New Delhi: With the tightening of emission norms and inclusion of high safety standards, the demand of simulation in vehicle development process is going to almost triple in the next three years, said a top official of Altair.
Vishwanath Rao, Managing Director, Altair underlined that for short development time and reducing cost pressure many OEMs have started embracing simulation technique right from the vehicle designing stage.
“Simulation has not just remained a validation tool today, rather it’s taking shape of a design tool which can bring a substantial improvement in vehicle efficiency. As India is about to adopt BS VI emission norms, I feel that the usage of simulation in vehicle development time is going to triple in the next three years in India.” he added.
Automotive simulation is the process that involves virtual modelling of vehicles which helps in cutting down the cost and overall manufacturing time.
He pointed out that presently just 7-10 per cent of auto OEMs are making use of simulation process in the country as there is a scarcity of cloud infrastructure which is needed to run the process. The large pool of engineers in India can quickly resolve this issue and the 7 per cent mark can easily go up to 30 per cent very swiftly in near terms, said MD.
He further said that simulation has potential to cut down product development time by up to 35 per cent. “For example without simulation if a product takes 5 years to develop, with simulation that can be done in a maximum of two years.”
Highlighting about the new trends in vehicle safety, he said that the companies have started putting more emphasis on active safety than the passive safety.
“In the active safety space, Altair is developing engineering techniques to design radars and antennas and also helps in identifying their optimal placement inside the car to help it locate the potential collision,” informed Rao.
Currently, Indian arm of $396 million global software firm Altair Group, holds over 25 per cent of market share in simulation space in India.
The prime focus of the company is to provide light weighting and thermal management solutions for electric vehicles in India. As the demand of mobility electrification is intensifying, the company is scouting for new acquisition of tech companies. It has recently expanded its R&D center in Bangalore and plans to hire about 100 data scientists in the coming months.