Committed to Realization of Safe and Secure Mobility Society in Consideration of New Needs Such as Automated Driving
UC-win/Road to be Utilized for Developing a Simulator that Allows Bodily Sensation of Performance of 2-Drive EPS

"EPS (Electric Power Steering), which is a mechanism to allow a vehicle to turn a corner, is a function to make the wheel operation lighter. The 2-Drive EPS we have developed offers safe and secure steering that prepares against an emergency. When it came to how to make this appeal to potential users widely, we thought of getting them to feel its bodily sensations using a simulator. Then we got into contacts with Forum8."

Power steering supports the driver's steering action by reducing the effort required to turn the steering wheel. Mounted in almost every vehicle, the mainstream of this equipment is EPS that directly uses the electric motor power for assisting steerage in recent years, with its advantage of realizing low fuel consumption compared with hydraulic systems. On the other hand, it is required for EPS to have high reliability due to the important function of steering; moreover, even when a problem occurs in EPS, it needs to have a function to maintain assistance for a certain period of time (fail-safe operation). In order to respond to such needs, DENSO Corporation developed 2-Drive EPS for the first time in the world. Mr. Naoki Nakane, Director of Electric Control Eng. Planning Department, Electronic Control Components Division, DENSO Corporation remembers that they hit upon an idea of using a simulator to allow their technological strength to get recognized widely as well as its product characteristics.

Our user this issue picks up is DENSO Corporation, which boasts accumulated technologies over years with the automotive products as its core, and provision of advanced and diversified systems, products, and services for automotive, industrial and consumer products based on its technologies. We specially focus on people in charge of planning, development and assessment from a technological point of view in Electronic Control Components Division that takes responsibility of developing products that compose 2-Drive EPS, as part of aiming at ensuring safety and security, and achieving a society with highly qualified mobility of the next generation.

Before 2-Drive EPS shifted into mass production in 2015, DENSO explored effective approaches to have the advantages of outcome of the Company's development to be widely recognized. In 2013, they developed a simple simulator using "UC-win/Road", FORUM8's three-dimensional (3D) real-time VR, which had already been introduced in other division. They tested it by having a limited number of customers to experience it, getting a positive impression as a result. Consequently, they introduced UC-win/Road on a full scale in the following year (2014). Since then, they upgrade functions and scenario of the simulator every year and use it effectively in domestic and international exhibitions and so on.

DENSO Corporation spun off from Toyota Motor Corporation to be independent in 1949. It was founded as Nippondenso Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of automotive-electric components. Since then, the Company has been committed to research and development of technology and products to pursue "world-first", improving the assessment system for realizing high qualification, and fostering diverse human resources. Above all, they have expanded their business contents to the following areas: 1) Automotive business, which covers a wide range of products and systems with main categories of powertrain control-, electronic-, thermal-, and information & safety systems, and small motors as the core; 2) Consumer products including housing facilities with its core such as heat-pump water heaters and air conditioners, 3) Industrial products such as industrial robots, factory automation products, and automatic identification products; and 4) New business fields to apply the technologies developed in automotive products. With these changes as the backdrop, the Company altered its name as it is now in 1996.

On the other hand, DENSO has business units to deal with individual product areas, and several business groups, each of which comprises 3 or 4 business units by category. One of them is the Information & Safety Systems Business Group. Aiming at realization of highly qualified mobility society without traffic accidents, the Group targets development of technologies for ensuring confidence and safety including automated driving technology.

Positioned as a semi-business unit that forms the above Business Group, Electronic Control Components Division takes charge of technological development on electric and electronic products that compose EPS. Within the Division are Departments specializing in particular roles by function. Among them, Electric Control Engineering Planning Department, of which Director is Mr. Nakane, not only performs product development of the concerned area but also examines business strategy in consideration of the future technological trend.

In contrast, Electric Control Engineering Department performs detailed designing for mass-production of the developed products etc. This time, Mr. Kazumi Arimoto, Manager of Technology Section 4, Electric Control Engineering Department took charge of constructing a simulator for feeling bodily sensations of 2-Drive EPS. Section 4 assessed the developed products from various angles through diverse EMC tests and environmental tests, as a preceding step before mass-producing them. In addition, Mr. Hideki Amakusa, Project Assistant Manager who took part in developing the scenario and simulator using UC-win/Road, is working on the product tests using devices that imitate actual cars in Technology Section 4.

DENSO is expanding as a global automotive component manufacturer, currently having about 200 group companies in 38 countries in the world in addition to its domestic bases, with about 150,000 employees altogether.

Since 2015, they introduced CAN (Controller Area Network), changing the form to that of exchanging different kinds of data on the sides of UC-win/Road and DS. As a result, the development period was shortened and specification change became easier. Moreover, linking diverse information caused variations of simulation to expand. In addition, in the same year, mass-production of 2-Drive EPS started. It became possible to open DS to public on the center stage. The DS was exhibited in the motor shows held at Tokyo as well as Frankfurt, German. Along with this, a version with English guidance for international events was created, in which the car travel on the right lane along townscapes of Europe and United States of America.

Since then, they upgraded the VR version every year with Mr. Amakusa as the core person by trial and error as to what kind of scenario could allow the user to easily understand it. In 2016, they prepared a scenario on the assumption that some faults should occur to EPS while traveling on an expressway by automated driving. Its outcome was made open to public in The World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems 2016 Melbourne.

Further this year, they created VR by mixing the scenes of traveling on general roads in urban areas and on expressways. The DS mounting the latest version was exhibited in the Automotive Engineering Exposition in Yokohama (in May) and Nagoya (in June).