Upon entering the driving simulator studio at Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Kia's (000270.KS) Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Sunday, a 270-degree curved screen came into view. Sitting in a driver's seat built to replicate the interior of a G80 and pressing the accelerator, the vehicle on the front screen began driving smoothly along a virtual road.
The driver's seat, called a cockpit, is shaped as if only the front seat of the vehicle had been cut out. I expected it to feel like practicing on a driving license screen simulator, but when I turned the wheel, the sensation of the vehicle tilting left and right in line with its movements came through vividly. The subtle vibrations transmitted through the vehicle body along bumpy road surfaces also felt realistic.
The Namyang R&D Center of Hyundai and Kia, Korea's largest automotive research and development (R&D) hub, precisely scanned the Namyang R&D Center's driving test track down to 1-millimeter units to recreate the feel of driving on real roads, reproducing slopes, road surface irregularities, speed bumps, and even the texture of asphalt. It also recreated roads in major markets such as Europe and the United States to support Hyundai Motor Group's overseas sales.
Hyundai Motor Group built such facilities to improve the efficiency of the verification process for new vehicles packed with new functions. Until now, a prototype test vehicle had been built each time a vehicle was developed to conduct testing. Now, the company verifies vehicle performance by analyzing precise analytical modeling data obtained through virtual-space driving.
"The driving simulator is equipment that not only predicts and evaluates changes in vehicle performance in virtual space, but also enables the development of performance," said Jung Pil-young, principal research engineer at the Driving Performance Concept Development Team.
At the digital measurement center visited next, work was underway to precisely measure the dimensions of the vehicle body and parts. The CMM, a three-dimensional device that reads coordinate values by directly contacting the measured object before measuring dimensions, measures about 1,000 points per vehicle. At this center, not only the body structure, which is the vehicle's frame, but also moving parts such as doors and tailgates are verified.
Such work is carried out to verify quality before and after assembly. Quality problems do not occur only when parts are manufactured with perfect dimensions as designed and assembled accordingly. Precise dimensional measurement is also essential to identify the cause of problems that arise after a vehicle has been assembled.
"We already have measurement data at every stage, from the body to the interior parts, so even if a problem is found in a finished vehicle, we can immediately trace and analyze it," said Han Jin-soo, head of the Pilot Quality Verification Team.
Nova Lab, visited next, is a verification room for next-generation open controllers. In the laboratory stood a wire car, with controllers and electronic parts connected directly, instead of a finished vehicle. Only minimal control devices such as hazard lights, gear, steering wheel, brakes, and air conditioner remained, and hundreds of wires, electronic control units, and electronic parts were densely connected.
Nova Lab is a facility that checks whether the entire system, including vehicle functions and communications, operates properly before the vehicle enters mass production. It is the first stage in which the entire system is physically connected and inspected before a test vehicle is built. While it becomes difficult to remove controllers located deep inside a finished vehicle, problems can be identified in advance in a wire car, enabling quick correction and supplementation.
At the research center, verification is conducted based on various scenarios, including stationary and driving states. In particular, the company has developed and utilizes its own vehicle drive load device to reproduce the effects of tires that generate road surface friction and vehicle load.
The software-defined vehicle (SDV) verification cell has built facilities tailored to the automotive electrical and electronic architecture, which is changing fundamentally. Numerous controllers that had been scattered by function are being integrated into high-performance computer-based zonal control, and the power supply has changed from the existing 12V to 48V. Nova Lab is continuously researching new verification equipment and techniques to respond to these changes, enhancing its vehicle verification capabilities.
Hyundai Motor Group is improving the efficiency of new car development by applying a wide range of innovative digital methods at the Namyang R&D Center. This is aimed at using digital technology that transcends constraints of time and space to shorten product development time, improve quality, and introduce innovative manufacturing methods. Hyundai Motor Group's R&D technology is used not only for mass-produced vehicles but also for the development of high-performance vehicles such as racing cars, Hyundai N, and Genesis Magma.
