Artificial Intelligence Supporting Early Automotive Engineering Processes

Due to progressive increase of complexity, the automotive industry is subject to constantly changing trends varying from the introduction of greener products and components to the deployment of technological advances in development and engineering processes. In relation to both, sustainable automotive products as well as the deployment of technological advances, the integration of AI (Artificial Intelligence) approaches in combination with virtual products in automotive development and engineering processes is of great importance. In combination with knowledge-based CAx (Computer-Aided engineering), the integration of AI approaches delivers an enormous potential to enhance automotive development processes. In addition to process optimizations, the integration of various AI approaches considers sustainability (e.g., optimization of component geometries and materials, reduction of emissions over the entire life cycle, CO2 reduction through improved development) and economical aspects (e.g., resources savings throughout the entire development process, time and cost savings through earlier error detection, avoidance of unnecessary process steps). The present approach deals with the integration of AI and knowledge-based engineering methods in the early phases of automotive development and engineering processes. Furthermore, the paper points to the time, cost and resources reduction potential, leading to earlier market entries and a greener industry. Finally, the paper demonstrates the integration of AI technologies into industrial development and engineering processes based on selected application scenarios.