Technology company add2 Ltd have been awarded a prestigious Lord Stafford Award for work based on a close research relationship with WMG at the University of Warwick.

Midlands based add2 Ltd, won the Innovation Achieved award for their work with JLR and WMG on technology to improve testing techniques which will be vital in the development of robust electrical systems for current and future vehicles e.g. hybrid technology in premium vehicles.

The collaboration was developed from a previous WMG project called EVoCS (Evolutionary Validation of Complex Systems). Electrical systems are a major opportunity for vehicle manufacturers to innovate and improve performance (infotainment systems, vehicle climate control, engine monitoring etc). New hybrid and stop-start technologies will create even more challenges. Ensuring these electrical systems can be tested and validated in a robust and repeatable way is key in successfully integrating new components and technologies in the vehicle and ensuring that they continue to perform in use.

A lengthy and intensive requirement capture exercise by WMG identified low voltage transients as a major issue in the development of the complex electrical systems in new vehicles. Variations on the wavelength, for example during cranking, can cause problems for electrical components but no repeatable test was available to replicate this process.

The WMG team and add2 Ltd worked in collaboration to engineer a commercially viable turn-key solution based on an original proof of concept developed in partnership with the other project partners, Jaguar and Land Rover, using pseudo-random variations on the battery input in. The development of the proof of concept software solutions has led to add2 Ltd exploiting the research output in the form of a commercialised hardware and software solution, the LVTGO-VBS, to support the new test regime. This can also produce pre-set test patterns to meet vehicle manufacturers’ specifications. The new testing procedure was immediately adopted by JLR for their new vehicle development programmes. add2 Ltd has also attracted much interest from other international OEMs and tier 1 suppliers leading to new sales and customer base growth.

The equipment produced by add2 is now being adopted across the automotive industry as component designers need to validate components and systems before they are included in the development process.

The Lord Stafford Awards have been running for many years and celebrate universities working with regional businesses on innovative projects The Awards are now across the West and East Midlands and are one of the main innovation events in the region. The Awards dinner was held in the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Thursday 17th November.

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Lord Stafford Awards

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