Udine, Italy, May 5th, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the final agenda of its 2022 ”ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit” (ZPS), to be held on May 18th – 19th, 2022. The two-day hybrid event dedicated to the global driving simulator community will take place at VI-grade’s state-of-the-art technology SimCenter facility in Udine, located in the north-east of Italy.
The in-person event is at 95% capacity, underscoring the industry’s clear desire for a return to in-person events.
The Summit will also be simultaneously broadcast live, free-of-charge, allowing VI-grade’s global community to benefit from the conference content. This content will also be available on-demand after the event.
In-person attendees are invited to an informal pre-Summit reception at the Udine SimCenter, on May 17th at 6pm. Attendees can mingle and network in a relaxed atmosphere while discussing the latest trends in driving simulation technology.
SUMMIT CONTENT FEATURES GLOBAL SIMULATION THOUGHT LEADERS
The ZPS is geared towards executives and experienced design engineers from major automotive and transportation OEMs, Tier1 suppliers, motorsports teams, universities, research centers worldwide and partner companies. The Summit offers a unique opportunity to learn how simulation thought leaders are succeeding in their quest towards achieving zero prototypes by employing VI-grade’s advanced simulation solutions.
With 19 high-level technical presentations to select from, attendees will hear first-hand from industry-leading companies actively using VI-grade’s simulation, driving simulators and hardware-in-the-loop technology to accelerate and improve their product development processes.
ZPS PRESENTERS
Speakers include representatives from:
General Motors, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center, Volvo Cars / Royal Institute of Technology, Applus+ IDIADA / Mahindra, Automobili Lamborghini / Bridgestone EMIA, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Pirelli Tyre, Multimatic Inc., Ford Werke GmbH, Nardò Technical Center, McMaster University, Politecnico di Milano, Technical University of Dresden, University of Windsor, UTAC, HORIBA MIRA, Danisi Engineering / Meccanica 42, MegaRide / BE CAE & Test.
“We are truly impressed by the high degree of interest shown by our community for this event, as evidenced by the number of registrations for both the in-person and the virtual edition of our 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit,” commented Guido Bairati, Managing Director at VI-grade. “We’re especially pleased to be able to provide our valued customers, partners and followers with such an impressive lineup of speakers demonstrating exclusive insights into how key players in the global automotive industry are currently using simulation and driving simulators.”
EXCLUSIVE DRIVING SIMULATOR DEMOS
As an added bonus, in person attendees will be treated to 7 exclusive driving simulator demos where they’ll directly experience the value and benefits of using VI-grade’s state-of-the-art driving simulators to refine the development process.
SUPPLEMENTAL, HANDS-ON TECHNICAL TRAINING SESSIONS
VI-grade is offering on-site workshops on its flagship software products VI-CarRealTime and VI-WorldSim on May 20th. These fee-based training courses are aimed at experienced users who want to expand their existing knowledge of and learn about the new functionalities and capabilities of VI-grade’s software products.
VI-grade will also host a free-of-charge NVH Simulators User Group for its NVH customers on May 20th. Attendees will learn more about recent and future new NVH Simulator capabilities and technology developments and will also have the opportunity to provide feedback and make requests directly to the NVH product development team.
INDUSTRY SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
VI-grade would like to acknowledge and thank the following 28 industry sponsors and partners for their support of the ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit:
Sponsors will be present both at the dedicated exhibition area where they’ll showcase their technologies, as well as at live demo sessions, where their products and solutions are also directly integrated into VI-grade's driving simulators.
Registration for the in-person and virtual edition of the 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit is still open at https://conference.vi-grade.com/.
Darmstadt (Germany), April 28th , 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the complete installation and commissioning of a VI-grade COMPACT Simulator at the Ford Motor Research and Engineering Center in Nanjing China. The 3D virtual data that simulates Ford China’s test tracks in Nanjing will also soon be integrated into the driving simulator solution.
By leveraging this innovative solution consisting of the VI-grade COMPACT Simulator and the Virtual Testing Tracks, engineers are able to evaluate vehicle dynamics performance, primarily on steering and handling capability, in a 3D virtual environment. Ultimately, the solution can help engineers shorten production development time and better meet needs of Chinese consumers. Because the COMPACT Simulator utilizes the same tool chain as the VI-grade STATIC and DYNAMIC DiM Driving Simulators, it also represents an optimal technical reserve for the application of a more advanced simulator.
“We are excited to provide our COMPACT Simulator solution for Ford China,” said Richard Liu, China Country Manager at VI-grade. “In conjunction with the Virtual Testing Tracks data, the COMPACT Simulator is an innovative tool to develop and test designs more efficiently, reducing time-to-market for future products. We are looking forward to further expanding our cooperation with Ford in the future.”
Tokyo, Japan, April 13th, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the adoption of an extended version of its DiM250 DYNAMIC Simulator at long-standing customer Honda. The Driving Simulator, to be installed at Honda’s R&D site in Japan, is based on the same patented architecture as VI-grade’s DiM250 model, but with extended workspace through longer tripod actuators. This enlarged motion platform is particularly suitable for applications which require longer time exposure to steady state accelerations.
However, the newly acquired DiM is already the second VI-grade DYNAMIC Simulator within the Honda Group, since the R&D site in Offenbach, Germany, has relied on a model of the DiM250 simulator for vehicle development and testing since 2018. As the DiM250 has proven to be a valuable tool and development platform for the European team, Honda has now decided to introduce an extended version of DiM250 at its main development center in Japan. The Driving Simulator will be deployed in the areas of Ride & Handling, NVH, HMI and HiL, aimed to accelerate innovation in the overall vehicle development process, while reducing the number of physical prototypes, development time and costs.
“We are pleased to announce the adoption of a second VI-grade DYNAMIC Simulator at Honda”, said Toru Yoshii, Japan Country Manager at VI-grade. “With the DiM Simulator on both sides of the ocean, Honda has now the ideal common development platform for their R&D activities and is at the forefront of virtual vehicle development.”
Darmstadt, Germany, April 5th, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced that Michael Hoffmann has joined the VI-grade Team as Senior Expert in Simulation Driven Development, effective April 1st, 2022.
Michael has over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and software development focused on helping customers build better products in less time and with fewer resources. Before joining VI-grade, he held key positions at major simulation software companies such as Altair, MSC Software and Mechanical Dynamics.
“We are thrilled to welcome Michael Hoffmann to VI-grade”, said Guido Bairati, Managing Director, VI-grade. “He will be instrumental in advancing our Zero Prototypes strategy at VI-grade and will provide critical guidance and support to our customers in their path towards virtual sign-off”, he added.
“We’ve been talking about reducing hardware prototypes for quite some time”, said Michael Hoffmann. “I’m really looking forward to setting the bar a bit higher as we aim for „Zero Prototypes”, and I’m excited to work with clients who embrace innovation and who are willing to accept this challenge.”
Udine, Italy, March 31st, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the preliminary agenda of its 2022 ”ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit” (ZPS), to be held on May 18th – 19th, 2022. The two-day event catering to the global driving simulator community will take place at VI-grade’s state-of-the-art technology SimCenter facility in Udine, located in the north-east of Italy.
Attendees can expect high-level technical presentations from industry-leading companies actively using VI-grade’s simulation, driving simulators and hardware-in-the-loop technology in their product development processes and how it has given them a clear technology leadership advantage over the competition. Speakers include representatives from General Motors, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center, Volvo Cars / Royal Institute of Technology, Applus+ IDIADA / Mahindra, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Danisi Engineering, Multimatic Inc., Ford Germany, McMaster University, Politecnico di Milano, Technical University of Dresden, University of Windsor, UTAC. The detailed list of presentations, which will be progressively updated in the coming weeks, is available at https://conference.vi-grade.com/#summitprogram
Recognizing that not all customers, partners and followers can attend the physical event in Udine, VI-grade also organizes a simultaneous live broadcast of all summit presentations so that its global community can benefit from the conference content. This content will be made available on-demand after the event as well.
To allow conference attendees get the most out of their stay at SimCenter Udine, VI-grade will offer chargeable workshops dedicated to its flagship software products VI-CarRealTime and VI-WorldSim on May 20th. These training courses are aimed at experienced users who want to expand existing knowledge and to learn all new functionalities and capabilities of VI-grade’s software products.
All registered attendees will also be invited to an informal get-together at VI-grade’s Udine SimCenter, where also the Summit will be held, on May 17th at 6pm to network and to discuss the latest trends and forthcoming driving simulation technologies in a relaxed atmosphere.
“We are excited to offer our VI-grade community such an impressive slate of speakers at our 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit and to invite them to our renowned SimCenter in Udine”, comments Guido Bairati, Managing Director at VI-grade. “These presentations will provide our valued customers, partners and followers with exclusive insights into how key players in the global automotive industry are currently using simulation and driving simulators to accelerate the development of new vehicles, bringing them ever closer to virtual release.”
The ZPS event is kindly supported by the following sponsors and partners:
SILVER Sponsors: 3D Mapping Solutions, BeamNG, cosin scientific software, domeprojection.com, Fraunhofer ITWM, Konrad Technologies, Meccanica 42, Vioso
BRONZE Sponsors: Almatec, Screenline, Virtual Vehicle Research Institute
VI-CERTIFIED Sponsors: Hexagon, IPG Automotive
The sponsors will be present both in the dedicated exhibition area to showcase their technologies as well as in live demo sessions, as their products and solutions are also directly integrated into VI-grade's driving simulators.
Registration to the 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit is now open at https://conference.vi-grade.com/. Additional details about the event will be added to the VI-grade website as they become available.
Darmstadt, Germany, March 9th, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced that its long-standing customer, NIO, has implemented VI-grade’s user-friendly, fully integrated graphic environment, VI-WorldSim. With the adoption of VI-WorldSim, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer complements its existing VI-grade driving simulation setup, which includes a DiM150 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator and VI-CarRealTime, VI-grade’s real-time vehicle simulation environment utilizing a single simplified vehicle model.
VI-WorldSim is fully supported by NIO’s DiM150 Driving Simulator, installed at the company’s headquarters in Shanghai. Adopting VI-WorldSim expands the DiM150’s capabilities by adding realistic, multi-agent AI traffic behavior and sensor fusion. VI-WorldSim will mainly be used for ADAS and AV development aimed at increasing safety in autonomous driving. In addition to the DYNAMIC Driving Simulator, NIO is also looping in an extra DESKTOP Simulator. This creates a multi-simulator setup, allowing two drivers on two different driving simulators to simultaneously operate in the same scenario. This co-simulation is largely used to study the interaction of ADAS controllers in both random and complex scenarios.
“Delivering a joyful and reassuring experience while using autonomous and assisted driving is one of NIO’s pillars, which is why we are investing heavily in the development and validation of these functions”, said Danilo Teobaldi, VP Vehicle Engineering at NIO.“The availability of our DiM150 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator in combination with VI-CarRealTime and VI-WorldSim allows us to create a safe environment for extensive ADAS and AV development, and to reproduce it at any time. We are confident that our current driving simulation setup will significantly help us to make ADAS systems safer and improve their overall functionality in the future.”
“We are pleased to announce the introduction of VI-WorldSim at our long-standing customer NIO”, commented Guido Bairati, Managing Director at VI-grade. “It is the perfect complement to their existing driving simulation setup, allowing NIO to take their ADAS & AV development capabilities to an even higher level.”
Darmstadt, Germany, February 23rd, 2022 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the adoption of the VI-grade Cable-Driven DiM400 Simulator at China Intelligent and Connected Vehicles (CICV) Research Institute. The new Driving Simulator will be installed at CICV’s facility in Beijing to further enhance research capabilities in the field of intelligent driving safety, passenger comfort, human-machine interface, virtual vehicle development, and performance tuning. The DiM400 Driving Simulator will be used for multidisciplinary and cross-field research as well as to provide customers with high end engineering services aimed at both reducing development costs and accelerating the development cycle.
“By employing the DiM400 Cable-Driven Simulator in our vehicle development and testing, we expect to perform faster dynamic verification of the design model and system, objectively analyze the human-machine interface, while simultaneously reducing development costs and accelerating the overall R&D cycle”, commented a CICV representative responsible for the future deployment of the Driving Simulator.
“We are pleased to announce the adoption of our Cable-Driven DiM400 Simulator at the renowned China Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Research Center”, said Richard Liu, China Country Manager at VI-grade. “The DiM400 is the optimal tool for CICV and the perfect complement to their existing research capabilities. Thanks to its innovative cable-driven system allowing a greater range of motion, the DiM400 provides a highly realistic driving experience and immersion, which is essential in the development of intelligent and connected vehicles.”
The DiM400 simulator will be fully equipped with VI-grade software stack for motion cueing, vehicle model, graphic environment and active technology management. Furthermore, the cockpit will include equipment for driver’s biosignal acquisition and processing and driver monitoring systems for advanced ADAS and HMI simulations.
Darmstadt, Germany, February 16th, 2021 – VI-grade, the simulation and driving simulator company that accelerates product innovation by bridging the gap between simulation and physical testing, today announced the preliminary roster of speakers and sponsors for its 2022 “ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit” (ZPS), to be held on May 18th – 19th, 2022. Tailored to the global driving simulator community, the two-day live event will take place at VI-grade’s state-of-the-art technology SimCenter facility in Udine, located in the north-east of Italy.
VI-grade also plans to organize a simultaneous live broadcast of all summit presentations, allowing its global community to benefit remotely from the conference presentations.
Keynote and technical presentations will be delivered by representatives fromGeneral Motors and Hyundai as well as by professors and faculty advisors from University of Windsor and McMaster University. Additional keynote and technical presentations from the VI-grade user community will be announced soon. These presentations will illustrate how leaders in the worldwide automotive industry use VI-grade’s cutting-edge simulation, driving simulators and hardware-in-the-loop technologies to accelerate the development of new vehicles, getting ever closer to virtual sign-off with “Zero Prototypes”.
The ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit will also feature a technical showcase area where partner companies can connect with attendees and demonstrate their solutions and technologies.
Confirmed sponsors of the 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit to date are: Applus+ IDIADA, Danisi Engineering, Rebel Dynamics, MegaRide, SAGInoMIYA, Barco, Concurrent Real-Time, HORIBA MIRA, Imtec Engineering, Multimatic, Rescale, Smart Eye, 3D Mapping Solutions, cosin scientific software, domeprojection, Fraunhofer ITWM, Konrad Technologies, Meccanica 42, Almatec and Screenline. The complete list of sponsors will be constantly updated on the VI-grade website.
Because VI-grade’s many technology partners’ products are integrated into VI-grade’s driving simulators, ZPS attendees in Udine will be able to experience these products live and in action at the SimCenter in Udine.
“We are pleased once again to have the support of our long-standing partners, both as exhibitors and technical presenters. We will be holding dedicated driving sessions at the SimCenter in Udine during the ZPS. This is a unique opportunity for our community to experience our extensive product line of driving simulators with our partners’ integrated technologies, live and in action,” said Guido Bairati, Managing Director, VI-grade. “VI-grade is looking forward to the numerous keynote and technical presentations to learn more about how our customers currently use our cutting-edge simulation, driving simulators and hardware-in-the-loop technologies to accelerate the development of new vehicles, getting ever closer to virtual sign-off with “Zero Prototypes”.
Registration for the 2022 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit is now open at https://conference.vi-grade.com/. Additional details about the event will be added to the VI-grade website as they become available.
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