Vehicle to use laser-welding for aluminum, riveting for steel, other production techniques.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cadillac will apply lessons learned from the Chevrolet Corvette sports car and Chevy Volt electric vehicle, using advanced mixed-material manufacturing techniques to build its new CT6 sedan, allowing creation of a large luxury sedan with the agility and efficiency of a smaller vehicle.
The CT6, which goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2015, will be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, using a unique combination of joining techniques, a first for any General Motors’ model. A new body shop with new tooling and advanced technologies – including 205 robots – has been added to the plant. The fully automated, roughly 138,000ft2 shop is dedicated to the manufacturing of the high-end luxury sedan.
“For the Cadillac CT6 we have developed additional new body construction techniques and technologies allowing various types of advanced and lightweight materials to be combined within the manufacturing environment like never before,” Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen says at the Washington Auto Show. “We have invested $300 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant to make this possible.”
The CT6 will use high-strength steel and aluminum in its body and external structures, requiring mixed-material technology. GM developed some of those systems for the aluminum-framed Corvette and the Volt, which makes extensive use of lightweight metals in exterior panels.
Combining different types of joining methods, the team overcame previous manufacturing difficulties involving the joining of traditionally dissimilar materials, while still allowing the engineering team to optimize every panel for its desired purpose.
Material joining techniques prominent in the body construction of the CT6 include:
- Aluminum spot welding technology
- Aluminum laser welding, which creates a seamless joining of exterior panels
- Self-piercing rivets, which are able to join different types of materials together with a clean appearance
- Flow drill screws, which are able to join different types or materials and used in conjunction with adhesive
- Aluminum arc welding and structural adhesive
Among the five techniques, the CT6’s engineers were able to select the best joining method depending on material combination and body location (for machine equipment access).
To weld both the inner and outer vehicle frames, 28 robots descend on the vehicle body in two separate framing stations, joining the body-in-white together from all angles. The robots are mounted above and beside the vehicle and can also reach beneath it. The two framing processes were choreographed to compensate for different microscopic vibrations.
”Never before has an automaker brought this combination of joining techniques together for a single vehicle,” says Travis Hester, CT6 executive chief engineer. “The manufacturing team has enabled body engineers to optimize the vehicle for mass, safety, stiffness and materials with more precision than ever.”
Once the body construction is complete, a large robotic arm lifts the entire vehicle from one part of the assembly line to an upper-level conveyer – unheard of for a vehicle the size of CT6 – to be transferred across the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
The CT6 marks the return of a full-size luxury sedan to Detroit-Hamtramck. The plant also builds the Volt, and the Cadillac ELR electrified luxury coupe.
Source: Cadillac
Palo Alto office to focus on connectivity, electronics, user experiences.
January 23, 2015
Manufacturing Group Cars/Light trucks Design Electronics
Palo Alto, California – Ford is opening the Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto to accelerate its development of technologies and experiments in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience, and big data
“At Ford, we view ourselves as both a mobility and an auto company, as we drive innovation in every part of our business,” says Ford President and CEO Mark Fields. “This new research center shows Ford’s commitment to be part of the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem – anticipating customers’ wants and needs, especially on connectivity, mobility, and autonomous vehicles. We are working to make these new technologies accessible to everyone, not just luxury customers.”
The center joins Ford’s global network of research and innovation centers, including its location in Dearborn, Michigan, which focuses on advanced electronics, human-machine interface, materials science, big data, and analytics; and Aachen, Germany, which focuses on next-generation powertrain research, driver-assist technologies, and active safety systems.
With the new facility, Ford expects to have one of the largest automotive manufacturer research centers in Silicon Valley by the end of the year, with 125 researchers, engineers, and scientists. Located in Stanford Research Park, the facility also expands Ford’s physical footprint – with further expansion planned in the near future. Ford opened its first Silicon Valley office in 2012.
Leading the new research center is Dragos Maciuca, an engineer who joins Ford from Apple with a background in consumer electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, and automotive. As senior technical leader for innovation, Maciuca brings extensive Silicon Valley experience advising startups, developing, and commercializing products, collaborating with universities and leading cross-functional teams. Maciuca holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from its Haas School of Business.
Earlier this month, the company introduced Ford Smart Mobility at the 2015 International CES. It outlines Ford’s plans to accelerate innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data. The Palo Alto team plays a critical role in research and development in these areas.
“Future mobility solutions will require fresh ideas and vigorous collaboration between researchers inside Ford and with other technology leaders outside the automotive industry,” says Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development and chief technical officer. “Our Palo Alto research team will build on existing relationships with universities and technology companies, and forge new ones to help us create and apply the appropriate technology working together.”
Ford officials say some of its projects in key areas include:
- Connectivity: Ford is integrating with Google’s Nest application programming interface, targeting home energy and emergency system management while on the road through a series of research experiments. A vehicle communicates with the Nest Thermostat to switch it to Auto-Away mode reducing energy use automatically when homeowners leave. Once close to home, the vehicle sends an alert to set the house thermostat to the preferred temperature. Nest Protect can warn Ford SYNC when home emergency notifications are triggered. Ford is also working with Carnegie Mellon University-Silicon Valley to develop improved embedded speech recognition that supports more natural language. The system relies on graphics processing unit computing – allowing for quicker, more powerful processing. The new technology relies on more natural speech patterns rather than a restricted set of commands to perform in-car tasks such as hands-free phone dialing or requesting navigation.
- Mobility: As the next phase in Ford’s Remote Repositioning mobility experiment, the Palo Alto team is now testing the ability to drive vehicles located on Georgia Institute of Technology’s campus in Atlanta from the Bay Area to prove out the new technology. A person sitting in the Palo Alto laboratory can access real-time video streamed over existing 4G/LTE technology to drive golf carts thousands of miles away. This could help lead to more affordable and effective ways to manage car-sharing initiatives, or park vehicles remotely as a new form of valet parking.
- Autonomous vehicles: While Ford’s research and development in autonomous vehicles is a global effort, including ongoing work with University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Palo Alto team will expand collaboration with Stanford University that kicked off in 2013. For this next phase of research, Ford is contributing a Fusion Autonomous Research Vehicle to the Stanford engineering program to begin testing the path planning-and-prediction algorithms researchers have developed over the past year. In addition, the Palo Alto team developed a virtual test environment based on gaming software, called aDRIVE (for Autonomous Driving Refined in Virtual Environments), that will test algorithms such as traffic sign recognition in dynamic driving situations. This allows for more aggressive time lines for validating driving algorithms to prepare for on-road testing.
- Customer experience: Ford is testing an advanced human-machine interface to better understand how customers prefer to control systems with a significant amount of functionality – such as the high-tech, multicontour seat. The seat features 10 adjustments plus two controls for 11 inflatable air bladders that can be used for massage functions. Ford is researching the most intuitive and effective way to control the seat, including using natural language speech recognition and a smartphone- or tablet-based interface.
- Big data and analytics: Ford is leveraging its OpenXC platform to help learn how customers are using their vehicles, and is conducting analytics to detect patterns and learnings that can lead to product improvements or new mobility services. In addition, Palo Alto-based engineers are expanding their research to develop sensor kits to gather information from bicycles and other common forms of transportation in urban areas. The devices gather data including wheel speed, acceleration and altitude. The data could provide insight into how alternate modes of transportation might be best positioned to serve future urban mobility needs.
“Growing the Palo Alto team will strengthen our global research prowess and drive innovation needed to meet the needs of our customers in the future,” says Ken Washington, vice president, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. “Working together with the Silicon Valley research community will spark the new ideas, products and services that will help Ford once again change the way the world moves.”
Source: Ford Motor Co.
Japanese wing of the company seeks a majority of shares.
January 23, 2015
Manufacturing Group Machine tools Manufacturing