Ascential Technologies Expands Dynamometer Portfolio with Electric and Autonomous Vehicle Offerings

­Ascential Technologies, a leading global provider of automated diagnostic, inspection, assembly and test systems and services across a wide range of industries, has announced its latest additions and developments to its expansive dynamometer (dyno) portfolio, including a hub dyno and steerable dyno. These two key dynos will optimize and accelerate testing and validation, ensuring operational efficiency and reliability for a range of electric and autonomous vehicles.

Ascential Technologies’ transportation business unit (better known as Burke Porter) has more than 70 years of experience producing automotive dynos — and the broadest portfolio of dyno variants in the market — that accurately measure and test the power output and performance characteristics of an engine or vehicle during the testing phase of manufacturing. The industry relies on these types of simulations and validation tests to diagnose and solve issues before vehicles ever hit the pavement, with over 80% of automakers utilizing the company’s technology.

“Ascential Technologies has a legacy of producing top-of-the-line, customized and groundbreaking dyno products that solve customers’ most pressing problems,” said Uwe Krueger, Executive Vice President of the global Transportation business unit within Ascential Technologies’ Test & Measurement Systems division. “We have always been on the leading edge of innovation and these new additions to our dyno portfolio are no different. Our new hub and steerable dynos are crucial in setting the industry up for success and shaping the industry standard for the next five to 10 years.”

Steerable Dyno

Ascential Technologies’ steerable dyno concept was created to simulate the real world driving conditions of autonomous vehicles. The unique steerable feature is used for its 4WD chassis dynos to replicate a vehicle’s motion and position. By using the steerable dyno, which utilizes laboratory-based, Vehicle-in-the-Loop (VIL) testing and driving scenes, engineers are better equipped to understand and fix potential issues before the vehicle makes it to a proving ground, significantly reducing time and resources required to manually test its autonomous functionality. 

The company’s most recent steerable dyno features include:

·        Front axle steering angle: +/- 45o

·        Front axle rated tractive force: +/- 7760N

·        Front axle rated power: 178kW

·        Rear axle rated tractive force: 11684N

·        Rear axle rated power: 300kW

·        Overload capability: 150% for 60 seconds for both axles

·        Burke Porter D4 4X4 torque vectoring software

·        Interface to Simcenter Prescan software for autonomous driving simulation

With its full range steering function, the dyno enables precise and real-time simulation of vehicle motion and positioning for scenarios such as:

·        Straight line driving/cruising

·        Acceleration/deceleration

·        S-curve navigation

·        Dynamic braking and lane changes

·        Parallel parking maneuvers

·        Road load simulation

During operation, the dyno combines two interfaces: one for scenario simulation system and another for intelligent connectivity. It is specifically designed to test the functions, sensors, actuators and controller hardware/software of autonomous vehicles. This facilitates quick, repeatable validation of a vehicle’s autonomous driving capabilities, a process currently performed primarily on proving grounds. This approach not only reduces new vehicle development costs significantly but also shortens development time dramatically.

Hub Dyno

With range anxiety a core concern for EV adoption, Ascential Technologies expects automakers to use its hub dyno to perform Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations to improve testing accuracy and streamline the vehicle development process. Ascential Technologies’ hub dyno features four wheel hubs, each linked to a shaft that is connected to an electric motor to provide resistance, accurately simulating the road while eliminating the inconsistency of the tire patch interface. These specific dynos do not require wheels on the vehicle and are designed to test medium- to heavy-duty fleet vehicles. The directly coupled hub dyno offers a faster and more accurate simulation environment and allows engineers to simulate vehicle component modifications like never before. This presents an opportunity for a massive amount of testing variations for the electrical drivetrain of the vehicle. Further, the company’s hub dynos are completely customizable for customers to meet the most specific testing requirements.

Ascential Technologies’ most recent hub dyno specifications include:

·        Rated torque per axle: 16,370 NM

·        Rated power per axle: 600 kW

·        Overload capability: 150% for 60 seconds

·        Adjustable wheelbase range: 80 to 184 inches

·        Vehicle axle load: 10,000 lbs

·        Burke Porter D4 torque vectoring software

·        Interface to dSPACE and CarMaker for HIL simulation

Learn more here.