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Tech Briefs
Test duo
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Visteon and MIRA have opened a new test facility in the UK. European Systems Test Operations (ESTO) at Quatro Park, Basildon, Essex, is described by the two companies as a world-class operation and has been established to handle component and subsystem testing for Visteon. Wilfried Janke, European Regional Director, Visteon Corp., said at ESTO's official opening, "(The facility's) ability to provide a service solely dedicated to testing for a single automotive supplier makesit one of the largest of its kind in the UK - and possibly Europe." However, according to MIRA, although it operates the new 2250-m2 (24,220-ft2) facility primarily for test and development of systems for Visteon, it also has the capacity and security facilities to undertake work for other companies.
MIRA ESTO also embraces two other MIRA sites. The Quatro Park facility's capabilities include environmental and dynamic durability as well as electrical and safety component testing. It is positioned close to Visteon's engineering and manufacturing operations in Basildon. Janke said Visteon is focused on improving and meeting reliability requirements, typically over a 10-year, 240,000-km (150,000-mi) vehicle life.
John Wood, Managing Director of MIRA, underlined the changing role of major companies such as Visteon. "As we went into the 1990s, the importance of the Tier-1 suppliers began to be clearly seen and felt in our segment of the industry," he said. "When we built our Climatic Wind Tunnel in 1992, three of the six sponsors were vehicle manufacturers. But for the first time, the others were Tier-1 suppliers. As the decade progressed, we saw the emergence of the super Tier 1s - 'Tier 0.5s' as they are sometimes called. This was clearly an emerging opportunity and challenge. And the support operation would need to be where the customer wanted it - next door."
ESTO is able to test individual components and integrated systems, such as complete dashboard assemblies, for effects as wide ranging as shock, vibration, rapid temperature changes (from cold to hot facilities in 10 s), and dust ingress. Although Visteon is further developing direct voice input (it supplies the system fitted to the Jaguar S-type) for operation of radio, CD, and climate control, it continues to test physically operated systems. One facility simultaneously tests six radios over a normal lifetime and a full range of operating movements via 75 automated "fingers" that operate all buttons.
MIRA believes the need for testing will increase during the next decade despite the heightened use of computer simulation for a wide range of test work. This is partly because cars will incorporate more electronics, with the subsequent need to integrate with other systems and components, but also because warranties are likely to become longer and more comprehensive to meet end-user expectations.
A particularly interesting test system now in use by MIRA is the first industrial robot in Europe to undertake new-specification durability development tests on vehicle seats, a KUKA 150 fitted with an "end-effector." A portable system, it was demonstrated at Basildon before being moved to another MIRA site in the British Midlands that has been established for the Lear Corp. to provide a wide range of development and test rigs for seats and seat systems. It can test up to seven different seats per cycle, with specific tests for each seat. According to MIRA, it is possible to generate far more realistic tests for emulating wear patterns from constant usage, especially ingress and egress. There are 400 individual tests to which a full set of vehicle seats can be subjected, although not all seats undergo the maximum number of tests. The KUKA 150 can complete more than 30,000 individual cycles a week, equivalent to three lifetimes for a driver's seat in a family car.
Stuart Birch
AEI September 2000
For more information, circle 209 & 210
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