offset the pattern we are seeing in younger generations. In developed countries, the average income for this group of people has declined over the past 20 years. They drive less frequently,” she says.

BMW’s analysis shows that a growing mid-

dle class and more people investing in their ca-reers is leading to having families later in life.

“When people have a family they are more likely to need a car. First-time car buyers are getting older. There are greater demands on better fuel economy, lower emissions and bet-ter infotainment systems. We will therefore see more variations of car models in the fu-ture,” she says, continuing:

“The number of female buyers is increas-ing, as is their influence when a family buys a car. 20 years ago, it was much more common for the driver to be a man, but female drivers are becoming more and more commonplace. By 2020, we could have as many as a billion potential female car buyers.”

THERE IS A growing challenge regarding the number of young people learning to drive de-


clining steadily - in some cases dramatically, especially in American and European cities. In Stockholm, now only 9% of 18-year-olds in the city centre have a licence. In the US, the number of 18-year-olds with driving licenses fell from 80% to 65% in 25 years. The reason? The costs of owning and driving a car, access to alternative modes of transport and young people social networking on the internet.

With more megacities on the rise, there are also challenges regarding parking and emissions.

“Big cities like New York and London have started to share their “big data” with their resi-dents. This means that motorists can plan their travel in a smarter way. Consumers and their

cars are directly connected to timetables and traffic updates in real time. People can find out the best way to travel between A and B, whether it’s best to use the underground, cycle or drive, for example. In the future, more people will choose different options,” says Antony Douglas, sales manager at BMW’s mobility service.

ONE SOLUTION IS car-sharing. Customers sign up for a car pool. They pay a fixed monthly fee and additional charges per mile driven.

“All the major car manufacturers are mov-ing towards car-sharing solutions,” he says. “BMW’s car sharing programme DriveNow has upwards of 9,000 new customers each

month. However, in big cities like Berlin and Munich, only 20% know what car sharing is. As awareness grows, car sharing will increase.”

And with car-sharing (and by extension the vision of driverless vehicles which can be ordered as required, like a taxi) a different view of the car is developing. Instead of a sta-tus symbol that says something about us, the car will be one of several available means of transport where the main requirement is for it to take us from A to B, rather than engine performance, the colour of the paint or which year it was made. In such a world, car manu-facturers’ revenue will be based on the number of miles a vehicle can drive rather than the

Stefan Ohlsson, President for busi-ness area Automotive R&D at Semcon, is constantly looking to the

future. He works closely with the major car manufacturers. He sees big changes in completely new markets and emerg-ing customer groups.

“The BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China - together with what is

known as the Next Eleven are the future of emerging markets,” Mr. Ohlsson says. “China has succeeded by copying other technologies and I think it will become a successful country of innovation. The Chi-nese will catch up on every level. Qoros is a good example of a new Chinese brand.” If he’s right, many of the new car buyers of the future are in Bangladesh, Egypt,

With technology as a prime motivatorAsia has the new customers and markets of the future – and innovation is the key in attracting them to buy cars. For Stefan Ohlsson, technology is driving develop-ment forward.TEXT MARCUS OLSSON PHOTO LARS ARDARVE

NEW MARKETS AND CONSUMERS


number of vehicles it can sell. This in turn means that the lifespan of a car will become more and more important, something that will place quite different demands on devel-opment departments within the car industry.

“The concept of short replacement cycles will change as we move into the era of driver-less cars and car manufacturers change from selling cars to selling transport solutions. We will be passengers rather than owners,” writes Thomas Frey, an editor and author, in an arti-cle on futuristspeaker.com.

2NEW MARKETS WILL TAKE OVER. It’s not just the car users of the future who will

change their behaviour. The cars of the future will not only be developed, manufactured or driven in Europe, the USA or Japan. More like China, India

and Brazil. The world’s road map is being redrawn and the car industry’s expansion in China is the biggest reason. There has been a clear shift, and Europe has lost its dominance as the world’s most important manufacturing region.

In 2002, only three million vehicles were manufactured in China. Just over a decade later, the figure is nearly 20 million, according to a report by OICA, the car manufacturers’ organi-zation.

The same survey states that manufactur-ing in the U.S. has declined by 16%, to 10 million cars per year. At the same time, global demand has risen by over 40%.

“The growth of the whole industry in China has been phenomenal,” says Dayna Hart, Head of Communications at General Motors China. It has been the world’s largest market for the past four years. And there is potential for even greater growth.

TWO LARGE EMERGING markets are in south-east Asia. Indonesia, with around 250 million peo-ple, is about to overtake Thailand as the largest market in the region. A report by the Boston Consulting Group shows that there are current-ly about 15 million Indonesians sufficiently af-fluent to purchase new cars. By 2020 this group is expected to be three times as large. Other big emerging markets are India and Brazil.

Car ownership is low in developing coun-tries, while disposable income is increasing

THE EXPERT

Stefan OhlssonTitle: President for business area Automotive R&D.

Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, South Korea and Vietnam.

“Why is this the case? Well, because of a large population and a growing middle class. When you reach a certain stand-ard of living, many people want two televisions and a car. Volumes will clearly increase in these countries.”

With the help of new technologies and wider ranges of models, new groups of customers are tempted into buying cars.

“There are more models in different price ranges today. It is a way of adapting to the needs of the consumer, ranging from the first-time buyer to family cars and recreational vehicles. This, coupled with a lower car-life expectancy, is driving development in the market.”

“Take the Golf as an example. It is one of the world’s best-selling cars. Previously, it had a life of nine or ten years before a new model came out. This was during the time of the Golf 1 and Golf 2. Now we are at the Golf 7, and the cars have a lifespan of closer to four years,” Mr. Ohlsson says.

One of the most important sales strat-egies of the future is to secure first-time buyers.

“In the automotive world - just like in all consumer markets - there is great brand loyalty. It’s easier to sell a new car to an existing customer than selling a new car to a brand new customer. What we are going see is a large increase in low-priced cars. In India, brands like Ma-hindra and Suzuki are big. Today you can get a car for less than 4,700 Euro, within a few years it will be 2,300 Euro.”

Another interesting group of custom-ers is the generations to come.

“For many people of the next genera-tion, buying a car won’t be at the top of the list. For them, cars will be about getting from A to B. Car sharing in car pools will become more common for this group. Then it won’t be about selling one car to one customer - maybe it’ll be about selling several thousand vehicles to a single customer with a car pool.”

“The new markets and new customers will be attracted to buy cars with new tech-nology. Autonomous driving will become a reality, new powertrains will be developed, lightweight materials will increase, as will connectivity. All of this encourages new technological developments.” 1

“The growth of the entire industry in China has been phenomenal. And there is potential for even greater growth.”

Dayna Hart, Communications Manager, General Motors China

per cent is the expected annual growth of China’s premium car market up to 2020.SOURCE: MCKINSEY & COMPANY


more there than in traditional markets. One of the car manufacturers’ main challenges is to establish themselves in advance of long-term investments in these markets.

However, the largest growth market is un-doubtedly China. There, the number of cars sold per year is expected to increase from 15 million currently to over 35 million by 2030. All this is according to a joint report by Volkswagen China and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

There are clear differences between the old-er traditional markets and emerging markets.

“Despite the explosive growth we’ve seen, vehicle ownership in China is still less than a tenth of that in the United States. In China there are only 60 cars per 1000 inhabitants - compared with 800 per 1 000 in the U.S. or 550 per 1 000 in Germany. Between 75 and 80% of car sales in China are to first-time buyers,” she says.

Sales growth in China and the relocation of production to the region is having an effect on product development. One trend is that the growing middle class in China is switching from mid-sized cars to SUVs, for status and comfort.

“Most car models are sold globally and are not unique to China. But on the other hand, great emphasis is placed on unique preferenc-es in certain sectors. Because the market is so strategically important for the future, Chinese buyers’ preferences are important in global vehicle development. China is also playing an increasingly central role in automotive design, research and development. This will make the country a centre for vehicle development rather than merely a base for car manufactur-ing,” she explains.

3 THE POWERTRAIN. The car industry has al-ways been a development-intensive indus-

try and the amount of technological innovation over the years has been significant in compari-son with other industries. However, there are constantly new challenges around the corner. One of the biggest is regarding how the car will be propelled in a world where fossil fuels will sooner or later run out. The entire automotive industry is working on finding new fuels which will take over,” says Dan Flores, General Motors’ spokesman for advanced technologies.

“Our major focus is on what we can do to minimize and limit our dependence on fossil fuels. Over 98% of cars on the road today are propelled by fossil fuels. I think the figure is the same for both the U.S. and the rest of the world,” Dan says, continuing:

“There is a limit to how much fossil fuel

we can produce on this planet. If you include carbon dioxide emissions in the calculation, there are a variety of factors leading every ve-hicle manufacturer to look for alternatives.

A change is slowly happening. “There are huge efforts being made to

streamline the internal combustion engine, as it will be with us for many decades to come. One of our strategies is to do a lot of work on “downsizing”, introducing smaller, turbo-charged engines. They can perform like a larger engine - but with lower fuel consump-tion. Other fuel options, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are being worked on. But we believe most of all in electric vehicles,” he states.

By 2016, GM will have 600 000 such cars on the road.

“There are many ways to achieve this and even more. There is currently a lot of develop-ment revolving around electric battery solu-tions. It’s the short-term alternative for the

When the XL1 is out and about, more people stop and stare at it than at a brand-new sports

car. It’s flatter than a Porsche Boxster, shorter than a Volkswagen Polo, weighs just 795kg empty and has an aerodynamic monocoque made of carbon fiber. With dolphin-like lines, its drag coefficient has

been reduced to a record low of only 0.189.With its 27hp electric engine, the two-

seater runs in city traffic for up to 50km with zero emission. The plug-in hybrid also has a 48hp two-cylinder diesel en-gine for longer distances of up to 500 km. It only uses 8.4hp at a constant speed of 100kph and the lithium-ion battery can

Volkswagen XL1: The Future is NowThe first fleet of the plug-in hybrid Volkswagen XL1 has been out on the streets since July. With fuel consumption of just 0.9L per 100km (261mpg), it marks an automotive milestone TEXT FLORENCE OPPENHEIM PHOTO LARS ARDARVE

POWERTRAIN

per cent of the world’s car fleet will be hybrid cars by 2040.SOURCE: EXXONMOBIL



future. We have a hybrid technology that we call eAssist, with a small lithium-ion battery and electric motors connected to the wheels. When a car starts, it’s the electric motors which first propel it forward,” says Dan.

Then the petrol engine takes over. Fuel con-sumption is significantly reduced, in some cases by up to 25%, according to GM. Hybrid alterna-tives are the first step towards future solutions.

“It’s hard to say exactly when, but we will have cars powered entirely by electricity in some form. How it will be generated is the big question. It may be through batteries or why not solar cells? It will probably be a combina-tion. Having said that, we still believe that

hydrogen fuel cells have enormous potential, especially considering that the only emission is water. We are also continuing to develop that alternative. There are still a lot of con-cerns about the costs and infrastructure for it. We’re still not in a position where it can be seen as the obvious main alternative,” he says.

The ten largest automotive manufacturers in the world are investing heavily in research and development. In total, they are spending 37 billion Euro a year on improvements and innovations, according to a report by OICA.

Whatever propels the cars, one thing is for sure. The cars will be lighter. Dan continues:

be fully charged on a household outlet in 90 minutes. Volkswagen’s technological flagship has broken fuel consumption records, using just 0.9 liter for 100km. Volkswagen has already built the first fifty cars and is now producing a small series of 200. Volkswagen will reuse its experience with the XL1 by implement-ing a plug-in hybrid engine in the Audi A3 e-tron and the Volkswagen Golf 7 Twin-Drive BlueMotion, as early as next year.

“The plug-in hybrid combines the best of both worlds,” says Holger Bock, XL1 project manager in the technical development department at Volkswa-gen. It combines zero emission from the

e-motor with a long range due to the efficient diesel engine.

Semcon has been part of the XL1 devel-opment team from the outset, assisting Volkswagen with calculation, simulation and design. At the peak of the project, some 80 employees were involved. “For an engineer, it’s really exciting to be able to work on something completely new - something that hasn’t existed up to now and for which there are no benchmarks,” says Ulf Schönemann, manager of Semcon’s office in Volkswagen’s home town of Wolfsburg. “The project has de-manded a lot of creative thinking.”

Volkswagen sees the XL1 as a techno-

logical flagship that will help prepare it for the future. “The biggest challenge was to combine optimal aerodynamics with extremely light construction and ensure the car was suitable for use in everyday life,” notes Holger Bock. “We made it very flat but easy to get into and out of with the gull-wing doors that fold into the roof.”

One unusual thing about the XL1 is that it has no wing mirrors in order to re-duce drag. They are replaced by e-mirrors using cameras and digital displays, with high resolution for extra safety.

“As well as continuing development of the XL1’s engine and electronic compo-

nents for future projects, we’ll also be do-ing more work with the materials, using a combination of steel, aluminum and carbon fiber as part of our multi-material strategy,” comments Holger Bock.

According to Volkswagen, alternative engines will become mainstream when widespread battery charging facilities and the right political conditions are in place. The company says it is important to introduce incentives for people to adopt e-vehicles, such as free parking in city centers. These new car concepts also provide functions such as coasting and brake energy recuperation, which incite drivers to drive more efficiently. “With the XL1, drivers can recover a lot of power by driving in a proactive way, because the electric motor is used during braking to recoup energy,” explains Holger Bock.

Volkswagen is observing the XL1 in everyday conditions with a fleet of cars and a wide range of different drivers to understand which mode they use, when they charge the battery and what consumption they achieve. The car of the future is here today. 1

“The entire automotive industry is working on finding new fuels which will take over.”

Dan Flores, spokesman for advanced technologies, General Motors


“Many people probably think that we most-ly work on powertrains and fuels, but many things can reduce fuel consumption. Making the engine or the entire car lighter are two ma-jor changes. There is huge development within lightweight materials right now. Use of carbon fibre and magnesium is continually increasing.

We will see more of it. Almost as much work is put into developing lightweight materials as finding alternative fuels for the future.”

Another major change is the car’s design.“Many studies show that aerodynamics is

a key factor in improving fuel consumption - with less resistance from the air around the car

it doesn’t require as much fuel. Making edges and corners softer on a car is a simple way to improve the aerodynamics,” Dan explains.

4 CONNECTIVITY. Changing consumer behav-iour, emerging markets, the question of how

the car is propelled - with these challenges we also

Projekt Plinta is an innovative project which revolves around minimizing the negative safety impacts of the

use of mobile internet-based functions while driving. Specifically, the aim is to develop a platform for a possible future system in which functions and apps can easily be added, updated and deleted without affecting functions which are critical to the safety of the car. The pro-ject will also develop proposals on how hardware and software will look in the future and find new ways of coopera-tion.

Leading this initiative is Anders Lindbom, technical specialist in infotainment at Vol-

vo Cars’ development centre in Göteborg.“People today are accustomed to

constantly having access to new apps,” he says. “Our great challenge is in finding systems that are sustainable over time. A car takes at least three to four years to develop and is then around for many years. There are hundreds of thousands of apps and new ones are added all the time. There may be around a dozen important features that are relevant and safe to use when driving the car. Then, of course, you have the option to use others when the car is stationary.”

The main purpose of a car is to drive it. Infotainment systems must not be

Safe, smart apps in the car of the futureConsumers want to be able to use their smartphones and apps in their cars. But how can it be done safely? This is one of the challenges for Project Plinta.TEXT FLORENCE OPPENHEIM PHOTO LARS ARDARVE

perceived as intrusive and they cannot compromise other safety-critical func-tions in the car.

“Unfortunately, you often see drivers playing with their mobile phones while driving. We can legislate as much as we like, but I think people will continue to use their phones in their cars. For us it’s important to achieve this functionality in the car to avoid the safety risks involved in using a mobile phone while driving.”

Plinta - Platform for the safe integra-tion of user functions in the car - will run for three years and is a collaborative project between Volvo Cars, Semcon and HiQ, with support from the Swedish in-novation agency Vinnova.

“We usually take the appropriate skills from service companies and organize the work ourselves,” says Anders. “With this project, we’ve instead chosen a nimble structure, i.e. an agile approach with regular checks where the direction of the project can be changed depending on the results achieved. Volvo’s ambition is to use our findings in an upcoming product project.”

For Volvo, it’s about being able to provide their customers with the unique Volvo experience but still using standard technology at a basic software level. The closer it is to the operating system, the more similar the systems are. One strength of the partnership is in helping each other to see trends to improve the

development work. The project promotes cross-fertilization between companies with different skills and allows the par-ties to take development a step further.

“The way that people interact and communicate with their machines will change in the future. Improved voice con-trol and different types of solutions with gestures we think will break through very soon. In this project, we see ourselves in a way as a plumber, with Semcon and HiQ creating the conditions for the develop-ment of future smart solutions,” he says.

Semcon’s main area within Plinta is investigating the technical safety of integrating new features and apps in the car. How can you communicate securely between different parts of a network of internet-based features?

“If you have an application that you want to install, then it may need to ac-cess other features in the car,” says Jens Pommer, software developer at Semcon and project leader for Plinta. “It may be, for example, that the volume on the stereo automatically increases when you accelerate and the engine sound gets louder, without disturbing other func-tions in the car. Or that the car “finds” the sensor you have installed and knows that it is approved.”

The problem is in how the system detects which applications are approved, what they are allowed to do and not do, and the language - i.e. the communica-

CONNECTIVITY



find expectations about how the car will become part of our connected life. In the mid 00s, the limits of technology were moved thanks to the new smartphones. Around 2010 it was the turn of tab-lets to do so even further. Now the car is the new digital arena - when Apple unveiled its new operat-ing system iOS 7 in June, the “iOS in the Car” was

demonstrated, with many of the phone’s features integrated into the car’s infotainment system.

As early as 1997, Toyota launched its Monet infotainment system, which made it possible to read email and internet pages behind the wheel.

Nowadays, the connected car is an estab-lished concept. It has already managed to

transform the driving experience and interac-tive capabilities for the driver and passengers. Many mobile applications have spread from tablets and phones to the car dashboard.

Today there are multiple systems and plat-forms providing connectivity. Volvo On Call is one of them.

tion protocol - which the system follows. Here you need the car manufacturer to have as low a threshold as possible with-out compromising security.

In fact, Plinta is a coming together of the last 20 years’ focus on safety and the new, internet-based technologies’ need for protection from intrusion and dis-ruption of safety-critical functions. The innovation in this project is in bringing

together technology from different areas to work in the car. Semcon also hopes that the experiences can be used in other industries, such as the wind power industry, where the requirements are quite different but the same technology could be used.

In the automotive industry it is impor-tant for technology to keep up with the rapid development and meet custom-

ers’ need for change. In the project, Jens Pommer and his colleagues looked at the market and picked out a couple of themes which they studied in more detail at and then tested.

David Gillblom is an HMI expert at Sem-con and works primarily on creating solu-tions around how the driver interacts with technology, such as whether it should be done via a screen or through voice control.

“Every interaction should be quick and easy to perform without needing any visual attention,” says David. “The idea is that we should allow as many features as possible without compro-mising safety. It is particularly exciting to explore this area together with Volvo without being as blinkered as you can get in a difficult situation in a product project.”1

Jens PommerSoftware developer, Semcon

Anders LindbomTechnical specialist in infotainment, Volvo Cars


“The user can do an incredible number of exciting things in the car. In recent years it has changed from being a safety system to providing state-of-the-art connectivity,” says Robert Jagler, commercial connectivity man-ager at Volvo Cars.

The various connectivity systems have features that help the user navigate to a car park or petrol station, listen to music or watch movies. The text-to-speech feature means that a computerized voice reads out everything from email to the latest updates on Twitter or Instagram. Using connectivity to make driving safer is also an important development.

THERE IS MORE ON THE WAY. For example, Ford is developing an application to measure the blood sugar levels of diabetic drivers and, if necessary, recommend nearby restaurants. Location-based advertising and promotions, which are projected onto the windscreen or dashboard, are also about to become a reality.

“The future of connectivity has to be intui-tive, and you must be able to control every-thing from near the steering wheel. How but-tons and other things are positioned around the driver is very important for safety,” says Robert. Usually everything is controlled by the driver or passengers with either buttons, movements on a touch screen or via voice control. Soon it will also be possible to use gesture control, similar to Microsoft’s Kinect for video game consoles. Audi Connect is the system closest to creating that opportunity.

One problem so far has been with integrat-ing different mobiles and tablets with the car’s existing systems. The solution is to re-place mobiles and tablets as information hubs in the car and instead store the data in a data cloud or in the connectivity system.

The risk that the car’s computer system can be hacked or infected by computer viruses can also be minimized. In Ford’s SYNC sys-tem, the user applications are separate from the equipment controlling the car’s handling.

There are more good reasons for separating them. The development of a new car model is significantly slower than the development of something like a mobile phone.

“It’s one of every car manufacturer’s great-est challenges. The time from a car’s birth until it’s replaced is about seven years and the infotainment system usually remains dur-ing that period. If you look at the mobile and technology industry, much of the equipment has a lifetime of as little as seven months. What we do is try to separate the connectivity from other parts of the car,” says Robert.

IN THE FUTURE, it’s unlikely that connectivity technology will be obsolete when a new car is launched. Integrated systems will only require a simple software update rather than a brand new car purchase to receive the latest technology.

“If I had to look into my crystal ball, I would say that the next big step - and what will be the future of connectivity - is “car to car”. Therefore, cars are not just going to talk to the driver but the vehicles will be talking to each other a great deal. But then we are talk-ing about something completely different - a whole new level,” he says.

5 THE DRIVERLESS CAR. The ultimate vision for the connected, smart and communica-

tive vehicle is, of course, the driverless car. Ful-ly autonomous driving is all about cars which monitor the traffic and manoeuvre themselves while the driver is doing something else. Put


million vehicles will have technology for the integration of smartphones by 2016.SOURCE: JUNIPER RESEARCH


simply, the GPS, sensors, radars, cameras and lasers collect large amounts of data, which is put together so that the car can know and act in response to what is happening around it. Just as with Google’s driverless car.

“The car taking over is nothing new,” says Dan Flores. “Look at speed limiters, stability control and antilock brakes. They have been around for between ten and 30 years. The dif-ference is that the car of the future will do much more than what today’s cars are capable of.”

“The focus is on improving safety. The first step towards the fully autonomous car is to create cars that are able to avoid accidents on their own. The final step is cars which can

drive themselves regardless of external cir-cumstances.”

CERTAIN PEOPLE PREDICT a battle regarding con-nectivity and driverless cars with companies

like Google, Microsoft and Apple in one cor-ner and the established vehicle manufacturers in the other. Others believe in cooperation. Regardless of how we get there, the transition to more autonomous cars will not happen at

V iacheslav is systems safety man-ager responsible for Semcon’s Swedish centre for safety-critical

systems. He sees many exciting chal-lenges involving autonomous driving.

“One of the biggest issues to solve is which platform to use in the future. Cur-

rently there is no platform for autono-mous driving - the technology is rather a complement to traditional platforms, he says, continuing:

“There are different levels of au-tonomous technology. Most probably people will never need fully autonomous

Viacheslav Izosimov believes in a safer, autonomous futureFor systems safety manager, Viacheslav Izosimov, an autonomous car is ultimately safer than a car without such technology. The next step is for customers to accept autonomous driving.TEXT MARCUS OLSSON PHOTO NICKE JOHANSSON

THE EXPERT

Viacheslav IzosimovTitle: Systems Safety ManagerCompany: Semcon, Sweden

driving, because they want to make some decisions for themselves and the driver wants absolute ultimate control of the car. Some routes, however, you may choose to drive completely autonomous-ly, like when going to and from work. You will always have the ability to take con-trol of the car, but in many cases the car will actually make better decisions than the driver would manage. This may in-clude rapid deceleration in an accident.”

Customer acceptance of the technol-ogy is the be-all and end-all in advancing the technology.

“But it will take time. Some people find it difficult to accept change. Some people in certain countries still don’t use seatbelts, for example. We have to collect statistics and user data for sceptics to understand that an autonomous car is ultimately safer than a car without that technology. Almost all trucks in the transport sector will probably be completely autonomous within 50 years. There is an incentive to drive more. There are limitations right now. In some coun-tries, a truck driver cannot drive more than 8 hours at a time without taking an off-duty break, and in EU countries, only four and a half hours are allowed.”

In future all cars will be connected, but the transition to more autonomous cars creates challenges that have to be addressed. The question of liability at ac-cidents is one such challenge.

“If you remove the responsibility from the driver, the car companies could be responsible. It’s a big question. External circumstances almost always play a big part in accidents. However, in certain countries there are no legal obstacles to this, so autonomous driving can, in principle, start.”

Viacheslav predicts that today’s car manufacturers will drive development forward.

“Technology companies like Google are certainly interested in developing technologies for autonomous driving. But building an entire car from scratch – I don’t know. Here, I believe more in the traditional car manufacturers.”

Other areas have progressed further than the automotive sector.

“At Semcon we’re not just working on this technology in cars, but also on aero-planes, trains and military uses. There is already great acceptance for this. It’s a much more controlled environment than out on the motorway in traffic.”1

THE DRIVERLESS CAR

“The next big step is for cars to communicate with each other. But then we are talking about something completely different – a whole new level.”

Robert Jagler, commercial manager for connectivity, Volvo Cars


once. The new technology will be implement-ed step by step and probably build on existing technologies such as cruise control, parking assistants and automatic braking, thinks Dan.

Google’s radar system for self-driving cars is part of about a dozen test vehicles right now. The equipment costs around USD 70,000 - per car. The new Mercedes Benz S-Class, to be released this autumn, will be the first vehicle on the market that is fully capa-ble of driving itself, but it does so only under

almost ideal conditions.The built-in steering assistant can keep the

car in the same lane at up to 200 kilometres per hour, but the driver has to turn manually. In “start and stop”, traffic cameras and sensors keep track of nearby cars and other aspects, and take care of the driving - as long as your hands are on the wheel. Otherwise, the sys-tem shuts down.

There are still laws and practical details which prevent a fully autonomous vehicle from being used in traffic.

“Semi-autonomous cars are already here. But cars that drive themselves without any assistance from the driver are definitely be-tween ten and twenty years off.”

Practically all of the major car manufac-turers are looking at this area today - Audi, BMW, Ford, VW, Hyundai, Toyota and others. Dan believes that the autonomous car will change our view of mobility altogether.

“Yes, in line with customers accepting the technology. Even today, many people want to do other things in their car than merely driv-

ing it. All of us have been stuck in a traffic jam and seen certain drivers with a shaver in one hand and the steering wheel in the other. See-ing someone apply make up is not unusual. Some studies that say that driving itself is becoming a distraction. A big difference in the future will be that motorists wanting to do more than merely driving will do it in a safer environment,” says Dan, adding:

“The progress of technology is changing the behaviour of drivers all the time. With autonomous driving you will be able to relax more. The experience will be safer and more enjoyable. Anyone who has been driving for a long time knows that you can get tired. This will ease the burden. However, the driver

“ Some studies say that driving itself is becoming a distraction.”

Dan Flores, spokesman for advanced technologies, General Motors


per cent of all vehicles will be autonomous by 2040.SOURCE: IEEE

BIL

D: G

EN

ER

AL

MO

TO

RS


must always be engaged and aware of what is happening during the journey.

THE FASCINATION WITH THE driverless, con-nected and shared car is also about a vision of fewer accidents, better use of motorways and reduced emissions. The fact that in just a few years Google has managed to develop a prototype that can drive a blind man in an ur-ban environment shows that the car industry is not immune to the kind of revolutionary technologies affecting other industries (mo-bile phones, music sales, computers).

For whoever manages to find a profitable and successful strategy for challenges such as new markets, changes in consumer preferences, new

propulsion technologies, connectivity and cars that drive themselves, there is a huge market and huge demand. And this is a challenge that today’s car manufacturers can not afford to ignore.

“A car manufacturer doesn’t want to be on the sidelines when Google, a China-funded conglomerate or other large player comes in and copyrights all the ground breaking intel-lectual property and gets the advantage of being first on the scene,” writes the innova-tion strategist and author Chunka Mui in a series of articles on Google’s driverless car in Forbes.

According to him we are in the same posi-tion as in the transition from horse-drawn carriages to motorized cars (then called the

horseless carriage, just as the driverless car is named after what it lacks...).

“Making horses superfluous didn’t just mean that it was good to be Henry Ford and no longer so good to be a horse breeder. The “horseless carriage” had far-reaching effects which not only redefined our transport network, but also laid the foundation for our modern economy, and even changed the way we live by making the suburbs possible,” he writes.

Similarly, he thinks that driverless cars will have an impact on our society, our economy and our lives in a way that you can only speculate about right now, with billions of dollars at stake.

It’s not difficult to understand that many want a piece of this future. 1


THE SOLUTIONHOW SEMCON SOLVED THE CUSTOMER’S PROBLEM

ASSIGNMENT: When Perten Instruments bought the Australian company Newport Scientific, Semcon was assigned to review the design of the company’s analysis instruments for grain, flour and feed for the food and agriculture industry.

SOLUTION: Together with Perten, Semcon came up with a general design making it easy to recognize Perten’s instruments, while conveying the company’s core values of ease of use, accuracy, innovation and quality.

RESULTS: Pertens DA 7250 combines superior analytical accuracy with speed, ease of use and robustness. In parallel with developing the new design Semcon came up with a 36-page guide to support all of Perten’s future instruments. The guide describes in detail how to visualize Perten’s brand and the company’s core values in design. TEXT OLLE RÅDE PHOTO PERTEN

Design that gives a clear identity


TOUCH-SCREEN

The new instrument comes with a proper screen and a completely new user interface. The software focuses on clear information and is designed to be as simple as possible for the operator. It’s easy to understand what you are doing and requires only one or two options before the instrument can start an analysis.

ADJUSTABLE ARM

On the previous models the screen was fixed and could only be angled up and down. The new screen is set on an adjustable arm, allow-ing it to be moved up and down, side-to-side and angled towards the user, irrespective of where the user is standing.

LIGHT BLUE RUBBER GRIP

The sides of the screen have a rubber grip for maximum ease of use. The light blue colour is now standard on Perten’s products and indicates a kind of physical interaction with the operator.

LOGO TO MARK QUALITY ASSURANCE

The metal badge with Perten’s logo on is a mark of quality assurance, indicating that the product is approved and ready to be used. It’s made of metal and the idea of quality brings to mind that Perten works with the right quality of food products.

TACTILE CORE VALUES

To convey accuracy, one of Perten’s core values, the design is sharp and concise. The surface towards the user is slightly convex to provide a stronger impression.

OPTICAL SENSITIVITY

The instrument that carries out the analysis consists of a black surface where the operator places an open container containing the sample. A lamp then shines down from the machine and the light is reflected in the sample, whereby it’s analyzed by sensors in the machine. The design makes us think of visual camera optics and the rounded silver design makes us think of a camera lens.

CLEAR COLOUR RANGE

Using the same colours on all its products creates a feel-ing of uniformity and the user immediately sees that it’s a Perten machine. The colours in question are Perten White, Perten Blue and Perten Grey. The lighter grey is the background colour of all its products and the darker grey and blue are used to highlight details.



Matthew HawkinsConstruction engineer, Semcon

Martin BergqvistTechnical manager of distribution equipment, Cryo’s head office in Göteborg .

Five degrees above absolute zero is too hot. Storing liquid helium is precise work where even the tiniest

leak can result in millions of kronor literally vanishing into thin air. Cryo is one of a few companies that can

manage this challenge.TEXT KARIN AASE PHOTO ANNA SIGVARDSSON

It all actually began in Switzerland, at CERN, to be precise. The vast particle accelerators required helium, and to store it requires storage tanks that can withstand -269°C, just four de-grees above absolute zero. One degree

warmer and the helium starts to convert to gas form, and risks leaking out and millions of kronor vanishing.

ONE OF THE VERY FEW organizations in the world that can construct a tank to meet these demands is Cryo, part of the German Linde Group. The company has been working with cryo technology for more than 50 years with storing, transporting and handling liquefied gas, and this experience meant that the com-pany was soon able to develop the right tank that CERN needed. The first was delivered in 2007, and since then the company has con-structed another 3 for CERN and a further 6

for other customers worldwide.

AND AT ONE of Cryo’s huge workshops in the port at Göteborg, the next tank is already be-ing welded together. Cryo received a request from a Russian gas company in 2012. It had found helium at one of its natural gas sources

and needed a tank to store it in, could Cryo help? The obvious answer was yes.

THERE WAS ONLY one problem. Every tank that Cryo constructs is based on the same basic construction, with installation made-to-measure and customized according to the customer’s requirements. When the Russian company placed its order it meant that Cryo needed someone who could use 3D in Inven-tor, and although they had the expertise they didn’t have enough construction engineers.

“If we hadn’t found this resource then we would have lost the order, worth millions of Euros,” says Martin Bergqvist, technical man-ager at Cryo.

Matthew Hawkins from Semcon therefore started in November to customize the tank according to the Russian customer’s require-ments.

“The challenge is to keep the heat out and

CHILLY ASSIGNMENT

About CryoCryo is a Swedish subsidiary of the German company Linde Gas, previously owned by Aga. The company’s offices and production are in Göteborg with customers worldwide.

Cryo concentrates on cryo technology for storing, transporting and handling liquefied gas. The company has 157 employees and around 60 consultants.

Cryo is Greek for cold.


costs down,” explains Matthew. There are lots of pipes that need connecting to the tank, and each pipe is a potential way in for heat. The larger connection points are insulated using the same vacuum and insulation technology used for the tank itself, but that would be too expensive for the smaller pipes and regulators.

MATTHEW’S SOLUTION was to construct a cool-ing box that surrounds the connections and pipes that cannot be insulated separately. The box is filled with a perlite insulation and Matthew demonstrates how he elongated the connection point on the pipes that lead into the box to hopefully making the distance too long for heat to penetrate. So far the cool-ing box is on the side of the workshop, where mechanics are still experimenting on new ways of guaranteeing the insulation works properly. “I like that fact that the workshop is here so that I can work with the people who work here,” he says. “I’m here a couple of times a day to try out various ideas, and together we see what works and what can be improved.” The tank stands on the workshop

floor and looks like a submarine, 22 meters long, 3 meters in diameter and a capacity of 128 m3. Heavy traffic can be heard outside the workshop, music blaring from radios, but above all the other sounds the mute sound of the vacuum pump can be heard, which stands on a little table close to the front of the tank. It’s kept running 24/7 for one month to create the vacuum needed to keep the tank’s inside temperature so low.

CRYO HOPES THAT DEMAND for the tanks will continue to grow, and another tank is actually being built next to the Russian tank for deliv-ery to a customer in the US.

“Helium is used a lot in healthcare and re-

search and has been in scarce supply in recent years so there is a backlog of demand,” Martin explains.

“New sources are being opened up in Qatar and Russia, meaning increased access to he-lium, and the need to store it.”

FOR CRYO THIS HOPEFULLY means a market boost, but Matthew also sees other benefits to the assignment.

“I love physics and my aim is to work with absolute cutting edge technology, which is what I get to do here, just a few degrees from absolute zero. Getting to also work with something that helps healthcare and research feels great.” 1

FACTS

How the helium tank works¢ Cryo’s insulation technology is what enables the extremely low temperatures inside the helium tank.¢ The tank consists of an inner container that stores the helium. The insulation material and outer container act as a

shield against the outside world.¢ The inner container is built up in layers of insulation consisting of aluminium and glass paper. The inner container is then placed in the outer container so that there is minimal contact between

the two, creating a layer of air and insulation. This area is then connected to a vacuum pump creating a vacuum between the containers so that nothing can conduct heat to the helium inside the inner container.

¢ Before the insulation is fitted to the tank the surfaces are heated to be as clean as possible to minimize moisture or chemicals converting to gas inside the insulation, or conducting heat to the inner container.

“The challenge is to keep the heat out and costs down.”

Matthew Hawkins, designer, Semcon


PORTABLE MUSIC MACHINE KEYSTATION MINI 32

“I’ve just come back from an assignment that meant I worked on and off in Budapest for six months. Because I took my portable Keystation Mini 32 I was able to spend a lot of my spare time composing music, which is a passion of mine. Keystation is a USB keyboard, which, despite being so small, has 32 keys. Connect it to a laptop and you get quite good quality sound if you use an X-mini Max II Capsule Speaker.”

TOMAS NYSTRÖMTECHNICAL INFORMATION, SEMCON

HOBBIES: MusicLAST GADGET BOUGHT: The Bleep Drum.

GADGETS I LIKE

SMALL, PRACTICAL SPEAKER X-MINI MAX II CAPSULE SPEAKER

“You can use headphones when mak-ing music, but you soon get tired. X-Mini Max II is small, has inbuilt, rechargeable batteries and better bass than one might think. Its biggest benefit’s that it’s light enough to take on business trips, and works really well when sitting playing in your hotel room.”

FLEXIBLE STAND GRIP TIGHT GORILLAPOD STAND

“This stand, with its flexible legs is perfect for taking with you when recording background sounds or filming with a telephone. The fixing works for telephones, cameras and microphones and the flexible legs can wrap around branches and posts. And because it’s so compact it’s always easy to take with you.”

SMART WALL SOCKETEXXACT 4-OUTLET CLASS II

“If you like music and electronic gadgets then you’ll appreciate solutions that make managing network wires simpler. Exxact is a wall socket for flat European plugs, meaning they don’t stick straight out of the wall. Especially useful for iPhone chargers, which often end up in the way of furniture.”

VALUE-FOR-MONEY ANALOGUE SYNTHESIZERSKORG MONOTRONS

“The slightly plastic design, the compact format and blister packaging make them look like a toys when they’re in the shop. Which is not all bad, because they are so much fun to play on. The inbuilt, battery-driven speakers are not power-ful, but Monotrons are easy to modify and can also be linked to a PA system. I like using gadgets and programs with limitations as it encourages creativity.”

PH

OT

O: P

ÄR

PE

RS

SO

N

“Perfect for composing

music when out travelling.”

Authentication tokens with a self-destruct mechanism, sturdy military laptops called “Rocky”, highly se-cure communication lines and user manuals that even the minister of foreign af-

fairs might flick through. These are topics for Semcon, who has been involved in secunet technologies since 2006 as an exclusive sup-plier of technical documentation.

“I initially had concerns about whether somebody from outside could identify and reflect the complexity and specifics of our product portfolio sufficiently,” says Dr. Kai Martius, head of the Public Sector business unit at secunet. “But after the training period, Semcon proved they could understand our products and their properties very well.”

There is only one IPsec-based crypto system in the world that has been approved for the highest German national security classification of TOP SECRET: the “Secure Inter-Network Architecture” (SINA) from the IT company secunet. Here, the elimination of security vulnerabilities comes first – and that goes for the technical documentation too.TEXT LINDA KARLSSON ELDH PHOTO SECUNET & KALLE SINGER

A SECURE SOLUTION

secunet, with headquarters in Essen, is a specialist in high-security IT and works par-ticularly closely with German authorities and related industries. It focuses on the Secure Inter-Network Architecture (SINA), which was developed on behalf of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The system protects the processing, storage and

transmission of classified information and other sensitive documents.

“Currently, we are developing SINA further to enable it to securely track the compilation and sharing of documents,” Martius explains. “The Wikileaks affair is a good example of a se-curity breach that may occur when it’s difficult to prove who has had access to information at

secunet and SINAThe German IT company, with headquarters in Essen, provides products and services related to IT security. secunet has been a security supplier to the German government since 2004. The company’s Public Sector business unit is the largest with 200 employees. The company’s total sales in 2012: 67.2 million euros.

SINA has been developed since 2002 for the

German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). SINA is based on a number of state-of-the-art security technologies. Smart cards in a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that authenticates users by means of certificates and digital signatures, various cryptographic functions and a highly secure operat-ing system platform are a few examples.


what time and whether they have forward-ed it to people outside the organization.”

CERTAIN SINA PRODUCTS are approved for the highest German national security clas-sification (TOP SECRET) and are used in communication environments where unau-thorized access may endanger the very ex-istence of the German Federal Republic or one of its states. Currently there are more than 30,000 SINA components in opera-tion worldwide. Semcon writes the user and administrator manuals for this broad product range, from workstations and gate-ways to SINA Management, which is used for the configuration and administration of SINA components in the network.

“At the beginning, we established an XML environment to manage and pub-

lish different types of formats,” explains Robert Hinesley, technical writer and managing editor at Semcon in Munich. “As they are based on the same source file, the user manuals can be published in PDF and as online help as well as in different languages and user versions.”

SINA has a very heterogeneous user base, ranging from IT professionals to clerks. This is why secunet places great importance on manuals that make the SINA system easy to understand for any user.

“Semcon has worked on everything from descriptions of operating processes to possible scenarios in the form of use-cases,” says Dr. Martius. “They have done a great job and our documentation is now much more user-friendly.” 1

Dr. Kai MartiusHead of Public Sector Business Unit, secunet Security Networks AG

Robert HinesleyTechnical writer and managing editor, Semcon



Q&A ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRASOUND DESIGN EXPERT

Sound isn’t only a technical property of a product, it’s also about aesthetics and psychology and is playing an increasing role in creating the right feel. Elif Özcan Vieira started her career composing jingles. She now researches the importance of sound on brands and people’s buying decisions.

hen Elif Özcan Vieira worked at a student radio sta-tion when studying industrial design in Ankara, Tur-key, she focused on making sound. In her jingles and radio theatre effects she used a ruler against a tabletop

to create the sound of a trampoline jump, a bag of flour created the sound of walking in snow. She realized that what was making the noise wasn’t important, it was the result of the sound that mattered. This got her interested in the psychol-ogy and importance of sound in everyday prod-ucts, which resulted in a degree and an assistant

professorship at the university of technology in Delft, Holland. There she works in a small laboratory called Product Sound Design, which mainly works with companies to develop product sounds and research effects and significance. Product sounds can be split into tow main cat-egories: consequential and intentional.

“Consequential sounds are those that the prod-uct makes while being used. A hairdryer blowing or an electric toothbrush rotating for example. The sound will tell you whether or not something is working properly. An electric toothbrush with bat-teries that are dying can be quickly detected and we can immediately decide that it’s time to change the batteries due to the sound. Intentional sounds are designed to warn and make us more aware, for example an alarm clock. Here we need to design the sound so that it conveys the right message and right effect so everyone understands.”

TEXT SOFIA ERIKSSON

PHOTO JEROEN BOUMAN

WREAD MORE

about Semcon’s offering within sound design at

semcon.com



What is good sound?You must understand the context: the

product, function, user and expectations. The combination creates the experience. A loud, crisp sound might be perfect in some cases, while not in others. For example, my wash-ing machine is an expensive German model. When on the spin cycle it sounds like an aero-plane. This doesn’t live up to my expectations of German engineering, which I associate with well-designed, low noise, and it doesn’t suit my home where I want peace and quiet. I thought at first that there was something wrong with it so I called and complained, but they said it was supposed to sound like that. So that isn’t a good sound because it creates the completely wrong effect and feel. A really good sound on the other hand is the “pop” you get when opening a bottle of Grolsch beer.

Just Grolsch?“Yes. It might sound simple but it’s really

not. You need the right shape bottleneck, the right amount of beer in the bottle and the clip cork with the rubber ring. That’s a typi-cal Grolsch sound, which is now so strongly linked to the product that it acts as a single reference associated with the brand and feel that Grolsch wants to promote.”

What have product sounds meant historically?“Product sounds have been a source of

fascination since the industrial revolution. Noisy automobiles, the roar of steam engines, steam train whistles, the clatter of typewriter keys and the increased speed of a sewing machine, all these sounds have had deep psy-chological effects on people, not to mention if something is switched on, on the road, or working. Namely wealth, man’s progress and technical innovation. When some products were new there was a fascination with noise and I’ve seen adverts for cars from the 50s where the noise was advertised as something positive. That’s not the case today.”

What is it like today?“The auto and aviation industries in par-

ticular have a huge responsibility today to cut noise pollution and strive to make quieter products. We consumers also expect a well-designed sound when we buy something expensive with a particular image. It needs to suit us. How a car sounds is just as important as how it looks, feels or smells and one of the product’s properties that contributes to how we value it.”

An example?“It’s all about brand identity. BMW for

example is known for making sporty cars so the engine sound must be just right. But they also need to be reliable, so they have de-signed the doors to close with a sound that

“When some products were new there was a fascination with noise. That’s not the case today.”

Elif Özcan Vieira, sound design expert

1 USABILITYUnderstanding of function. Sound is needed to confirm that a product works

and is cooperating, i.e. does what we expect it to, which improves its usability.

2 FEELINGSEmotional effect. The right sound promotes feelings: pride, confirmation,

and well-being.

3 BRANDImproved experience of the brand’s intentions that complement the other

impressions – a sporty sound strengthens a sporty profile, quiet engines signal environ-mental consideration for example.

3things that good sound design can give a product

Q&A ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRASOUND DESIGN EXPERT


signals perfectionism and stability. I’ve been told that BMW has over 150 engineers work-ing on sound design alone – that shows how important it’s.”

Give us an example of poor sound design! “I bought a well-designed cute looking

coffee machine, and I was very pleased in the shop. I’d also heard that it made excel-lent coffee and I thought that the display and functions seemed simple and attractive. But when I got it home I was very upset. When a product is so well designed and whose job it’s to create wellbeing, i.e. a good cup of coffee, it can’t sound like a threshing mill that makes the entire worktop shake. If I pay EUR 80 for something I want a proper sound, not noise. The coffee machine should have had a softer sound with the same associations as its ap-pearance. But that’s something that product manufacturers don’t always think about.”

What are companies’ product sound develop-ers good at?

“Manufacturers are generally good at inten-tional sounds, such as the pling of a micro-wave or dishwasher or mobile phones and clocks when the alarm sounds. But there is a lot of improvement to be made. We are sur-rounded today by so many signals so product developers need to make sounds as functional and simplified as possible.”

How?“One of my colleagues has worked on a

warning sound project on an emergency ward with machines that monitor heart, lung and kidney functions. The problem is that there are no standard sounds for this. For instance the same manufacturer can have different sounds on different versions of the same product so nurses find it difficult identify-ing what’s wrong. In cases like these the right alarm sound can save lives and avoid catastrophes. So instead of different bleeps they developed a blowing warning sound for lung function, a drop sound for kidneys and a sound similar to a heartbeat for heart func-tion. In this way staff were immediately able to detect what was wrong, thanks to sound design.”

Electric cars are becoming more popular. How will this affect the sound of cars?

“That’s very interesting. Electric power is quieter and signals sustainable, environmen-tal commitment, which in turn means a re-ally quiet car. But neither manufacturers nor consumers are quite ready for that. How do you combine a quiet car with traffic safety for example? How will other road users be aware that there is a car approaching? I’m all for qui-et and we should embrace the new technology so that we no longer have the noise of mil-lions of cars on the roads. The challenge is a

gradual development of ways to create aware-ness, because we can’t put that responsibil-ity on the pedestrian. Visual signals, warning sounds sent to sensors so that blind people get a warning signal. Designers have a huge responsibility because we shouldn’t expect other road users to ‘get used to it’.”

Do you always think about sound?“Yes. It’s an occupational hazard. The first

thing I did when my children were born was to listen to them to make sure everything was OK. I can’t listen to music on the way to work because I’m too busy listening to my sur-roundings so I don’t miss any signals.”1

Elif Özcan VieiraTitle: BSc in sound design and assistant professor at the section of Design Aesthet-ics IDE/TU Delft Qualifications: Industrial design at the Mid-dle East Technical University in Ankara, PhD in Sound Design from TU Delft.Lives in: Delft in HollandHobbies: Photography, jogging and tennis.Favourite sound: : The sound my newborn daughter makes when she swallows while I’m breastfeeding her. This is an interactive sound that signals that she’s contented, making me feel complete as a mother.


TEXT JESPER HULTÉN, LINDA KARLSSON & JOHAN LARSSON

PHOTOS CHRISTER EHRLING, SEBASTIAN BERGER & RICKARD KILSTRÖM

SEMCON BRAINS


Spare parts specialist

CHARLOTTE WELLRATH-JACOBSSON helps compa-nies develop strategies and processes for optimal spare part management, for themselves and their customers - something that involves the entire chain, from construction to the aftermarket.

“A car project lasts an average of five years, so we want to be involved as early as possible and set de-mands, to influence the right level of detail in terms of spare part composition.”

“Changing small parts on a truck is just not fea-

sible, because it takes too long and each stoppage costs money. Compared to cars it pays therefore to change a larger spare part module on each occasion. This means fewer, but more complex, spare parts.”

Other industries have a lot to learn from the auto industry. Charlotte has just worked on a project with a customer in another industry, where she showed them that it’s possible to cut the number of spare parts by smart planning.

“We looked at two separate products with differ-

ent functions and examined how much of a reduc-tion in the respective machines’ spare parts we could achieve. We managed savings of 45 and 65 per cent respectively. This just shows that it’s possible to cut costs in industries characterized by customer-specif-ic orders and relatively short production runs.”

“But you need to be tough as an aftermarket man-ager to succeed in projects covering many layers of the value chain and involving people from different countries and cultures.”

charlotte wellrath-jacobsson, aftermarket spare parts specialist, semcon sweden

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.20103 33FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 33

BEHIND THE SCENES AT SEMCON BRAINSWant to know more about Charlotte, her job and what challenges she has found at Semcon? Watch the film at semcon.com


NO CAR LOVER would deny that Xuehong Fu has a dream job. With a major German OEM as the main customer, he is able to participate in the development of automobile en-gines for some of the world’s best-selling cars. By doing so, he works on projects from the initial customer request and proposal through to the construction, calculation and finally prototypes and tests. In the last couple of years, he has been able to work on engines such as the Mer-cedes Benz V6, V8 and V12.

“For me personally, the V6 Turbo was an especially exciting project,” he says. “I was involved as a design engineer and worked on the project from the beginning until shortly before the production stage”.

The car drivers of today have high expectations when it comes to

mobility, driving pleasure and envi-ronmental friendliness. “Currently, we’re concentrating on finding ways to make the combustion engine greener,” Fu explains. “However, a great engine sound and other as-pects of driving pleasure need to be fulfilled at the same time.”

As a development partner of manufacturers in the automo-tive industry, it’s important for the company to listen carefully to the customer’s concerns. That’s why communication with the customers is one of his most important tasks. “The work is built on trust,” he says.

“The customer brings us into the company as external experts because we can also offer valuable skills in certain areas. This trust demands a certain amount of sensitivity.”

The engine expertxuehong fu, team leader design engineering / integration and powertrain/chassis, bad friedrichshall and stuttgart semcon Deutschland

SEMCON BRAINS


FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.20103 35FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 35

ERIKA KLINGER HELPS project managers and other managers improve their lead-ership and communication skills using proven methods and intuition.

“The best description of what I do as a coach is to say that I’m a catalyst. It’s about bringing out the potential in people.”

Erika has worked in project manage-ment for 19 years. She also teaches project

management and leadership. But being a coach is different to running courses.

“As a teacher you teach what you know. But a coach doesn’t teach, you just ask strong questions to help others become aware of what they want and how to achieve it.”

Erika is fascinated by how much people learn about themselves when they are given time to reflect, find their

motivation and start acting.“It’s very powerful. I can often see

after the first day that the person has more energy. I think this is because they have set a path and they want to know how much they can affect themselves.”

“Coaching is mainly aimed at managers and project managers. But it’s really for anyone who wants to

achieve change,” she says.“I’ve seen that people soon become

clearer in their leadership and com-munication abilities. And they become more target-oriented. This can happen in just a month. An important part of this is about self-confidence. Having clear goals and believing that they are doing the right things to achieve their goals gives people self-confidence.”

The coacherika klingler, senior project management consultant, semcon sweden



Volvo FH has been Volvo Trucks’ flagship for almost 20 years. The work on the latest version started in 2003,

focusing on safety, driving quality, driver comfort and fuel economy. It’s

now arrived and Semcon helped.TEXT MARIANNE OVESEN PHOTOS SÖREN HÅKANLIND, LARS ARDARVE & VOLVO TRUCKS

MODEL FOR THE FUTURE


O lof Pawlowski testing engineer at Semcon is standing in front of a huge graphite grey truck and looks up at its giant grille. He can’t help but smile.

“It’s much cooler working with trucks than cars,” he says.

The truck in question is Volvo Trucks’ new FH, a truck with the same name as its prede-cessor – but that’s the only thing they share in common. The new FH is something totally different.

Olof strolls from the truck to the workshop by Volvo’s test track at Hällered outside Borås. Eve-ry truck and its technology is thoroughly tested here before being released onto the market.

As a test engineer at Semcon, Olof has worked with Volvo Trucks on many occa-sions. His speciality is steering and road-holding, two of the areas that Volvo has in-vested that little bit extra in on the new truck.

THE NEW VOLVO FH has a lot to live up to. Over the Volvo FH:s 20-year life the model has been Volvo Trucks’ biggest success to date with over 650,000 trucks sold, which today is equivalent to a significant part of overall sales. Expectations are high for the new version to lead the company into the future.

“The FH is our backbone. Many see Volvo Trucks and the FH model as synonymous. The new FH series is the bedrock for continued

successful marketing for us,” says Claes Nils-son, CEO of Volvo Trucks, in a press release connected with the launch of the new truck.

THE FUTURE DEMANDS on trucks when work on the new FH began were that it should be ahead of legislation, pass the Euro 6 emissions limits with margin, and be equipped with tomorrow’s safety technology. It should also drive more like a car and be more homely inside the cab.

Billions of kronor and many engineer-ing man-hours later Volvo Trucks had done it. Over the years Semcon has assisted with different areas of expertise, including testing and design, but also electrics and electron-ics, chassis, ergonomics and designing the

“No other truck in the world has such good roll stability, steering wheel sensitivity and road-holding reliability.”

Stefan Axelsson, responsible for road performance at Volvo Trucks

Olof PawlowskiTest engineer, Semcon

Stefan AxelssonResponsible for road perfor-mance, Volvo Trucks FVV (Feature Verification Validation)


new platform. Olof Pawlowski is one of the engineers that worked on the unique, cutting edge technology, in his case the individual front suspension system, which on heavy trucks uses the same basic technology used on horse-drawn cabs back in the 18th century.

To get the market’s best road-holding, Volvo Trucks instead developed individual front suspension with rack steering gear. This is technology used in most modern cars, but almost a revolution in heavy trucks. This was completely untested and required a lot of en-gineering expertise.

INDIVIDUAL FRONT SUSPENSION means that the front wheels move independently of one another. If the

right wheel goes into a depression or over a bump in the road the left when acts as if nothing hap-pened. The result is a much more pleasant driving experience with less vibration and roll in the cab and chassis, something that’s really important for long-distance drivers, especially on winding narrow roads. The rack steering gear provides a more direct transfer of the driver’s steering wheel movements, providing a clearer feel for the road.

It’s now time for Olof to demonstrate what it’s like on Hällered’s test track. He climbs up into the truck and slowly drives away.

AFTER A WHILE DRIVING on the long and wind-ing track he arrives at a stretch prepared with a variety of deep, and not so deep,

lumps and bumps, some of them so high that the bumper can be heard scraping them.

Olof and Stefan Axelsson, responsible for road-performance at Volvo Trucks, have test-ed the individual front suspension, kingpin and shock-absorbers, cab and chassis, over and over again.

“We measured vibration in the cab, keeping in mind driver comfort. We also measured friction, acceleration, distortion and other forces that affect steering and road-holding. Using the results we identified problems and suggested remedial measures,” Olof explains.

STEFAN AXELSSON, WHO accompanied Olof in the truck, adds that a lot of time was spent

HOW IT WORKS

Key components for individual front suspension The challenge for the construction engineers was to create a construction with lots of moving parts that work as a solid unit. This is their solution.

RACK AND PINION POWER STEERING GEAR

Steering wheel movement is transferred to the gear rack via a geared steering column. Movement is then transferred to a steering arm via bearings and rods. The steering arm, fixed to the steering spindle, allow the truck’s front wheels to turn, thereby turning the truck. Because the racked steering gear has much shorter rods and each wheel is independently linked straight to the gear rack, it stabilizes the system. Less flexibility, providing im-proved response and precision compared with a conventional steering system.

SHOCK ABSORBERS

Vibration energy is absorbed by shock absorbers assembled to the kingpost on the bottom and to the chassis frame on the top.

KINGPOST

Upper and lower link arm, shock absorbers, axle shaft, air bellows and steering system are all connected to the king-post. To withstand heavy loads the kingpost is made from high-tensile materials. The construction has correct axle and kingpin angles, providing excellent road-holding and minimum tyre wear.

LOAD-BEARING CONSTRUCTION

The upper and lower link arms are assembled on a load-bear-ing construction that keeps the entire installation in place. The load-bearing construction is made from cast iron and mounted on the chassis frame.

DOUBLE CONTROL ARMS

The front wheels are connected to a kingpin on each side and individually hung on the chas-sis with an upper and lower link arm. An air bellows between the kingpin and frame carries the weight and absorbs move-ment that arises with uneven road surfaces while driving.


Maria BalthammarTitle: Industrial designer, Semcon

Rikard OrellTitle: Design manager, Volvo Trucks Product Design

The new instrument panel is angled towards the driver’s seat, with all buttons and controls very clearly arranged and accessible and extra smart storage solutions.

The steering wheel has integrated controls for many functions, including cruise control, telephone and navigation.

Semcon’s assignment, New Volvo FHSemcon has worked closely with Volvo Trucks in a variety of areas: engine cooling, air-intake systems, cab interior design and instrument panel, cab construction, chassis, HMI (Human Machine Interface), software development for the new electronics platform and air suspension, chassis and infotainment, testing and driver instruction manual.


optimizing the shock-absorbers, steering gear characteristics, steering column and wheel spindles from Olof’s analyses of the measure-ment results.

“We have fine-tuned everything to beat the ordinary Volvo FH, which was our nearest rival. And we succeeded, no other truck in the world has such good roll stability, steering wheel sensitivity and road-holding reliability,” says Stefan.

Olof has now completed his assignment with individual front suspension and rack steering gear, but has quickly moved onto a new test project.

He points at a white truck circling around far off into the distance on the test track.

“I’m working on that truck now, but I’m not supposed to divulge any info, it’s top secret.”

There are not many testing engineers for heavy vehicles, and Volvo Trucks has no in-tention of letting Olof go just yet. This suits him very well because his passion for big trucks has not diminished over the years.

“I started here in 1998, just after starting work at Semcon. That’s 15 years ago and for 11 of them I’ve worked on various assignments for Volvo Trucks,” he says.

Olof’s long-term relationship with Volvo Trucks is not unique. The same is true in de-sign. Volvo Trucks employed the services of Semcon’s industrial designer Maria Baltham-mar in 2007 to develop the new truck’s cab interior. She worked for three years at Volvo Trucks’ large, airy design studio in Lundby, Hisingen, outside Göteborg.

She tells us that there were three designers at the start whose job was to brainstorm.

“The main focus was on finding and con-veying a feeling. Everything in the cab also had to match and be a home for the person who would be spending a lot of time there.” The cab also had to have a very Volvo feel, with simple, Scandinavian design.

Volvo Trucks’ design manager Rikard Orell shows us around the studio, where there are real trucks standing alongside mockups made out of aluminium, wood, clay and polysty-rene. A clay modeller finely tunes details on a model and the air has a slight aroma of glue and paint.

RIKARD TELLS US that the product develop-ment process always gravitates; it starts at a visionary level and is then drawn towards something that is considered to be realistic. He therefore wants to be as open as possible at the start of the process.

“We often choose a challenging concept, one that can stand up to being properly twist-ed and molded, before it turns into something that works in reality.”

And the reality is drivers and their eve-ryday lives. To get drivers’ opinions Volvo placed interior models of various instru-ment panels at a number of Truck Stops around Europe. Thousands of truck drivers got to test the panels and provide their opinions. This allowed designers to see how drivers moved their line of sight over the instruments and how they reached the buttons.

“Drivers’ opinions were collected and reviewed as input as we proceeded with the design,” says Rikard.

APART FROM ALL THE SYSTEMS from climate control to instrument clusters, needing to be fixed behind the instrument panel, they also need to be brought forward and shown on the front of the panel.

Maria says that it was both exciting and difficult. Not least the work on the climate control.

“The climate department has very strict rules to adhere to in relation to air ducts and their positioning.”

But the trickiest thing was getting all the packing behind the panel.

“I realized it wasn’t possible so we had to rethink. Was there, for example, new, less bulky packing on the market? There was, and we found it after a lot of searching.”

But before work had reached this stage Maria’s idea for an instrument panel, with its soft, flowing lines, was considered to have that Volvo feel. It was also visionary enough to be realized by the design team.

“I got my inspiration from curved wooden furniture. I wanted the shape to express pu-rity, simplicity and calm,” she remembers.

Apart from all the instruments and buttons the panel is also equipped with accessible compartments and coffee sup holder. Every-thing is within arms reach, even the “bird-bath”, which is a non-slip bowl on top of the instrument panel.

Rikard points out that the instrument panel has taken a quantum leap forward compared to its predecessor, despite the fact that the classic Volvo FH instrument panel was very popular. He and Maria are both very pleased with the result. 1

“Everything in the cab also had to match and be a home for the person who would be spending many hours there.”

Maria Balthammar, industrial designer, Semcon


SEMCON UPDATEWHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEMCON’S WORLD

A TEAM FROM Semcon in Sweden took part in the NASA Space Apps Challenge. Approx-imately 9,000 developers, designers and creative professionals worked simultan-eously around the world to create innovative solutions using data from NASA.

In 48 hours the Semcon team created a web app that shows where on the planet renewable energy is being used, such as solar, wind and hydro-electric power. The app also shows where conditions are good to use renewable energy and global differences over time. The team discovered that nowadays less

renewable energy is used than 40 years ago.“By using the app you can get a black and

white picture of the situation - we hope it can get people to understand that the problem is global and that we have to pull together worldwide to get a sustainable energy solu-tion,” says Andreas Folkestad, experience designer at Semcon in Göteborg.

The team’s app didn’t go further in the glo-bal competition, but there was great interest in the app from companies and organiza-tions.

“We hope that this solution can be used in

the future, either for energy producers or to show consumers problems and opportuni-ties,” says Andreas.

The purpose of the NASA Space Apps Chal-lenge is to find solutions to problems, both on earth and in space. The Semcon team con-sisted of Tor Guttormsen, Sicheng Chen and Andreas Folkestad from the Design/Human Factors department.

“If you bring together smart people from different disciplines under the right circums-tances, you can perform magic. Then you find new innovative solutions,” says Andreas.

New ideas in Nasa app competition

PH

OT

O: N

AS

A


Semcon won VCC Innovation challengeThe jury chose Semcon among tough competition from companies such as ÅF, Consat, Cybercom and HiQ to mention a few of the companies com-peting within Active Safety.

“We are very proud of this award. A great benefit is that we have extensive expertise gathered at Semcon who could contribute. During the contest we also had a lot of fun.” says Magnus Carlsson, Team manager within Sys-tems & Software, Semcon.

Semcon wins MAN award for the development of software testingSemcon Brazil has developed a tool for software and function testing for MAN that both improves quality and halves the testing time. The project won a prize at MAN’s Annual Awards for Brilliant Minds in the Total Pro-ductive Category.

“It was a relatively small project that led to big time savings, increases in productivity and which will now enable us to carry out our assignments in a better way,” says Fabricio Campos, CTO, Semcon Brazil.

Steering safely towards the futureSemcon is starting a collaboration with Sentient, working on the company’s steering software. The technology involves software for active safety and a more comfortable steering “feel”.

“We’re confident that the software can benefit our customers in the auto-motive industry,” says Stefan Ohlsson, President for business area Automo-tive R&D at Semcon.

A joint team from Semcon and Sentient will work on the delivery, integration and development of the technology.

New patent opens up opportunities

Large climate chamber in place in Ingolstadt

THE WAY AIR FLOWS behind a vehicle can greatly affect fuel economy. Semcon has patents in Active Flow Control technology - which can reduce fuel consumption in vehicles including trucks by just over 5%.

“Active Flow Control can reduce drag in trucks by up to 25%. This occurs by re-ducing design resistance in the vent, the

part behind the truck with low air pres-sure and a swirling air flow. It saves both energy and money,” says Pontus Wettrell, head of the Computer Aided Engineering department at Semcon.

Semcon’s Active Flow Control techno-logy utilizes actively induced flow struc-tures in the vehicle’s rear to reduce the

size of the wake behind it. This technique can reduce costs, particularly for heavy vehicles driving long distances. It can also be used in buses, trains and cars.

“Semcon has two patents in Active Flow Control technology, which offers great potential for further development and production,” says Pontus.

Semcon in Ingolstadt has opened the plant’s third climate chamber. The chamber tests how vehicles vibrate under various condi-tions. Different climatic and environmental situations can be simulated and vehicles can be tested at different temperatures.

“The new climate chamber is wider and longer than previous ones, and can be used with larger parts,” says Mathias Brandis, head of the testing department.

Semcon has invested EUR 175,000 in the new climate chamber, which many custo-mers requested.

“We now have greater capacity and a shorter delivery time. In addition, we can test larger vehicles and parts in the new climate chamber, which can also be comple-tely covered,” says Mathias.

future by semcon

#2 2013

“I don’t get out of the water until I can do the trick”

HELÉN HOLMGREN

AFTER WORKname Helén Holmgren.at work Technical illustrations for companies like Volvo Cars and Qoros.after work Kitesurf as often as I can. current challenge Fixing a “blind judge”, which is a difficult kitesurfing trick.

TE

XT

: MA

GN

US

CA

RLS

SO

N F

OT

O: A

NN

A S

IGV

AR

DS

SO

N

About me“I’m very stubborn and don’t give up until I’ve done what I set out to do. I’m 30 years old and live with my boyfriend in Göteborg, but it sometimes feels like I live on the motorway to the sea. I surf as often as I can, meaning lots of trips to and from Varberg on the Swedish west coast.”

About work“I started at Semcon as a construction engineer, but after a while wanted fresh challenges and became an illustrator. I currently work a lot with illustrations for Volvo’s product and service information. It’s creative and a lot of fun.”

About kitesurfing“I started five years ago after taking a kite surfing course in Varberg, and then I was addicted to it. When I surf I can really let go of everything else and just focus on what I’m doing. I surf as much as I can and have been on surfing holidays to Australia, the Philippines and Zanzibar.

I’m a team surfer for a shop in Varberg, but I don’t compete. I com-peted in athletics when I was younger and became so tired of competing that when I stopped I promised never to compete in anything else again.”

What I’ve learned from kitesurfing“Kitesurfing has made me tougher. I now know that it’s possible to be good at anything, even if you find it hard to be-gin with. When I make up my mind to do a trick I don’t get out of the water until I’m satisfied and have done the trick. I’m sometimes out very late in the evening, so it’s a good job that the sun doesn’t set until very late during the summer.”

FACTS: KITESURFINGKitesurfers use a kite and a surf-board to make their way through the water. The sport was developed in the 70s when people experi-mented with various forms of kites, but it only became commercially popular at the end of the 90s.

+

A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE ART OF CREATING THE FUTURE # 2 2013

TRENDS THAT ARE CHANGING

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

VOLVO TRUCKS EYEING THE FUTURE

ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRA ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DESIGN

HOW CRYO KEEPS HELIUM (REALLY) COLD

Date post:	25-Jan-2015
Category:	Automotive
Upload:	semcon
View:	377 times
Download:	3 times