JLR and EPSRC announce £10m virtual engineering research programme
09 June 2013
Five new academic research projects that will advance the UK's role in developing virtual simulation technologies are announced by Vince Cable.
Jaguar Land Rover's Virtual Innovation Centre in Gaydon uses the latest virtual simulation technology
The £10m five-year collaboration between Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and some of the country's leading academics will develop the capability of the virtual simulation industry in the UK and will give manufacturers like JLR access to new, world-class simulation tools and processes.
This is the first phase of a 20-year strategic project that could put the UK at the leading edge of virtual simulation globally.
The research will improve the quality and capabilities of simulation, using sights, sounds and even smells to make virtual simulation more realistic.
Announcing the funding during a visit to the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, Dr Cable said: "With world-class universities and cutting edge companies like Jaguar Land Rover, the UK is well placed to be at the forefront of driving innovation and developing new technology. This investment will support the government's industrial strategy by boosting the UK's manufacturing capability and helping to keep us globally competitive."
The projects form part of the 'Programme for Simulation Innovation' (PSI), a partnership between JLR and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Loughborough University, University of Leeds, University of Cambridge and WMG.
The PSI project is funded by JLR (£4m), the EPSRC (£4m) and the partner Universities (£2m) and is split into two phases that will run over the next five years. The five projects announced by Dr Cable form the first phase and will make up 80 percent of the programme.
The projects include:
Analysis of the vehicle as a complex system (Loughborough, Leeds)
Multi-physics and multi-functional simulation (Loughborough )
Driving simulation (Leeds)
High performance computing and simulation knowledge mining and abstraction (Cambridge)
Visualisation and virtual experience (Warwick)
JLR engineering director, Bob Joyce said: "While we already utilise a wide range of sophisticated virtual engineering tools and processes to design, engineer and test our new vehicles, we are keen to enhance the future capability of virtual simulation and tailor them for automotive product development.
"We want to make advances in the simulated driver and passenger experience, including more realistic imagery, sounds and even smells. These projects will help us analyse increasingly complex cars at whole vehicle, system and component levels, as well as enhancing the high performance computers that industry will use in the future to mine increasing amounts of more complex data.
"Jaguar Land Rover believes the UK needs to be globally competitive in industrial innovation. Collaboration between Jaguar Land Rover and academia to develop new automotive applications will give the UK an opportunity to take a lead in virtual simulation technology."