Test-lab for the future

At the Bangalore-based National Instruments, tests that help determine a car’s electronics future also go through a battery of tests themselves.

As a supplier of hardware and software for various testing and validation purposes, the Bangalore-based National Instruments (NI) is at the perfect distance away from the chaos that is automobile manufacturing. OEMs talk of holistic development and a common language, and suppliers talk of stream-lining product platforms and standardisation of components. However, as it is neither an OEM nor a supplier, NI is in the unique position of being able to comment on precisely how a car of the future will be.

“We are now running tests that we didn’t expect to run even 10 years ago,” says Jayaram Pillai, MD, National Instruments, India, Russia and Arabia. Pillai told Autocar Professional that the entry of electronics has in the past two decades changed the way OEMs look at a car. “Previously, time and money was spent on endurance and durability testing. However, electronics has changed the way an engine functions. From an engine control unit, it has become an electronic control unit. Also, the convergence of various technologies has changed the kind of experience that people have in their cars,” he says.

Pillai explains that the basic testing philosophies have changed over the years. “The problem with software is that most of the time, it is either simulating or controlling something. If you have to test that software, you’ll need to test it with the hardware too. So new test philosophies have evolved. Tests we’ve never had to do before like hardware-in-loop and software-in-loop tests are conducted daily,” he adds.

On the future of infotainment systems, Pillai quotes a recent survey that suggests that up to 35 percent of a car-buying decision is based on the infotainment system.

“Essentially, what we are looking at is an infotainment unit that can stream four different videos to four different screens from a single unit. So the tests are multi-dimensional. For instance, if a call is received when four different displays are being run, then whichever screen is programmed to receive the call alone should be activated. If it’s the driver’s unit, which was previously showing the navigation, what happens after the call ends? Has the navigation been tracking the car’s path even during the call? So there are many questions that require multi-dimensional tests,” he says.

Shifting gears, Pillai says, that car suspensions are also getting smarter. National Instruments has been working with a component manufacturer to explore ‘active suspensions.’ “Suspension units so far have been either mechanical or air-based. The higher-end cars may have hydraulic units. This active suspension unit involves cameras and sensors that let it detect a pothole earlier than the car actually gets there. The car’s seats are flat, it’s only the lower portion that works to counteract the effects of the pothole,” Pillai says. “You can imagine the complexity of the tests we run for this,” he adds.

Prototyping at work Along with varying tests, another stream that NI has had to work on recently is prototyping. Prototyping, in NI parlance, essentially refers to a hardware platform that can take up multiple software at the same moment to simulate the functions of any major part of a car, be it the engine or the infotainment system.

“It is a system we build with off-the-shelf technology,” Pillai states. Touching upon the need for prototyping, he explains that the process of building an ECU, for example follows what he calls a V-diagram. “On one side, the tests happen and on the other side, the physical development of the ECU has to happen. As you develop more, you test more, whether it is software tests or hardware tests. Finally, you have tested software that you have to deploy on the final hardware. It’s a constant process of tuning and retuning and this is where everything from hardware-in-loop testing to software-in-loop testing to prototyping is required.”

The automobile industry contributes about 8-10 percent of NI’s business globally. “But that’s because we are in many industries like defence, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, machines, big physics, energy and power. No industry gives us more than 10 percent of business,” reveals Pillai. National Instruments India posted a turnover of close to $1 billion in 2011-12. Its customers in India include Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Group, TVS Group, Tier 1 suppliers like Eaton and Visteon, and off-shore development centres of OEMs or Tier 1 companies.

KARTHIK H