vehicle technology

VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY AUSTRALASIA ENGINEER Issue 3 - October 2014 www.saea.com.au TRANSPORT EMISSIONS SIMULATION The development of an Australian simulation tool for vehicle emissions and fuel consumption software with high resolution in time and space. REDARC SUCCESS STORY Commitment to both Innovation and Business Excellence make a Powerful Combination. MEMBER INTERVIEW With Owen Johnstone, an Investigator with the NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations. Philippines 1.66 Brazil 6.39 $ Italy Global Manufacturing Labour Costs 22.38 France 24.86 UK 24.98 Austria 25.58 US 27.53 Netherlands 27.73 Belgium 28.34 Canada 28.60 Sweden 29.25 Finland 29.52 Germany 30.46 Ireland 31.03 33.70 Australia 40.48 Switzerland Denmark 41.03 0 EVOLVING FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST Highlighting the Benefits of Problem Solving with a Generalist Mindset. 4WD GVM UPGRADES Assessing the Potential Risks Associated with GVM Upgrades. 10 20 30 40 AU$, 2014 PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION FINAL REPORT Note: Direct pay for time worked is wages and salaries for time actually worked. Source: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2011. Final Report Released. An Assessment on its Effect on the Industry. VTE is the official magazine of the SAE-A REPRESENTING PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY ENGINEERS SINCE 1927 DRONE REGULATIONS FLY UNDER THE RADAR Where UAVs fit Within Civil Aviation Regulations for Recreational and Commercial use. BE PART OF THE WINNING FORMULA. BECOME A VOLUNTEER. 11 – 14 DECEMBER 2014 CALDER PARK RACEWAY CALDER FWY, CALDER PARK, VICTORIA Formula SAE-Australasia is the region’s premier design, construction and on track performance competition for engineering students. Linked to the international SAE Formula program, this event attracts entries from all major Australian and key international universities. CALLING VOLUNTEERS FOR FRIDAY, SATURDAY OR SUNDAY To learn more visit: www.saea.com.au/formula-sae-a Be part of this exciting event as a volunteer official. Complete the volunteer form here: www.saea.com.au/formula-sae-a/volunteer-at-fsae-a Volunteering offers you an opportunity to see new ideas and technologies at work and to share the experience of the 500+ passionate, innovative students - all with their eye on the prize. For more information contact Paul Muscat: EM: formulasae@sae-a.com PH: (03) 9676 9568 Formula volunteers receive: • Polo shirt • Sun hat • Gourmet lunch each day • Commemorative 2014 Formula SAE-A program By volunteering you are helping students advance their careers into the Australian engineering community. YOUNG ENGINEERS CONTENTS CONTENTS TRANSPORT EMISSIONS SIMULATION EVOLVING FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST $ 23 17 6 MEMBER INTERVIEW 30 6 IND. NEWS WHERE TO NOW FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN? 34 34 EVENTS & TRAINING Vehicle Technology Engineer Workshop�� 8 Volvo Technical Innovations Evening�� 9 Formula SAE-A �� 11 Engineering Consultants�� 12 INDUSTRY NEWS Salt Water Powered Supercar�� 15 15 4WD GVM UPGRADES FROM THE SAE From the President�� 2 From the Executive Director�� 3 SAE-A Industry Programs Working Group�� 3 SAE-A Software and IT Update�� 4 Member Interview with Owen Johnstone�� 6 New Members�� 7 TRANSPORT EMISSIONS SIMULATION The Development of an Australian Simulation Tool for Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Consumption �� 16 EVOLVING FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST Highlighting the Benefits of Problem Solving with a Generalist Mindset�� 22 TECHNICAL Drone Regulations Fly Under the Radar�� 26 4WD GVM Upgrades�� 29 Small Overlap Frontal Crash Test�� 32 AUTOCRC INDUSTRY PARTNERS FAPM�� 34 HWL Ebsworth Lawyers�� 36 AutoCRC�� 38 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER PH: (03) 9676 9568 FX: (03) 9646 7793 EM: info@sae-a.com.au WEB: www.saea.com.au ABN 95 004 248 604 ISSN 00360651 Published by: Society of Automotive Engineers - Australasia Unit 30, 3 Westside Ave, Port Melbourne, VIC, 3207 Editor Gavin Kroon editor@sae-a.com.au Business Enquiries SAE-A Executive Director Natalie Roberts executive@sae-a.com.au Subscription & SAE-A Membership Enquiries Rose De Amicis rose@sae-a.com.au President Adrian Feeney president@sae-a.com.au VTE INDUSTRY PARTNERS AND SPONSORS AutoCRC Enquiries PH: (03) 9948 0450 FX: (03) 9948 0499 EM: enquiries@autocrc.com www.autocrc.com FAPM Enquiries PH: (03) 9863 2400 FX: (03) 9820 0164 EM: info@fapm.com.au www.fapm.com.au The editor, publisher, printer, the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A) and their employees, directors, servants, agents and associated or related entities (Publishing Entities) are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text, pictures or other material comprising the contributions and advertisements contained in this publication or for the consequences of any use made of the products, services and other information referred to in this publication. The Publishing Entities expressly disclaim all liability of whatsoever nature for any consequences arising from the use or reliance on material contained in this publication whether caused to a reader of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publishing Entities. The responsibility for the accuracy or correctness of information and other material is that of the individual contributors and the Publishing Entities do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or correctness of information or other material supplied by others. To the extent permissible by law, the Publishing Entities exclude all liability pursuant to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) or other applicable laws arising from statute or common law. Readers should make their own inquiries prior to the use of, or reliance on, any information or other material contained in this publication, and where necessary seek professional advice. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without the written permission of SAE-A is strictly prohibited. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 1 7TH: WA. Volvo Truck, Facility Tour FROM THE SAE-A 7 6 9 23 14 22 23 24 25 26 27 UPCOMING EVENTS 28 29 30 31 23RD: VIC. Denso, Facility Tour 29TH: Mobility Engineering Excellence Awards OCTOBER Truck, Facility Tour 7TH: WA. Volvo JANUARY 7 September is already upon us and it has been one of the busiest years for a long time at SAE-A. I won’t recap on all the events that have been co-ordinated by our National Office in 2014, instead I want to focus on what is happening between now and the end of the year. For me, the two most important and perhaps defining events for SAE-A are the annual Excellence Awards and Formula SAE-A. The Excellence Awards is an opportunity for all to celebrate the success and ingenuity of our peers and to offer them a forum to publicise their achievements. This year, in line with our stated aim to reach out to all forms of mobility, not just automotive, the Awards will feature submissions from the non-automotive sectors. To this end I encourage any company or organisation who feels that they may have a suitable project worthy of consideration to contact Paul Muscat at the Head Office to discuss their submission. I also encourage all members (and non-members of course) to join us on the evening, you will enjoy yourselves and perhaps will see the benefit of a submission in future years. Formula SAE-A is also fast approaching and with the event moving to its new home at Calder Park, this year will be bigger, better and more comfortable for both participants and spectators alike. If you have never been to this event, please come along and see the results of the student’s year of hard work and creativity as they develop their organisational and engineering skills in a real world environment. Don’t just come and watch however, why not get involved as a volunteer? We have roles for all levels of skill and we will ensure you are appropriately trained and assisted in whatever task we allocate to you. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER 11 12 13 15TH: Ford, Proving Ground Tour 29 Adrian Feeney 2 15 9TH: VIC. Bombardier, Facility Tour FROM THE PRESIDENT SAE is a member based organisation, so why not become more involved? 6TH: Vehicle Technology Engineer Workshop #2 9 1 2 4 5 6 2014 NOVEMBER 2015 23 22ND Dec - 6TH Jan: SAE-A Close of National Office DECEMBER Technology Engineer 6TH: Vehicle FEBRUARY Workshop #2 3 9TH: VIC. Bombardier, Facility Tour 11TH - 14TH: Formula SAE-A 5 15 5TH: Vehicle Technology Engineer TH Workshop #3 15 : Ford, Proving Ground Tour 29 APRIL JANUARY 1 4 5 2 11 12 13 14 10 11 12 13 14 15 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 10TH - 15TH: Australian Automotive Formula SAE-A 11TH - 14TH: Week 23RD: VIC. Denso, Facility Tour 29TH: Mobility Engineering Excellence Awards 22ND Dec - 6TH Jan: SAE-A Close of National Office MARCH 6 22ND Dec - 6TH Jan: - APACClose 18 SAE-A of National Office - Cars of Tomorrow - Formula SAE-A @ the GP 2015 MAY FEBRUARY 3 6 YE: Design To Win 5 1 ST 1 5TH:: SAE-A VehicleAGM Technology Engineer Workshop #3 JUNE MARCH Technical Accident Investigation 10 &11 12 13 Reconstruction Course 14 15 10TH - 15TH: Australian Automotive Week - APAC 18 - Cars of Tomorrow - Formula SAE-A @ the GP 22ND Dec - 6TH Jan: SAE-A Close of National Office KEY: APRIL National Event Division Event YE: Design To Win Upcoming Events MAY JUNE Event dates yet to be finalised 1 Vehicle Technology Engineer (VTE) Magazine Technical Accident 1ST: SAE-A AGM Investigation & Reconstruction Course Mobility Engineering Excellence Awards Date: October 29th, 2014 Time: 6.30pm -11.00pm Venue: Leonda by the Yarra, 2 Wallen Rd, Hawthorn, Vic Contact: info@sae-a.com.au Register: www.stickytickets.com.au/sae-a KEY: National Event Event dates yet to be finalised Division Event Vehicle Technology Engineer (VTE) Magazine Vehicle Technology Engineer Workshop #2 Date: November 6th, 2014 Time: 8.00am - 6.00pm Venue: Swinburne University, Hawthorn Campus Contact: info@sae-a.com.au Register: www.stickytickets.com.au/sae-a VIC: Ford Proving Ground Tour Date: November 15th, 2014 Time: 9.00am -2.30pm Venue: Ford You Yangs Proving Ground Transport Leaving From: cnr Salmon St. And Bayside Ave, Port Melbourne Contact: info@sae-a.com.au Register: www.stickytickets.com.au/sae-a Division Contacts Division Coordinator: Rose De Amicis info@sae-a.com.au Victoria: Doug Monaghan vic@sae-a.com.au Queensland: Lachlan Tomlin qld@sae-a.com.au Young Engineers: Gavin Kroon youngengineers@sae-a.com.au Contact Rose De Amicis on (03) 9676 9568 to become involved in your division. AUSTRALASIA October 2014 FROM THE SAE-A FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Natalie Roberts Time flies when you’re having fun [or is it when you are busy]. In August, I hit my first milestone date at SAE-A, being 12 months since I started. During this time, substantial changes have occurred within the organisation and the industry. In this issue of the VTE-M, [M for magazine], you can read about what SAE-A is doing via the Industry Programs Working Group [IPWG] to assist automotive professionals as they transition. The SAE-A’s focus is on the needs of the engineering professional at the individual level. The aim of the IPWG is to place engineers into roles that add value to the employer and where the automotive professional can utilise their skills, knowledge and experience. This will be done by identifying and communicating opportunities. Contact me if you would like to volunteer your time to assist in this program. The work of the IPWG will be fundamental to empowering engineers and professionals to make their next career decision and will add long term benefits to Australian industry through the retention of a highly skilled workforce. In other news... SAE-A is revamping our entire IT, web and membership systems and has adopted cutting edge technologies to bring technical events and training direct to interstate and overseas members via live webinars. We have been able to implement these systems due to an increase in our member base and revenue from training and events. This increase in income, combined with the remarkable generosity of a $10,000 donation from one of our members [who has requested anonymity], has enabled us to invest monies back into the organisation. To our kind benefactor: Thank-you for contributing so generously to improve our Society for the benefit of all our members. INDUSTRY PROGRAMS WORKING GROUP AUSTRALIAN AUTOMOTIVE TALENT: A NEW ERA. Martha Oplopiadis - Industry Programs & Allied Societies Chair, SAE-A With the announcements that Ford, Holden and Toyota will wind up their automotive manufacturing activities in Australia by 2017, the future looks very uncertain – and potentially bleak – for thousands of automotive industry employees. Job losses at all major employers have already commenced. Development projects are coming to an end, and many design, development and validation engineers are actively seeking work, or trying to figure out what the next phase of their career will look like. benefit to people currently, or soon to be, out of work. The review is a good start, but it needs to be followed up with a program that provides action, focussing on connecting automotive talent with employers in complementary industries. The SAE-A represents automotive industry members and has created a new committee, the Industry “To place engineers into roles that add value to the employer and where the automotive professional can utilise their skills, knowledge and experience.” The final report from the Productivity Commission, released in August 2014 estimates job losses of up to 40,000 across the industry. Currently, a number of overseas companies are taking advantage of the closing of Australia’s automotive industry, and are actively recruiting in Australia. Attractive packages are available for relocation – and there are an enormous number of jobs available in the USA and Europe. Whilst these opportunities are of great benefit to the individual engineers whose personal situations enable them to take advantage of such offers, a mass exodus of highly trained, highly skilled individuals is a great loss to the nation as a whole. The Government recently conducted an economic review to identify growth sectors and industries that could benefit from the skills of Australia’s automotive professionals, so that automotive engineers could target these industries when seeking employment opportunities. Sadly, such reports provide little tangible Programs Working Group, to assist in addressing these issues. The work of the IPWG will be fundamental to empowering engineers and professionals to make their next career decisions and will add long term benefits to Australian industry through the retention of a highly skilled workforce. The committee is chaired by Martha Oplopiadis, Engineering Manager at GM Holden and SAE-A board member, and has the following remit: • • To place engineers into roles that add value to the employer and where the automotive professional can utilise their skills, knowledge and experience. To retain the skills and knowledge of Automotive Professionals VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 3 FROM THE SAE-A • • • in Australia through a program that identifies relevant employment opportunities and connects professionals with potential new employers. Be the conduit connecting engineering talent with new growth industries. Develop strategies to educate potential employers as to how engineers can benefit their organisations. Promote engineering talent and the value that engineers add to small and multinational business, particularly through their highly developed skills in problem solving, risk management, attention to detail, and analysis. The Industry Programs Working Group, deeply aware that time is running short for many people, is working with urgency on these issues. Preliminary discussions with numerous industry groups have been held, and an initial pool of industry bodies interested in automotive engineering talent has been identified. In early October 2014, the committee will be running its first workshop to gather data from potential industry groups. Understanding the gaps in their employee skill-sets, and how automotive talent could assist them in achieving their company strategies will be the objective of this workshop. Following the workshop, that data will be analysed to allow skills-mapping to be undertaken, to assist in identifying overlaps. SAE-A SOFTWARE AND IT UPDATE Natalie Roberts - Executive Director, SAE-A SAE-A is in the process of implementing a range of new systems to improve member experience and increase the engagement of members in activities, including: conferences, technical seminars, our new Vehicle Technology Engineer Workshops and training events. renewal and will incorporate a range of new features: • • • • In moving to the new systems, we will be increasing the efficiency of the national office, which will mean our new-found time can be used to develop and offer even more services to our member base! • The new website and membership software will be supported by a fully upgraded IT infrastructure in the national office that will offer a more stable platform and provide staff remote access to files and email for when they are on the road. So, What’s changing? IT: Website, membership software and IT infrastructure. We are creating a new website that will be your membership portal and community engagement hub – allowing you to take control of your membership details and become more involved with your Society from the one location. The new website and systems will be online prior to the 2015 membership Online Access to Events. SAE-A has invested in a range of products that enable live and pre-recorded webinars to be broadcast to members and non-members – in fact, we are able to broadcast our events NEW IT EQUIPMENT MEMBER PORTAL OFFICE SERVER MEMBER DATABASE If you would like to become involved and contribute to the research and communication efforts of the IPWG, contact the national office for details. SAE-A WEBSITE ADMIN EXECUTIVE Member Login & Profile Control Events & Training News & Industry Updates CONTACT Member Payments & Shop Martha Oplopiadis Industry Programs & Allied Societies Chair, SAE-A PH: (03) 9676 9568 EM: info@sae-a.com.au WEB: www.saea.com.au 4 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER Member login to update personal details and make membership renewal payments directly online. Event registration. Training registration. News blogs from the international mobility community through RSS feeds. Shop online for books and SAE-A branded memorabilia such as the new SAE-A coffee mug. EVENTS & TRAINING FINANCE NEW MEMBER SOFTWARE Email Newsletter Service Event & Training Registration AUSTRALASIA October 2014 Automated Processes Cloud Member Database FROM THE SAE-A live to 250 attendees concurrently! The November VTE workshop will be the first to take advantage of our new technology, you can register online here to attend this event: www.stickytickets.com/sae-a Being able to remotely access events will make it much easier for our interstate and international members to become directly involved. During live sessions, there is the ability for the on-line participants to engage with presenters via instant messaging and voice. The changes that are underway will set the foundations for the continued growth of our organisation for the coming years. So many new systems. How has this been possible? Despite the downturn in the automotive engineering industry, SAE-A has experienced substantial growth in 2014 through the introduction of new services, such as our professional development courses and our expansion across all mobility sectors including aerospace, heavy commercial vehicles, caravans & campervans and the offroad industry. As mentioned in my From The Executive Director column [pg 3], the increase in income from Meet Paul Muscat Meet Paul Muscat, our new Event and Training Co-ordinator. Paul has more than 17 years experience as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer from the commercial aviation heavy maintenance sector, specialising in composites and structures. Paul has brought to the role substantial knowledge, enthusiasm, leadership and project management skills. The SAE-A works to serve the needs of its members and to promote the relevance of mobility related technologies to governments, industry and the community. Paul joins the SAE-A with the vision to advance the mobility engineering industry in Australasia through professional engineering-related training and events; promoting the transfer of technical knowledge and skills, encouraging research and development, and involving industry and members in the maintenance and development of Australasian and global technical standards. For more information on SAE-A’s technical training and events, contact Paul: PaulMuscat@sae-a.com.au these streams, combined with the remarkable generosity of a $10,000 donation from one of our members, has enabled us to invest monies back into the organisation. “SAE-A has experienced substantial growth in 2014 through the introduction of new services ... and our expansion across all mobility sectors” The generosity and commitment of people in our industry and their dedication to making a positive contribution to our professional community by way of their time or money continues to inspire me. SAE-A Mugs For Sale In a recent E-Newsletter, the SAE-A proposed a mini-competition to supply a quote to feature on the side of a corporate labelled coffee mug; a mug used primarily as a gift for event organisers and presenters. SAE-A would like to thank all participating members for the fantastic quotes submitted. After a thorough discussion and rigorous selection process the winning quote has been chosen. The winning phrase; “A mug-full of mobility engineering excellence”, is a light-hearted way to remind the holders of the mug about the Society’s purpose and direction. The mugs are now available for purchase at $10 + postage. Contact Rose De Amicis on (03) 9676 9568 to order. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 5 FROM THE SAE-A Quick Facts: MEMBER INTERVIEW Owen Johnstone - BE (Hons), MBA About Owen Johnstone: Owen’s interest in all things mechanical was sparked in his early teens, in the small Hunter Valley town of Aberdeen. At the age of 15 he inherited the family’s well-worn 1938 Austin Big Seven utility (body by Holden) which he proceeded to rebuild. Staying true to the Austin connection, Owen joined the British Motor Corporation as an engineering trainee in 1964. Soon after graduation, Owen moved to BMC’s Vehicle Proving Department as Instrumentation Engineer, designing and building test instrumentation, and testing vehicles to the newly-introduced Australian Design Rules. This started a career-long passion for vehicle safety and efficiency, and within a few years he was involved in on-scene crash investigations for the NSW Traffic Accident Research Unit. Owen has had significant roles in the NSW Department of Motor Transport, the NRMA, and now as an investigator with the NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations. He has represented industry, government and consumers on a wide range of government, industry and Australian Standards committees, chaired the NSW Division of SAE-A, and served a term as an SAE-A Director. Owen is an enthusiastic supporter and advocate of Formula SAE-A, rarely missing the opportunity to assist as a volunteer at each year’s event. What is the most memorable place you’ve worked at? The NSW Traffic Accident Research Unit, where I had the opportunity to work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team conducting on-scene crash investigations. We worked in teams comprising of a Mechanical Engineer, a Traffic Engineer and a Behavioural Scientist, with the support of a Research Medical Officer. We were notified as soon as an ambulance was called, and generally arrived on-scene within minutes of emergency services so we were trained to give assistance where needed. Being able to collect fresh evidence and interview witnesses within minutes of the incident made the investigation process very efficient and the use of a multi-disciplinary team provided a valuable range of expertise. 6 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER What has been the most rewarding part of your career? As chair of a Standards Committee, to bring together the disparate and often divergent interests of industry, aftermarket and academic representatives and achieve agreement on a standard for windscreen repairs. Family: Wife of 45 years, two sons, one daughter, two daughters-in-law, two grandchildren. Currently Reading: ‘Archaeology of the Dreamtime’ by Josephine Flood. ‘Human Evolution’ by Robin Dunbar. Favourite Motto: A n i nvestment i n knowledge pays the best interest Benjamin Franklin Favourite Sporting Team: The Waratahs, until the last Bledisloe Cup game. Perhaps now the Sydney Swans. Tea or Coffee? A well-brewed flat white or Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea. memory and a cassette tape drive to digitise vehicle locations by vehicle type and postcode throughout NSW, and determine where inspection facilities should be located to most efficiently serve the community. Who has been your most inspirational figure through your working life? Sir Alec Issigonis, whose creative design of the Mini pioneered modern front wheel drive and efficient space utilization. What was one of the greatest projects you have undertaken? A three-year federally funded project on vehicle inspection technology. We covered everything from inspection equipment through inspection facility design and layout, to the strategic location of inspection facilities throughout NSW. Back in 1978, before the advent of desktop PCs, we were able to use a programmable calculator with 4kb of AUSTRALASIA October 2014 Sir Alec Issingonis, remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini. FROM THE SAE-A Which book do you feel is a ‘must have’ for all engineers? ‘Unsafe At Any Speed’ by Ralph Nader. In 1965 Nader wrote “A great problem of contemporary life is how to control the power of economic interests which ignore the harmful effects of their applied science and technology.” Unfortunately this problem remains today. What should get taught more in university? There needs to be a greater emphasis on the application of engineering knowledge in the real world. Too many academics spend too little time in the world of industry and commerce, and students are finding it increasingly difficult to gain appropriate industrial experience in their student years. This is one area where Formula SAE-A has played an important role. What are some of your hobbies or pastimes? Reading (almost anything), repairing labour-saving appliances, and enjoying the bushland and wildlife behind our house. The many others on my list will have to wait for my retirement. Tell us about the best car you’ve ever owned or driven. The best car for me is the one that best serves my needs at the time. In recent years it was probably my 2003 Peugeot HDi Wagon, because of its combination of safety and convenience features, excellent fuel efficiency, effortless highway cruising and Tardis-like interior. CONTACT Owen’s ‘well worn’ 1938 Austin Big Seven utility, inherited at age 15. Owen Johnstone NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations PH: 0400 440 386 EM: owen.johnstone@bigpond.com WEB: otsi.nsw.gov.au NEW MEMBERS The SAE-A welcomes the following individuals to the Society. Fellow: Jon Edsell Member: Ross Deves Sarah Roberts Associate Member: Cameron Palmer Craig Richards Associate Member-T: Adam Elbouch Daniel Marshall Student Member: Jamie Allender Osman Allouch Elliott Altmann Terrill Anthony George Athanasakos Henry Beevor Ryan Belworthy Jordan Benton Jason Biviano Gage Boon Luke Brand Simon Brown James Bryant Lyulph Car Nathan Cassar Joshua Chadwick Julian Cook George Cottew Thomas Cotton Andrew Crutch Eugene Cullity Kooper de Lacy Daniel de Mel Douglas de Souza Brenton Deane Emily Dinsdale Christopher Dobell Robert Dyck Kushan Elabadage Emmanuel Fazio Adam Fin Adam Flower Hayden Freeth Jason Fu Gurpreet Garcha MatthewGay Benjamin Geayley Sukhminder Ghataura Isaac Grigor Phillip Hamilton Jack Han Lawrence Han Alex Harris Hannah Harrison Harrison Hart Daniel Haysom Jing Liu Michael Healy Thomas Hegarty Oliver Herbst Mizuno Hiroshi Tonoharu Hosaka Thomas Hotchkin Zein Jaber Lloyd Jeffrey Jeremiah Jez Yamaguchi Junpei Asanka Kekulawala James Kendall Daniel Kent Jason Kumar Andy Lam Donald Lam Alexander Lam Anna Le Huynh Samara Love Angus Malcolm Benjamin Martin Sam Martinella Laearna Maxfield Stuart McAdam Bradley McCarthy Luke McClelland Liam McPhan Harold Mighell Brook Mitchell Alexis Molinaro Samuel Mulkearns Yan Mei Ng Christopher Nguyen Edward Palmer Steven Parker Josh Parkin Joel Patniotis Huy Phan Craig Piggott Daniel Pugh Ben Richards Nattawin Ruckwatin Elizabeth Russell Steven Ryan Hitender Saini VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER Peter Sefont Sam Snowdon Nicola Staltari Josh Stephens Jarrod Stilp Dominic Stulen Kato Takeshi Ashneel Thakur Peter Thang Rhiannon Tibbey-Tiedeman Marukawa Tsubasa Nathaniel Van Vugt William Wallace Yiduo Wang Jack Ward Adam Waterhouse Hamish Waters Toby White Peter Whitley Edward Williams Jamie Wilson Sudeera Withanage Jade Yeung Nishio Yushi James Zeitz Tawanda Zhungu AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 7 EVENTS & TRAINING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER WORKSHOP A REVIEW OF THE FIRST VTE WORKSHOP EXPLORING ENGINES AND FUELS. Dr Kai Morganti - Director, SAE-A T h e o p e n i n g S A E - A Ve h i c l e Te c h n o l o g y E n g i n e e r ( V T E ) Workshop was held recently at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. The workshop attracted a large number of delegates from a diverse range of backgrounds, including the OEMs, academia, policymakers, transport and industrial consultants, along with the automotive aftermarket and refining “The workshop attracted a large number of delegates from a diverse range of backgrounds ... allowing participants to engage with other experts from across the wider fields of mobility” industries. This diversity contributed to several very interesting and topical panel discussion sessions, whilst also allowing participants to engage with other experts from across the wider fields of mobility. The workshop commenced with Natalie Roberts reviewing the current and future utilisation of energy within the transport sector, together with the likely drivers of change in the coming decades. Garry Whitfield, from BP 8 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER Australia, then provided a unique insight into the operations within a modern oil refinery. Garry addressed not only the production and properties of conventional transport fuels, but also several areas not well understood outside of the oil & energy industry. Examples of these included the techniques used to balance a refinery with market demand, quality control and in-service vehicle operability considerations relating to gasoline, diesel and LPG fuel production. engine downsizing and reducing CO 2 emissions – without compromising outright performance or driver satisfaction. Matt Turner (Robert Bosch Australia) then spoke about one of the key enablers of these downsized/turbocharged engines – Gasoline direct injection (GDi). This was followed by Cameron Anderson’s (Toyota Motor Corporation) presentation on Toyota’s unique implementation of GDi technology in conjunction with a PFI system in the 86 GT vehicle. This included an interactive display featuring the Toyota 86 GT vehicle and its FA20 boxer engine – both of which were co-developed with Subaru. In the penultimate presentation, Thomas Rogers (RMIT University) examined natural gas jets using high-speed imaging techniques. This presentation revealed several critical phenomena that could ultimately influence the suitability of this This highly interesting presentation was complemented by Phil Fleming’s (AS Harrison & Co.) review of fuel additives. Phil explained the different types of gasoline and diesel additives, and how these relate to engine performance, fuel transport and storage, and climatic factors. Kai Morganti then discussed the all-important octane number property. This included an overview of both the test method and how this property relates to the practical anti-knock quality of fuels in modern engines. Rob Sharples and Jamie Slaymaker (Ford Motor Company) discussed Ford’s new generation of EcoBoost engines. This comprehensive presentation revealed how turbocharging can be used to extend the engine’s efficient operating range well beyond that of a naturally aspirated engine. This a key enabler of AUSTRALASIA October 2014 TOP: Garry Whitfield of BP Australia addressing the effect of varying cetane fuels on engine combustion characteristics. BOTTOM: Toyota’s display of their 86 GT and its FA20 Boxer engine. EVENTS & TRAINING fuel in some reciprocating engine applications. The workshop then closed with Kai Morganti providing an overview of several promising combustion modes and engine technologies that Kai Morganti presenting on the octane number property and later, combustion and engine technologies. could become widespread in the coming decades. This presentation focused on the likely implications of these technologies on vehicle fuel consumption, exhaust after-treatment requirements and fuel formulations. With the first workshop now complete, our attention shifts towards the next VTE Workshop. The second workshop addresses fuel quality standards, engine lubricants, diesel engine combustion imaging, hybrid vehicles and exhaust after-treatment systems. This event will take place on Thursday 6th November, again at Swinburne University of Technology. A full program will be made available shortly. The SAE-A would like to thank each of our presenters and participants from the workshop, together with our very knowledgeable event chair, Professor Harry Watson. We would also like to thank our event supporters, Robert Bosch Australia and Swinburne University of Technology, particularly Dr. Ambarish Kulkarni and his staff. CONTACT Dr Kai Morganti Director, SAE-A EM: kai.j.morganti@gmail.com VOLVO TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS EVENING Tim Car - SAE-A Senior Vice President On the 17th of July the SAE-A held an event to showcase the safety and technology features found on the new Volvo FH prime mover now available in Australia. The event was held at the CMV Truck and Bus Technical Training Centre which was first opened in 2003 to fast track CMV technicians through their apprenticeship focusing on Volvo Truck product. Scott Simpson (Product Manager for Volvo Trucks) and Paul Munro (Product Trainer for Volvo Trucks) were on hand to deliver the safety and technology presentations, as well as demonstrate features on the Volvo FH16 700 prime mover on display. The new Volvo FH and FH16 has been re-designed from the ground up carrying over only the engine, transmission and rear axles from the previous FH (Classic) model truck. New cabin, electronics, suspension and driver support systems have set a new benchmark in the trucking industry. Safety features such as Adaptive Cruise Control with Emergency Braking Support and Stretch Brake (on rigid chassis models), Lane Change Support, Lane Keeping Support, Driver Alert Support, Electronic Stability Program were demonstrated showing Volvo’s commitment to driver safety as well as to other road users. Technology in the form of Volvo’s Telematics Gateway providing features such as I-See that learns the topography of the road and uses this information next time the truck is on the same road to save fuel, Volvo Action Service that automatically downloads truck position and engine fault codes to a service centre at the push of a button on the dash if the truck ever breaks down, Features Online which monitors brake and clutch wear as well as air filter and battery condition to a service centre with the ability to upload new software to the truck remotely, Work Remote which allows the driver to adjust engine idle for PTO use, suspension heights and ancillary equipment from out of the cab, and Dynafleet which monitors key operating parameters and ranks driver performance within a customer’s truck fleet from anywhere in the world, which prompted an extremely interesting Q&A session at the end of the evening. SAE-A would especially like to thank Volvo Group Australia and CMV Truck & Bus for presenting and hosting the evening. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 9 EVENTS & TRAINING Discover the very latest in automotive parts, accessories, tools and equipment 16-18 APRIL 2015 MELBOURNE EXHIBITION CENTRE FREE TRADE REGISTRATION! aftermarketexpo.com.au An initiative of Major Sponsor Co-located with The Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia requests the pleasure of your company at the JOIN US TO CELEBRATE SUCCESS • Professional Engineering Award • Young Engineer Award • Student Project Award – Undergraduate • Student Project Award – Postgraduate Date: 29 October 2014 Pre Dinner Refreshments at 6.30pm | Dinner at 7.00pm Leonda by the Yarra | 2 Wallen Road Hawthorn Victoria Black Tie | RSVP 14 October 2014 | Enquiries 03 6234 7844 Book your tickets online at www.saea.com.au 10 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA October 2014 EVENTS & TRAINING FORMULA SAE-A 2014 FORMULA SAE-A TEAM LIST THE DECEMBER COMPETITION DRAWS CLOSER. TEAMS ARE LOCKED IN AND READY TO GO. E17 Swinburne University of Technology VIC Paul Muscat - Events and Training, SAE-A E20 University of Western Australia WA E46 Queensland University of Technology QLD E88 RMIT University VIC 3 The University of Newcastle 7 Edith Cowan University WA 8 University of Adelaide SA 10 University of Wollongong NSW 11 Sophia University Japan 12 RMIT University VIC 13 University of Canterbury NZ 14 Curtin University WA 19 Dankook University Sth Korea 21 Tokyo Denki University Japan 22 The University of Sydney NSW 23 Tokai University Japan 24 Chandigarh Engineering College India 25 The University of Waikato 34 James Cook University QLD 41 University of Queensland QLD 44 University of Tasmania TAS 47 University of Auckland NZ 63 University of New South Wales Impact attenuator data requirements 66 Monash University Design report, specification sheet & video 84 Warsaw University of Technology 101 The University of Melbourne The clock is ticking; it’s now less than three months to go before the 2014 Formula SAE-A competition kicks off. We are seeing teams launch their vehicles, display them at University open days and on social media for supporters and competitors to admire. Check out University of Canterbury‘s ‘wee teaser’, making a statement under its moon light debut. Some teams have already been competing - however, not on the track, but in the name of fun and charity carrying out team ALS ice bucket challenges. We encourage teams to post their updates on the Formula SAE-A Facebook site. Formula SAE-Australasia Formula provides a great community, 11 – 14 December allowing friendships & networking 2014 opportunities locally & internationally. Calder Park Raceway Melbourne Down at the business Victoria end: Formula CA LD ER FR EE W CA LD ER CFA RLE DEEW RA F YR E AY EW AY SAE-A project co-ordinators had a site visit of Calder Park Raceway on Tuesday 2nd September 2014. We looked at all aspects of the facility including, but not limited to, team parking, pit bay access, catering, amenities, electrical safety, event placement and spectator viewing. We are pleased to announce that every team will have a dedicated underWELDING cover bay with power and lighting. Pit lane is spacious allowing efficient movement of teams and vehicles. BOSCH WORKSHOP Under team news: University of Technology Sydney will not be attending this year’s competition, however, research and development is underway with an all new UTSM15 E E TIC TIC Electric Vehicle ACto be AC ready for next PR $ PR year. We have now putTILT out our call for volunteers for Friday 12th, Saturday FSAEA 13th or PADDOCK Sunday 14th December 2014. SCRUTINEERING More details, including benefits of involvement and requirements are available on the SAE-A website. TH OM PS ON SR OA D NOT TO SCALE CA LD ER FR EE W AY UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES E TIC AC PR ALL VEHICLES 12/09/14 26/09/14 Structural equivalency form SES 17/10/14 Cost report - digital copy 24/10/14 Cost report - hard copy ELECTRIC VEHICLES Electrical systems officer & advisor form 26/08/14 ESF & FMEA - hard copy NOT TO SCALE PARKING ESF & FMEA - digital copy ADMINISTRATION FIRST AID NSW NZ NSW VIC Poland VIC CONTACT Paul Muscat Events and Training, SAE-A EM: PaulMuscat@sae-a.com.au PH: (03) 9676 9568 WEB: www.sae-a.com.au VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 11 EVENTS & TRAINING YOUNG ENGINEERS: BAE SYSTEMS FACILITY TOUR Gavin Kroon - Young Engineers Chair, SAE-A construction of two Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Dock ships, that will enable the Australian Defence Force to combine sea, air and ground forces for humanitarian aid, policing On the 8th of July, BAE Systems, an aerospace, maritime and defence company, welcomed the SAE-A Young Engineers Division to their Williamstown production facility. After receiving an overview on the current projects at BAE, the 15 young engineers enjoyed a tour of the impressive ship-building production facility led by Engineering Manager James Hall, and graduate engineers Dean Wright, Andrew McAuley and Michael Blake. operations, special recovery operations and conflicts. The event finished with a Q&A session on engineering opportunities and career advice, with the young engineers receiving some great feedback and tips from the BAE team. The YE team will continue to deliver high quality and interesting events for young engineering professionals and students, helping them in their careers and opening their eyes to the opportunities around them. BAE showed off one of their major engineering projects; the International Management Systems P/L trading as ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS NSW NSW Ali Akbarian Ian Carpenter Stuart Larkham Mobility Engineering Kreative Enterprises P/L Phone: (02) 9482 4572 Email: ali@mobilityengineering.com.au Address: Asquith, New South Wales Web: www.mobilityengineering.com Phone: (02) 4577 3633 Email: kreativeent@bigpond.com Address: Windsor, New South Wales Web: www.kreativeengineering.com.au Signatory Automotive Engineering Customer Focus: Commercial Customer Focus: Private and Commercial Specialisation: LV, HV, MC, ICV, Imports, SR1, SR2 Specialisation: LV, ICV, Imports NSW International Management Systems P/L trading as VIC NSW Phone: (02) 6761 3636 Email: stuart@signatory.com.au Address: Tamworth, New South Wales Web: www.importcars4u.com.au Customer Focus: Private and Commercial Specialisation: LV, HV, MC, ICV, Imports VIC Talk Torque Automotive Vaughan Larkham Rowan Carter William Malkoutzis Signatory Automotive Engineering Cartech Talk-Torque Automotive Phone: 0419 313 113 Email: info@cartech.com.au Address: Richmond & Hawthorn, Victoria Web:www.cartech.com.au Phone: 0409 439 315 Email: talktorq@bigpond.net.au Address: Eltham North, Victoria Phone: (02) 6761 3636 Email: vaughan@signatory.com.au Address: Tamworth, New South Wales Web: www.importcars4u.com.au Customer Focus: Private and Commercial Customer Focus: Private and Commercial Specialisation: LV, HV, MC, ICV, Imports, SR1, SR2, Expert Witness, Legal Reports, Accident Investigation Specialisation: LV, HV, MC, ICV, Imports KEY: LV - Light Vehicles with GVM up to 4.5 tonnes ICV - Individually Constructed Vehicles Customer Focus: Private and Commercial Specialisation: LV, ICV, Imports, SR1, Expert Witness/ Consultant HV - Heavy Vehicle with GVM over 4.5 tonnes MC - Motorcycles Imports - Imported Vehicles SR1 & SR2 - Street rod inspection certificate applicable to the Street Rod Club Permit Scheme (CPS) only Interested in advertising your Engineering Signatory or Expert Witness business? Contact the SAE-A for more information. Info@sae-a.com.au 12 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA October 2014 Crown Promenade Hotel, Melbourne Australia meeting regional challenges with global technology six reasons to attend this event conference themes 1 Future Transportation: Technology and Policy • Gaseous and alcohol fuels 2 Plenary and technical sessions from key international experts, including gaseous fuels research • Noise, vibration and harshness 3 See future F1 hybrid technology that will be adopted in future road cars • CO2 reduction and improved air quality 4 APAC will take place during Automotive Week, culminating in the first Formula One Grand Prix of the season 5 Meet at the Supplier Showcase on 11 and 12 March 2015 6 International and Australian Full Registrations includes a ticket to The Cars of Tomorrow Conference Thursday 12 March 2015 • Formula 1: Improving the breed for passenger cars • Regional variants in global platforms • Light-weighting and mass-production • Meeting regional needs in communication & information • Building the engineers of the future • Experiment or simulate for vehicle development? • Future Transportation: Technology and Policy. APAC18 provides an opportunity to extend your global network and make new introductions for future business and technical development To sign up for more information, visit www.apac18.com.au For further information contact: This event is being hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia Conference Managers Leishman Associates E: paula@leishman-associates.com.au T: 61 3 6234 7844 E: info@sae-a.com.au W: sae-a.com.au T: 61 3 9676 9568 INDUSTRY NEWS Defence Aerospace Updates: Australian C-17 and KC-30 Fleet increases & First Australian F-35 off production line. Australian Defence Minister, Senator David Johnson, has hinted towards a possible increase in Airbus KC-30/A330 and Boeing C-17 numbers. The Airbus multi-role tanker transport and Boeing’s strategic transport aircraft have a total flight range that Johnson says “allows us to go Airbus KC-30 anywhere in our region and far and away beyond that”. The two aircraft have had great success in performing nonstop training missions across both Australia and North America. Several different training missions across the Pacific from Darwin to Dallas-Fort Worth have been completed. The announcement has been made Boeing C-17 despite some questions about KC-30’s aerial refuelling ability and small software issues. Already, these aircraft have been deployed in aid of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 recovery mission in Ukraine due to their substantial endurance. Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo The nation’s most comprehensive exhibition of vehicle repair and servicing equipment, replacement parts, tools and accessories will return to Melbourne in 2015. Industry experts will update business on the latest technologies available and the new trends in workshop management. This industry run exhibition will be held during the 16 th-18 th of April 2015 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Australia’s first F-35A Joint Strike Fighter has F/A 18E rolled off the production line in Fort Worth, Texas. This is first of the Fifth Generation Air Superiority jets to join the current Australian Fleet of F/A 18 Hornet’s. Two RAAF pilots will be travelling to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where they will begin the extensive training required for flying the F-35’s. F-35A MotorWorld Melbourne Pilots of the F-35A will experience an unobstructed 360 degree view around the aircraft from within the cockpit. A variety of sensors and cameras situated in crucial points around the aircraft relay images to the pilot’s helmet, allowing them to see ‘through’ the aircraft and monitor the surrounding airspace. Despite the delays and increased cost of the F-35A, the Australian Government has assured that the increase in stealth capabilities, sensor fusion and other capabilities that make the F-35 the gold standard of tactical aviation, is a worthy investment that will ensure Australia has the air superiority to protect its borders. Aircraft Specifications C-17 KC-30 F-35A F/A-18E/F (in service) Wing Span (m) 51.9 60.3 10.7 13.62 Length Overall (m) 53 58.8 15.67 18.31 Max Payload (t) 77.5 108 6.8 15.4 Range (Nautical Miles / km) 2,420 / 4,482 8,000 / 14,816 1,200 / 2,222 1,800 / 3,334 Cruise Speed (km/h) 830 860 2,222 1,915 Date of Release/First Flight 17/01/1995 1/06/2011 15/12/2006 29/11/1995 Manufacturer Boeing Airbus Military Lockheed Martin McDonnel Douglas 14 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA October 2014 MotorWorld Melbourne is an automotive showcase event hosted by Definitive Events. It is being held for the first time at Sandown Raceway from November 25-29 2015. The event aims to deliver an interactive automotive festival, engaging with buyers across all market segments, from car lovers and enthusiasts to the trade and family. Definitive Events aims to attract over 100,000 visitors over the 5 day event. New release vehicles will be showcased on the Raceway, on both street and dirt courses. Managing Director, of Definitive Events, Rod Lockwood added “MotorWorld Melbourne will showcase the very latest car and motorbike releases, permit test drives, and deliver buyer information on the latest technology, newest products services and entertain and engage with exciting experiences.” INDUSTRY NEWS SALT WATER POWERED SUPERCAR THE FUTURE OF FLOW CELLS? The Quant e-Sportlimousine is a research prototype supercar released at the recent Geneva Motor Show and powered by salt water. To be more specific, it’s powered by a flow cell using electrolytic fluids usually metallic salts in aqueous solution – as its energy storage medium; a fluid more complex than common sea water. Despite the marketing spin, the technology behind the 2.8 second, 680 kW supercar is highly innovative and interesting. for use during lull in wind speeds. Research and development group, nanoFLOWCELL AG, founded Flow cells are chemical batteries, in late 2013 and based in Vaduz, combining aspects of an electro- Liechtenstein, have developed a flow chemical accumulator cell with cell system specifically for the Quant those of a fuel cell. In the compact supercar. The nanoFLOWCELL cell, a “cold burning” takes place, system continuously sends elecduring which oxidation and reduc- trical energy to the central storage tion processes occur in parallel. The unit. Storing the energy in two large electrolytic fluids are pumped from “supercap” capacitors. This energy storage tanks through the cell. This is used to power four three-phase forms a kind of battery cell with a 170kW electric induction motors. The cross-flow of electrolyte liquid. One process is illustrated in figure 1. advantage of this system in general is that the larger the storage tanks for the electrolyte fluid are, the greater the energy capacity. Simultaneously, the concentration of the electrolytic solution determines the quantity of energy that it transports. This flow cell technology boasts a 5-times greater energy density (600 Wh/kg) over conventional flow cells, providing an estimated range of 400-600 km for the flagship vehicle. Recently, this flow-cell system received approval from German certification group TÜV Süd to operate on public roads in Germany and Europe. But with vehicle approval regulations yet to be completed for this concept, and with a predicted pricetag of around $1.7 million, we may not see this car in Australia for a while yet. The energy transfer within a flow cell is roughly the same as that in a lead-acid car battery: charge passes between metal plates acting as positively and negatively charged poles via an ionisable liquid. Redox flow batteries were patented in 1976 for NASA and the American space programme as part of a drive to advance energy storage technology for space flight. The 1976 patents have long since expired and the flow cell systems are in regular use today for terrestrial applications like storing solar energy for domestic residences, or storing wind energy Figure 1. The Quant e-Sportlimousine’s electric powertrain. Source: www.nanoflowcell.com VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 15 EMISSIONS SIMULATION TRANSPORT EMISSIONS SIMULATION PΔP: A SIMULATION TOOL FOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS AND FUEL CONSUMPTION SOFTWARE WITH A HIGH RESOLUTION IN TIME AND SPACE. Dr Robin Smit Senior Research Fellow (Hon), University of Queensland Road transport is a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions around the world. Comprehensive measurement of transport emissions in urban networks is not feasible due to the large number of vehicles that operate on our roads, large spatial and temporal variability and the many factors that influence emission levels. Modelling tools are therefore commonly used to estimate fuel consumption and air emissions. Models are also required to make projections into the future. Vehicle emission prediction software is well developed in Europe and the US. However, they do not adequately reflect Australian conditions in terms of fleet mix, vehicle technology, fuel quality and climate. 16 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA July 2014 This article provides an overview of a new Australian vehicle emission software and its applications. The software predicts second-by-second fuel consumption, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions with a high resolution in time and space. It uses engine power and the change in engine power as the main model variables and includes all relevant vehicle classes. It links well with output from microscopic transport models. A free “light” version of the software is available on request. EMISSIONS SIMULATION A hierarchy of vehicle emission models exists reflecting different levels of complexity and different types of application. These include ‘average-speed’ models (e.g. COPERT, MOBILE), where emission rates (g/veh.km) are a function of mean travelling speed, ‘traffic-situation’ models (e.g. HBEFA, ARTEMIS), where emission factors (g/veh.km) correspond to particular traffic situations (e.g. ‘stop-and-go-driving’, ‘freeflow’) and ‘modal’ models (e.g. PHEM, CMEM, MOVES), where emission factors (g/s or g/driving mode) correspond to specific engine or vehicle operating conditions. Whereas average speed and traffic situation models are designed to operate at the national or city network level, modal models are designed for local assessments. Vehicle emission prediction software is well-developed in Europe and the US. However, they do not adequately reflect Australian conditions in terms of fleet mix, vehicle technology, fuel quality and climate. Large errors of up to a factor of 20 (Smit and McBroom, 2009), have been reported when overseas models are directly applied to Australian conditions without calibration. Therefore two software packages were recently developed for Australian conditions using comprehensive empirical data from major Australian emission testing programs. COPERT Australia has been designed to estimate motor vehicle emissions at regional and national level (Ntziachristos et al., 2013), whereas a power based model (PΔP) was developed for more localised assessments. This short paper will focus on PΔP and its applications. Tool Design. The PΔP model uses engine power (P, kW) and the change in engine power (ΔP, kW) to simulate fuel consumption and CO2 and NOX emissions for 73 vehicle classes (Smit, 2013a). The vehicle classification is shown in Table 1. ADR emission standard is used as a proxy for ‘emission control technology level’. ADRs refer to “Australian Design Rules”, which are the emission standards adopted in Australia. The input to the model is speed-time data (1 Hz) and information on road grade, wind speed, vehicle loading and use of air conditioning (on/off). This information is used to compute the required (change in) engine power for each second of driving. real-world Australian driving cycles (Composite Urban Emissions Drive Cycle for Petrol or Diesel vehicles; CUEDC-P and CUEDC-D) that were developed from on-road driving pattern data in Australian cities. In addition to these real-world cycles, test data from the DT80 test cycle are used. The DT80 test is the Australian Transport Council’s in-ser- “Vehicle emission prediction software is well-developed in Europe and the US. However, they do not adequately reflect Australian conditions in terms of fleet mix, vehicle technology, fuel quality and climate” The model was developed using empirical data from a verified Australian emissions database with about 2,500 second-by-second emission tests (1 Hz) and about 12,500 individual aggregated ‘bag’ measurements. Each modal test contains approximately 30 minutes of laboratory-grade second-by-second emissions and speed data based on Main Category vice missions test that is conducted to assess emissions performance of on-road diesel vehicles1. The DT80 test simulates worst-case driving conditions (e.g. full open throttle acceleration, high cruise speeds) in order to capture worst-case emission levels. This is useful information as it ensures that emissions data are available over the full range of operating conditions, including extreme accelerations. Emission Control Standard Sub Category Fuel Type Passenger Car Small (< 2.0 L); Medium (2.0 - 3.0 L); Large (≥ 3.0 L) Petrol, Diesel Uncontrolled; ADR27;ADR37/00-01; ADR79/00-05 SUV Compact (≤ 4.0 l); Large (> 4.0 l) Petrol, Diesel Similar to “Passenger Car” but also including ADR36 (SUV-L) and ADR30 (SUV-Diesel) Petrol, Diesel Uncontrolled; ADR36 (P); ADR30 (D); ADR37/00-01; ADR79/00-05 Light Commercial Vehicle GVM ≤ 3.5 t Heavy Duty Truck Medium; Heavy; Articulated Diesel Bus Light Bus (≤ 8.5 t); Heavy Bus (> 8.5 t) Diesel Uncontrolled; ADR30; ADR70; ADR80/00; ADR80/02-05 Table 1. Vehicle Classification. 1 The test is specified in Rule 147A of Schedule 1 of the National Transport Commission (Road Transport Legislation Vehicle Standards) Amendment Regulations (No. 1). VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 17 EMISSIONS SIMULATION All modal emissions test data have been subjected to a verification and correction protocol (Smit, 2013b). This includes time re-alignment, verification of emission traces (analyser drift, clipping) and computation and verification of test statistics (e.g. Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) and mean thermal efficiency). For each vehicle class, one representative vehicle is selected for model development. First, a mathematical relationship between engine power and emission measurements during the actual tests is developed. Engine power (kW) is computed for each second of driving using dynamometer load algorithms in combination with algorithms to simulate internal vehicle losses due to drive train and tyre rolling resistances. The vehicle emission rate (et, g/s) is then fitted to the following equation: instantaneous emissions value, e.g. due to the use of a timer to delay command enrichment or oxygen storage in the catalytic converter. Total driving cycle emissions for the vehicles selected for model development must match average values of similar vehicles in the empirical database. A calibration factor φ is therefore incorporated in the software. It is computed as the emission ratio of the vehicle used in model development to the average value for all tested vehicles of the same vehicle class. Vehicle emission rates in the simulation tool (et*, g/s) are then computed as: On-Road Power Algorithms Prolres = ( τ0 + τ1 vt + τ4 vt4 ) g M vt Pair = 0.5 ρ Cd A Δvt3 Pinert = ( Mveh Λ + Mload ) vt at et = { α vt = 0 β0 + β1 Pt + β2 ΔPt+ β3 Pt2 + β4 ΔPt2 + β5 Pt ΔPt + ε where ε ~ ARMA(p, q) Pgrade = g M vt G vt > 0 (eq. 1) Pt represents engine power (kW) at time t and is a function of operational variables (vehicle speed, acceleration) and vehicle characteristics (vehicle mass). For idling conditions (speed = 0 km/h) a constant average value (g/s) is used. For non-stationary driving conditions (moving vehicle) a multivariate time-series regression model has been fitted using the generalised least-squares method, where β 0, …, β 5 represent the regression coefficients. An autoregressive model is used to account for autocorrelation effects on the residuals. The variable ΔPt quantifies the change in power over the last three seconds of driving and is computed as: ΔPt = Pt - Pt-2 Ptransm = fac P* ( ( 1/η ) - 1) for P* ≥ 0 Input variables: vt = Vehicle speed (m/s) va = Air speed (m/s) Δvt = vt - va (m/s) G = Road gradient (%) ω = Auxiliaries on/off factor (value is 1 or 0) Mload = Mass of the payload and/or passengers and luggage (kg) Internal/derived variables: at = Acceleration (m/s2) g = Gravitational constant (9.81 m/s2) η = Transmission efficiency (-) ρ = Air density (kg/m3) Λ = Rotating mass factor (function of vehicle speed) (-) Vehicle parameters: (eq. 2) VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER for P* < 0 Paux = ω κ Prated ΔPt aims to include “history effects” into the model. This is important because vehicle operating history can play a significant role in an 18 Ptransm = fac P* ( η - 1) A = Frontal area (m2) Cd = Aerodynamic drag coefficient (-) fac = Technology correction factor (-) M = Vehicle mass including Load (kg) Mveh = Tare mass (kg) P* = Total power to overcome the driving resistances without transmission losses (W) Prated = Rated engine power (W) τ0, 1, 4 = Rolling resistance Coefficients (function of vehicle loading) κ Ratio of rated engine power to power demand for auxiliaries = (airco, compressor) (-) Table 2. On-Road Power Algorithms in PΔP. AUSTRALASIA July 2014 et* = φ et (eq. 3) The next step is to include algorithms that predict second-by-second on-road engine power demand for each vehicle. A motor vehicle requires engine power to overcome all resistive forces while driving and to run its accessories (e.g. air conditioning). On-road power algorithms in PΔP are adopted from Rexeis et al. (2005) with some modifications, and account for tyre rolling resistance (P rolres), aerodynamic drag (P air ), inertial drag (Pinert), gravitational resistance (Pgrade), drive train resistance (Ptransm) and power required to run auxiliaries (Paux), as is shown in Table 2. The power components are predicted for each second of driving and require input on speed, acceleration, road grade, wind speed, vehicle mass (including loading) and use of air conditioning. These algorithms also require vehicle specific information such as aerodynamic drag coefficient, frontal area and rolling resistance coefficients. This vehicle specific information was collected for all vehicles and hard coded into the software. The simulation will check for the occurrence of unrealistically high engine power during the simulation. This could occur, for instance, when a light-duty vehicle driving cycle is used for an articulated truck. In this case the truck cannot deliver the acceleration rates required to follow the speed-time input data and the rated power of the truck will be exceeded. Model validation and model verification showed that the performance results for the PΔP modeling software results are good with average R2 values of 0.65 and 0.93 for NOX and CO2/Fuel Consumption, respectively (Smit, 2013a). These results compare well and are generally similar or better as compared with reported results from other models (e.g. Atjay et al., 2005; Silva et al., 2006). The validation showed that the PΔP emission algorithms are robust PUTTING THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WITHIN EASY REACH OF EVERY DRIVER. MyLink is one of the most advanced and comprehensive car entertainment systems, allowing users to stay informed, connected and entertained at the touch of a finger. Better still, this MyLink technology is now standard across a huge range of new Holdens, for every driver to enjoy. 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As a minimum, PΔP requires 1 Hz speed-time data and a selection of the appropriate vehicle class. This information can be obtained from various sources: • • • Microscopic transport models On-road GPS measurements Drive Cycles PΔP + Transport Models. Greaves and Allison, 2014). The program exposed drivers to a financial intervention to improve driving around safety outcomes. Assessment of the emissions impacts required a computationally-efficient tool that can readily use millions of secondby-second records as input. PΔP was fit-for-purpose after necessary GPS data preparation, which mainly involves imputation of missing records and smoothing of speed-time data. Analysis of the emission results for 102 drivers before and after the intervention demonstrates that changes in total travel (Vehicle Kilometers Travelled, VKT) and changes in driving behaviour both affect emission impacts. The preliminary results indicate that VKT is the main factor driving the change in CO2 emissions in this type of intervention, whereas driving behaviour changes also affect emissions. Figure 3 show that the overall emission change is a function of a large number of individual driving patterns in the before and after intervention phase, each with their own unique sequence of idling, acceleration and speeds. However, changes in mean CO2 emission rates (g/km) were not statistically significant in this PΔP has been combined with a microscopic simulation model (Advanced Interactive Microscopic Simulator for Urban and Non-Urban Networks or AIMSUN) to estimate emissions in Adelaide CBD in morning peak hours (Smit, Casas and Torday, 2013). The traffic software generated almost 10,000 second-bysecond driving patterns for different vehicle types (cars, trucks, buses). PΔP then estimated fuel consumption and emissions for each driving pattern. The highest predicted fuel consumption and emissions were associated with driving behaviour that involves (strong) accelerations and traffic conditions that impose significant queuing and idling. Driving at (approximately) constant speed and deceleration manoeuvres are associated with lower fuel consumption and emissions. This is illustrated in Figure 1. The emission predictions were then used to identify air pollution or greenhouse gas ‘hot spots’ in the network, and to track how emissions at specific locations change over time. An example is shown in Figure 2. PΔP + GPS data. PΔP has been combined with a large database of on-road driving data to assess the emission impacts of an intervention program where 102 Sydney drivers were monitored for five weeks using a GPS device (Smit, 20 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER TOP: Figure 1a. Fuel consumption versus average speed for large petrol passenger cars (100m drive segments). BOTTOM: Figure 1b. 9 Driving Patterns (DPs) for specific points Source: Smit, Casas and Torday, 2013 AUSTRALASIA July 2014 EMISSIONS SIMULATION Figure 2: Predicted Total NOX Link Emissions in the Adelaide CBD Network for Two Time Periods. Left: 07:00-08:00 Right: 08:00-09:00 Source: Smit, Casas and Torday, 2013 case (p > 0.05). While it has become increasingly easy to collect disaggregated driving behaviour information, it is still complex to quantify emissions. It was concluded that the PΔP tool greatly simplifies this computation process, while still maintaining a sufficient level of disaggregation in the results to identify the key components affecting emissions. PΔP + drive cycles. Boulter and Smit (2013) used PΔP to assess the emission impacts of Variable Speed Limits (VSL). Established drive cycles for specific traffic situations were used to estimate the impacts of VSL for the Figure 3. Emissions from a large petrol passenger car ADR37-01. Left: CO2 emission factors for all GPS driving patterns for one driver as function of average speed. Right: The mean emission factors in the before and after phases including 95% confidence interval and p-value. Source: Smit, Greaves and Allison, 2014 Australian on-road fleet. The results are visually summarised in Figure 4. The study suggests that reduced speed limits can result in significant CO2 emission benefits for light-duty vehicles under free-flow motorway conditions, but that the results are less pronounced for more congested situations (traffic volume over 1000 vehicles per lane per hour). Finally, PΔP has been used in combination with COPERT Australia to assess the impacts of tunnel emissions on local air quality (Smit, 2014). Whereas positive road grade Figure 4: Mean CO2 vehicle emission rates for different speed limits (80, 100, 120 km/h) and traffic conditions. FF = free flow MC = more congested (including 95% confidence intervals). Source: Boulter and Smit, 2013 in tunnels significantly increases fuel consumption and emissions, air flow in the direction of traffic significantly reduces the aerodynamic drag and therefore reduce fuel consumption and emissions. PΔP was therefore used to compute correction factors for the combined effect of in-tunnel road grade, air flow (piston effect) and driving conditions. Figure 5 shows the input and the second-by-second modelling results for a 4.7 km tunnel. The in-tunnel high speed driving conditions were replicated using a specific drive cycle that was developed from overseas on-road measurements on an uncongested highway with an 80 km/h speed limit. The simulation showed that the piston effect reduced emissions by 15-35%, road grade increased emissions by about 20-35%, depending on the vehicle class and pollutant. Overall, fleet emissions in the tunnel were reduced by 0-10%. To see the references of this article, follow this link: www.sae-a.com.au/VTEReferences CONTACT Figure 5: Simulation of the impacts of road grade, air flow and driving behaviour in a tunnel, “Base” represents the situation without road grade or air flow. Source: Smit, 2014 Dr Robin Smit Senior Research Fellow (Hon), University of Queensland PH: (07) 3885 2914 EM: mr.robin.smit@gmail.com WEB: www.civil.uq.edu.au/smit A free “light” version of the software is available on request VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 21 SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST EVOLVING FROM SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST HIGHLIGHTING THE BENEFITS OF PROBLEM SOLVING WITH A GENERALIST MINDSET. Peter Lanius Director, Leadership Mastery Training Provider, SAE-A Being a specialist expert is only useful until it is not! As an engineer, the time to start making the move from depth of knowledge to breadth of perspective is when you take the step into management or need to broaden your career options. $ Yet we constantly meet professionals and managers, even executives, who have not transitioned from a technical to a commercial mindset. This inability to take a whole of business approach maintains silos, leads to missed opportunities and reduces leadership team effectiveness. So why is specialist thinking so prevalent; and why has it seemingly become overvalued? 22 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA July 2014 $ SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST In recent history our universities and corporations have created the culture of the ‘expert’. To use an analogy from Vikram Mansharamani - Lecturer at Yale University - if we think in terms of a forest, corporations around the world have come to value expertise and, in so doing, have created a collection of individuals studying bark. There are many who have deeply studied its nooks, grooves, coloration, and texture. Few have developed the understanding that the bark is merely the outermost layer of a tree. Fewer still understand the tree is embedded in a forest. comfortable in measuring management abilities beyond technical competencies and business outcomes. Whilst this has been happening with the recent focus on leadership capabilities and emotional intelligence, those have not been afforded anywhere near equal status when it comes to recruitment, remuneration and promotions. Few companies have learned to use the Balanced Scorecard approach to performance measurement in a way that doesn’t reduce everything to a simple financial measure when it comes to the crunch. This degree of over-specialisation has infected not just the technical disciplines like engineering. It is equally common in finance, marketing, procurement and so forth. At the same time as we have created the cult of the expert, our global economy is getting more complex and uncertain. Research undertaken over recent years, by individuals including Professor Phillip Tetlock of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, is providing robust data which suggests generalists are better at navigating uncertainty, are more risk tolerant and demonstrate greater levels of adaptability than specialists. The trend to over-specialisation has not just affected individuals, but also businesses. Many companies have developed deep expertise in their product or service niche, but fall prey to technological innovation and shifting consumer preferences. Just think of what has happened to the newspapers and Kodak. The Kodak example is especially pertinent, as it was an Eastman Kodak engineer who developed the digital camera that eventually led to the company’s demise! So how do we reverse the trend of greater and greater specialisation that has been dominant over the last 20 to 30 years? In order to facilitate that process it is important that companies become more To counter this trend we developed, and have been using, the ‘WellRounded’ Leader Model for several years in our leadership development and coaching work for technical professionals and managers. The ‘Well-Rounded’ Leader Model “Many companies have developed deep expertise in their product or service niche, but fall prey to technological innovation and shifting consumer preferences” looks at the evolution of skills in 3 areas: 1. Technical / Commercial skills; 2. Business / Management skills; 3. People / Leadership skills. Development in all 3 areas is required to become an effective leader and generalist. Most individuals either focus on the technical and business skills (task oriented leaders) or on the technical + people skills (people oriented leaders). Our technical skills usually form the basis of our career. Most of us start out becoming experts in a particular field, like engineering. We then further specialise as we evolve our career, narrowing our focus to say, powertrain engineering only. With each narrowing we develop a more LEFT: The well rounded leader model. BELOW: Kodak's first digital camera. The invention that eventually led to their demise. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 23 SPECIALIST TO GENERALIST specialist language and rely on more specialist tools to do our job. This leads to differentiation and therefore boundaries. Once we have hit the point where another engineer who is not a powertrain expert can no longer understand us, the process is complete. Yet in order to influence others, we need to develop breadth, not depth, for role effectiveness. This means going from a narrow focus on my area to a whole of business approach. By developing a commercial mindset we lay the foundation for becoming intuitive about where our industry and the market are going. We learn to present ideas in the form of business cases and start to take the needs of the whole business or value chain into account when thinking about decisions or changes we want to make. We make decisions for the good of the business as a whole versus not just the good of an individual’s area. In the area of business and management skills in the first instance we all have to learn to manage ourselves (and not avoid our areas of weakness). This includes learning prioritising, risk management and getting tasks done. With the transition to management we gain increasing autonomy and decision making authority. The focus shifts from ourselves to creating and managing the systems and processes that make our teams and later the whole organisation successful. This requires developing rigour and self-discipline. Only after having learned to be rigorous can we progress to becoming adaptable; and seeing and dealing with complexity. Based on our experiences in being rigorous and making mistakes in the process our decision making becomes more fluid and less reliant on procedures and guidelines. Finally, we can’t become effective as a generalist and leader without developing our people skills. The first step is progressing from social 24 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER relationships to professional relationships. This means developing a ‘professional persona’ and dropping behaviours considered inappropriate in the workplace. Transitioning into a leadership role starts with empathy and taking a genuine interest in other people. We will have to learn to set aside our natural behavioural style when collaborating with people who are very different. Once again this requires rigour, maturity and selfdiscipline. Then we can learn how to influence anybody, not just the people who (are) like us. why has the generalist become so ‘unsexy’? Possibly it is the negative connotations around the generalist moniker - ‘jack of all trades, master of none’. Certainly the much more positive term polymath (from the Greek ‘having learned much’) has been dropped from our vocabulary. When we do talk about polymaths, the examples we use are often household names like Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Francis Bacon, Goethe and Isaac Newton. An article for Famous polymaths (left-right) Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Francis Bacon Goethe and Isaac Newton. One pattern we see often is people oscillating between level one and three in an area and bypassing the middle level, e.g. from people skills to influencing, bypassing collaboration with everyone. It results in the person being only able to influence the people who they would naturally influence; and bypassing the rest. The result is a 'hit and miss’ approach that reduces overall leadership/business effectiveness. In addition many engineers in particular get hooked on the combination of technical skills and complexity – they become experts at problem solving. Yet because their approach is narrow, it does not enable them to solve broader business problems. What good is the world’s most efficient 4WD powertrain if the company isn’t selling any cars? Businesses need to develop a greater understanding that the evolution from specialist knowledge to generalist perspective is incredibly valuable. This, in turn, will drive professionals and managers to attain a greater willingness to learn and grow in all of these areas. So AUSTRALASIA July 2014 Intelligent Life Magazine, arguing that in the age of specialisation the polymath has become an endangered species, triggered an experiment by magazine’s staff. They decided to make a list of 20 living polymaths, which included individuals such as Noam Chomsky, Nathan Myhrvold and Clive James. What was telling more than anything else was that the average age of the 20 listed was 68. You couldn’t make a stronger case for the need to reverse the trend. CONTACT Peter Lanius SAE-A Training Provider Director, Leadership Mastery PH: 03 9676 9568 EM: training@sae-a.com.au WEB: www.saea.com.au Bosch Automotive Technology Developing innovative solutions Bosch Automotive Technology is responsible for developing innovative components, systems and functions in the fields of vehicle safety, vehicle dynamics and driver assistance as well as non-automotive applications. We specialize in delivering turnkey solutions from quotation through to mass production and have capabilities in robust embedded software, CAN, network protocols, customer specific application and sensing technologies ranging from radar to acceleration sensors. With a global customer base, having engineered projects for Europe, North America, China, Japan, Malaysia and Korea, we can offer solutions to an array of industries. 3 Motorcycle ABS and Stability Control 3 Rail vehicle braking and detection systems 3 Collision avoidance in mining, off road, materials handling Bosch Australia’s Automotive Electronics Engineering team provides specialist engineering services: 3 Hardware, Mechanical & Software Design 3 Engineering Validation Services – EMC (with NATA accreditation available on request), Electrical Interference Testing, Environmental Testing (temperature, humidity, salt spray, dust), Mechanical Testing (vibration, shock), Metrology and Materials Analysis (inc. X-Ray & Scanning Electron Microscope) Bosch Australia’s Chassis Control Systems Engineering team provides specialist engineering services: 3 Sample Shop – surface-mount technology, selective solder, single pin insertion, measurement & test 3 Vehicle ADR testing to ensure ESP® systems meet the Australian Design Rule guidelines Contact Automotive Electronics Email: BETS@au.Bosch.com 3 Measurement services for vehicle modifiers to assess impact of changes on OEM safety systems Contact Chassis Control Systems Email: Australia.ChassisSystemsControl@au.Bosch.com Bosch Motorsport. Race components for more than a century! We develop and manufacture motorsport electronics and motorsport components suited to all levels, from weekend racer to Formula 1. We offer our customers a comprehensive product portfolio, as well as tailored engineering solutions, for a variety of automobile and motorcycle applications. Our customers benefit from the Bosch Group’s systems expertise, as well as from its integration know-how as one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers. We deliver our products to complete racing series’, as well as individual teams. For example, for the DTM series we have exclusively supplied the engine control unit and the digital display used in the cockpit since 2000. We are also the sole supplier of electrical and electronic components for Formula 3 and the U.S. Grand Am racing series. Moreover, many teams competing in the Le Mans 24-hour and numerous other races rely on our systems and components. Contact Motorsport Email: motor.sport@au.Bosch.com Product Categories: 3 Engine Control Units 3 Injection & Ignition components 3 Alternators & Starters 3 Sensors 3 Brake Control 3 Displays 3 Data Logging Systems 3 Software 3 Accessories TECHNICAL DRONE REGULATIONS FLY UNDER THE RADAR WHERE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES FIT WITHIN CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS FOR RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL USE. Sarah Roberts - B. Eng. (Aerospace), M. Sci. (Materials Eng.) According to some reports, Australia is the world’s largest market for drones – otherwise commonly known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), remotely piloted or operated aircraft (RPA or ROA), or even unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The vast majority of these are small devices, owned and operated by recreational users. They are not to be operated within 30 meters of a person not directly associated with the operation of the UAV; “Sadly, CASA provides no specific guidance on the legality of shooting drones out of the sky, though this certainly sounds like an amusing sport” Specific to UAVs, a populous area is defined as an area which has a sufficient density of population that a failure, or fault, during any part of the operation might pose a risk to the life, safety or property of someone in the area but not connected to the They may be operated under 400ft (130m) Above Ground Level (AGL) in non-populous areas, except that they may not be operated with 3 nautical miles (5.5km) of an airport,unless formal, written approval has been granted; operation. It could be argued that a drone damaging someone’s vehicle at a beach might fall foul of this regulation; They may not be used for “hire or reward” (that is, for any commercial purpose, including marketing) unless the operator has an operator’s license. To fulfill this requirement, an operator must have (amongst other things): • • • An approved operator’s manual. Licenced staff, who have completed, for example, Private Pilots Theory exams, and specific training on the drone being used. Flight manuals. As most of these increasingly sophisticated devices are sold in toy stores or over the internet - with no regulation - it is hardly surprising that many Australians are unaware of the regulations pertaining to their use. UAV Regulation. Civil Aviation Safety Regulation CASR 101, which can be found in full online, provides detailed regulations on the use of drones. Perhaps the most pertinent for the recreational user are the following: ABOVE: Sergeant Shawn Tansley with the Queensland Police Service's UAV. There is no practicable differentiation between a small UAV and a model aircraft except that of use – model aircraft are only flown for the sport of flying them; LEFT: Victorian Metropolitan Fire Brigade owns two quad rotor helicopters, which carry a camera into the air to help in the assessment above an incident. 26 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER Source: Brisbane Times Source: www.mfb.vic.gov.au AUSTRALASIA July 2014 TECHNICAL Breaking the regulations is considered offences of Strict Liability under the section 6 of the Criminal Code, and can incur significant fines. Sadly, CASA provides no specific guidance on the legality of shooting drones out of the sky (This certainly sounds like an amusing sport; Could it be argued that a drone close enough to hit with a shotgun when flying over farmland must be in breach of the “no flight over populous areas” rule?). Commercial Use. Whilst anyone can buy a drone to use for recreational purposes, the commercial use of drones is more difficult – despite the fact that both recreational and commercial operators might, in fact, be using the exact same machine. Unwarranted invasion of privacy by special interest groups, specifically those which may have somewhat radical ties (such as some animal and environmental rights groups) has also been raised as an issue, along with the potential use of drones by terrorist organisations. The House Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal affairs recently recommended that Australian privacy law needs to be updated to take into account the use of drones, stating that the current laws may not be sufficient to cope with the explosion of technologies which can be used to observe, record and broadcast private behavior. The committee recommended that legislation strengthening privacy laws be introduced by July 2015, and The regulations regarding commercial use have surely been put in place with safety in mind, which makes the barriers to entry for commercial operators not insignificant. Delaying the commercialisation of drones runs the risk of slowing investment, and subsequently innovation and development, in this area. Additionally, as the vast majority of drones are currently operated by unlicensed and essentially unregulated recreational users, it is somewhat difficult to view the commercial operators as the greater safety risk to the public. Potentially more concerning, particularly for privacy advocates, is the use of drones by Government. Queensland Police currently uses drones to provide “aerial situational awareness”, or to assist in search and rescue operations, and have not ruled out extending the use of the equipment. further recommended that the use of drones by Government agencies be regulated. “It will be necessary for the Australian Government to work with regulators worldwide on design guidelines to allow drone technology to be integrated seamlessly into the civil aviation world” Given the potential for commercialisation of drones (for everything from search and rescue, fire spotting, infrastructure inspections, to parcel delivery), it seems highly possible that the civilian market for drones could explode over the next decade. As well as sorting out privacy and usage regulations, it will be necessary for the Australian Government to work with regulators worldwide on design guidelines to allow drone technology to be integrated seamlessly into the civil aviation world. This would allow drones to avoid aircraft and other drones automatically, providing a greater level of safety than just relying on the eyes and experience of a drone operator – whether they be recreational or commercial. For more information about UAV regulations; the conditions and legislation, visit CASA's website at www.casa.gov.au. A safety information poster from training and solutions company RPAS, illustrating the regulations surrounding recreational use of UAVs. Source: rpastraining.com.au VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 27 With so many smart features, it’s no wonder Ford Focus has become the most popular way to get around town. SYNC™ voice connectivity lets you control your music and calls while you drive, Active City Stop† automatically brakes to avoid help low-speed collisions, and Active Park Assist virtually parks the car for you. No wonder it’s the world’s number one selling nameplate. ford.com.au/focus ^ Focus Titanium Hatch shown with optional Sports Executive Pack which includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Bi-Xenon HID headlamps, Sunroof and Active City Stop. *Claim based on the latest available IHS Automotive Polk global new vehicle registration data for CY 2013 and Ford’s definition of single nameplate, which includes identical nameplates only and does not include rebadged vehicles, platform derivatives or any variations to a nameplate as between markets. †Active City Stop may help avoid or minimise the impact of a collision between speeds of 3.6 and 30km/h. It is not a substitute for driver alertness. Function may not operate in some driving and road conditions or adverse weather. Only available on Titanium models fitted with the optional Sports Executive Pack. Ônly available on Titanium models. TECHNICAL 4WD GVM UPGRADES ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH GVM UPGRADES. John Lyons - Vicroads Engineering Signatory MEng, MBA, MIEAust, CPEng, FSAE-A John Lyons has worked in the automotive industry as a professional engineer for over 40 years. Much of this has been in OE suspension and tyre development. He is currently a Vicroads engineering signatory. No part of this article constitutes professional advice. This article discusses commercially available Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) upgrade packages. The scope is limited to 4WDs in the MC (4wd passenger vehicle), NA (light goods vehicle) and NB (medium goods vehicle) Australian Design Rule (ADR) categories. The GVM upgrade packages are also considered primarily in relation to Victorian legislation. It is mainly written for end customers but may be of interest to businesses involved in suspension modifications and engineering signatories. GVM is defined in the ADRs as; ‘the maximum laden mass of vehicles as specified by the manufacturer’. GVM upgrade packages can be divided into two categories: 1. Category One GVM Upgrades. GVM upgrades with axle loads not exceeding the original equipment (OE) manufacturer’s ratings. These upgrade packages use the sum of the OE maximum axle capacities to arrive at a new GVM. With this category of upgrade the OE manufacturer’s payload positioning flexibility is sacrificed for an increase in GVM. Different springs and shock-absorbers are fitted and the affected ADRs (for example, braking and emissions) are recertified at the higher GVM. The maximum loads on the tyres, packages, the OE manufacturer’s maximum axle load ratings are exceeded. As with Category One, different springs and shock-absorbers are fitted and the affected ADRs are recertified at the higher GVM. While this enables a higher upgraded GVM than the Category One upgrades while also maintaining load positioning flexibility, it introduces a serious problem; the reliability is reduced. wheels, wheel bearings, axles and spring to chassis attachments, are not increased above OE levels. However, some components like the chassis will be carrying more load and the relevant vehicle dynamics development will not be as comprehensive as that undertaken by the OE manufacturer on the original design. Reliability can be described as the probability of the vehicle performing its designed function for a given period of time without failure. A Category Two GVM upgrade will increase the loads on a large number of components. Tyres, wheels, wheel bearings, axles, axle tubes, steering linkages, spring to chassis attachments and chassis will all experience increased loads. The main problem is loading the vehicle to the upgraded GVM without exceeding the front or rear (more likely the latter) maximum axle ratings. Some vehicles with a fixed load position, like tankers, will be able to do this, but for many vehicles it will be impossible. Figure 1 plots the probability densities of operating load and strength for a component. When the operating load exceeds the strength, the component fails. The area formed by the overlap of the operating load curve and the strength curve represents the probability of failure. 2. Category Two GVM Upgrades. GVM upgrades with axle loads exceeding the OE manufacturer’s ratings. With these GVM upgrade Operation Frequency Load KEY OE GVM Operating Load Cat. 2 GVM Operating Load Material/Design Strength Normal Failure Probability Increased Failure Probability Figure 1. Probability densities of operating load and component strength. Image Adapted From: A.D.S. Carter, Mechanical Reliability (2nd ed, 1986). VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 29 TECHNICAL The OE company would have designed the vehicle to have a minimal overlap. However, they would not intentionally overdesign. Millions of test kilometres would have been run to ensure that the reliability performance was as intended. A Category Two GVM upgrade will increase the operating loads, moving the operating load curve to the right and increasing the overlap with the strength curve. An increased overlap means a greater probability of component failure and reduced reliability. The vehicle’s axles and associated components will be more prone to failure than a vehicle manufacturing approvals. For an increase in GVM after first registration in Victoria, Vicroads requires a Vehicle Assessment Signatory Scheme (VASS) certificate or a letter from the vehicle’s manufacturer. The National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Modifications (VSB14) at Section LH, Clause 2.2.2. says that where a new GVM must be determined for light trucks and commercials (i.e. NA and NB category), to refer to the National Code of Practice for Heavy Vehicle Modifications (VSB6). Also, VSB6 in Part A Section A, Paragraph 4, “Many four wheel drive vehicles operate in conditions where a breakdown can have very undesirable consequences” Many four wheel drive vehicles operate in conditions where a breakdown can have very undesirable consequences; being stranded in the outback in summer could be a life threatening situation. Reliability is therefore a more serious consideration than with on road vehicles. The world’s armies have historically taken the opposite approach for off road vehicles and de-rated. The famous US army "deuce and a half", M35 truck, is rated to carry 4,500 kg on road but only 2,300 kg off road. Both Category One and Category two GVM upgrade packages are being fitted to vehicles before first registration under secondary 30 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER Conclusion. Commercially available GVM upgrade packages can be divided into two categories; those that do not exceed the OE manufacturer’s maximum axle loads and those that do. The first category offers the advantage of an increased payload but at the expense of loading flexibility. With some vehicles it may be impossible to load the vehicle to its new GVM without overloading the rear axle. John Lyons in his 1975 Toyota FJ40 with OE maximum axle loads. For example, the tyres will be more likely to puncture, increased load on the wheel bearing may lead to decreased life and the suspension brackets will be more susceptible to develop fatigue cracks. Certification. or steering being exceeded’. Paragraph 5.3 puts a similar restriction on the rear axle. Scope, while acknowledging that VSB6 applies to heavy vehicles, says ‘this does not preclude the use of this Code of Practice for other categories of vehicle where appropriate’. In the absence of any information to the contrary, it is appropriate to apply the principles of VSB6 to MC category GVM upgrades as well. It would appear that VSB6 allows a VASS approval of Category One GVM Upgrades. However, evidence of the vehicle’s continued compliance with the relevant ADRs and the requirements of VSB14, including for electronic stability control, must be available. More testing than just the ADR 35 sine with dwell test may be required. VSB6 does not allow a VASS approval of Category Two GVM Upgrades. Section S, Appendix S2, paragraph 6.0, says that ‘the GVM rating assigned must not result in the manufacturer’s mass rating of the front axle, front suspension AUSTRALASIA July 2014 The second category offers the advantage of carrying significantly increased payloads without the loss of loading flexibility but at the expense of reduced vehicle reliability. The fitment to registered vehicles and approval with a VASS certificate would appear to be blocked by VSB6’s requirement that the axle manufacturer’s load ratings are not exceeded. If more payload must be carried, the best overall solution is a bigger vehicle or, if the loss of manoeuvrability and traction is acceptable, a towed trailer. If the utmost reliability over rough country is required, following the army example of only loading to 80% of the OE GVM is worth considering. CONTACT John Lyons MB: 0417 598 361 EM: neac5@bigpond.com TOYOTA HYBRID. STARTED ON POLE. FINISHED ON THE PODIUM. A stellar qualifying lap secured pole position for the #7 Toyota Hybrid TS040 in the great 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Come race day, it was never going to be smooth sailing, with torrential rain and an electrical gremlin hampering both Toyota Hybrids’ quest for glory. This only spurred Toyota on and by the time the chequered flag dropped, the #8 Toyota Hybrid had clawed its way back to an incredible 3rd position and podium finish. Congratulations to the team, and here’s to going two positions better next year. toyota.com.au TECHNICAL SMALL OVERLAP FRONTAL CRASH TEST Tandy Pok Arundell – Delta-V Experts Most of us are familiar with the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) , which, since 1993, has published crash test results for over 400 vehicles. ANCAP uses 4 internationally recognised crash tests, undertaken by independent specialist laboratories: 1. 2. 3. 4. Frontal offset test; Side impact test; Pedestrian test; Pole test. Small overlap crashes accounted for nearly a quarter of the frontal crashes involving serious or fatal injury to front seat occupants. In the small overlap frontal test, a vehicle travels at 64km/h toward a 1.5m rigid barrier. A Hybrid III dummy representing an average sized man is positioned in the driver seat. 25% of the total width of the vehicle strikes the barrier on the driver side. Occupant Crash Protection. The ANCAP frontal offset test is configured to have 40% of the car on the driver’s side make contact with a crushable aluminium barrier at 64km/h. This test is also known as the moderate overlap frontal test. Small overlap frontal crashes primarily affect a vehicle's outer edges, which are not well protected by the crush-zone structures. Crash “Small overlap crashes accounted for nearly a quarter of the frontal crashes involving serious or fatal injury to front seat occupants” The Other Frontal Crash Test. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER BOTTOM: Figure 4. 2012 Volvo S60 results. forces go directly into the front wheel, suspension system and firewall. It is not uncommon for the wheel to be forced rearward into the footwell, contributing to even more intrusion in the occupant compartment and resulting in serious leg and foot injuries. The majority of modern cars have safety cages encapsulating the occupant compartment and are built to withstand head-on collisions and moderate overlap frontal crashes with little deformation. Crush zones help manage crash energy to reduce forces on the occupant compartment. The main crush-zone structures are concentrated in the middle 50 percent of the front end. When a crash involves these structures, the occupant compartment is protected from intrusion, and front airbags and safety belts can effectively restrain and protect occupants. Results. The small overlap frontal crash test was introduced in 2012 by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). These tests were introduced to address concerns that while vehicles were achieving good ratings for frontal crash protection, only about a quarter of frontal crashes were moderate overlap crashes. 32 TOP: Figure 3. 2012 Lexus IS results. AUSTRALASIA TOP: Figure 1. Moderate overlap frontal test configuration. Bottom: Figure 2. Small overlap frontal test configuration. All Article Images: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. July 2014 Survival space for the driver wasn't well maintained in the Lexus IS crash test, shown in figure 3. The A-pillar bent and the footwell collapsed as the left front wheel and tyre were forced rearward. The dummy's feet were entrapped by intruding structures. Results for the Volvo S60 in figure 4 were very different. The S60's occupant compartment held up well, with only minor intrusion. The Volvo S60 was a top performer. The sedan's occupant compartment held up better than any of the other tested vehicles. Volvo runs small overlap crash tests as part of its vehicle safety development program. TECHNICAL Future Direction. What’s most interesting is that all these vehicles have earned 5 star ANCAP safety ratings, earning upwards of 33 points out of a possible 37. That is, they have performed admirably in the standard four tests. However, in the small overlap orientation, the main structures of the vehicle's front-end crush zone are bypassed, making it hard for the vehicle to manage crash energy resulting in occupant compartment collapse. “Nearly every new car performs well in other frontal crash tests conducted by the IIHS and the federal government, but we still see more than 10,000 deaths in frontal crashes each year,” IIHS President Adrian Lund says. “Small overlap crashes are a major source of these fatalities. This new test program is based on years of analysing real-world frontal crashes and then replicating them in our crash test facility to determine how people are being seriously injured and how cars can be designed to protect them better.” Rating Criteria. Engineers consider three factors to determine how a vehicle rates in the moderate overlap and small overlap frontal tests: Structure/safety cage. To assess a vehicle's structural performance, engineers measure the amount of intrusion into the occupant compartment after the crash. In the moderate overlap test, measurements are taken at nine places around the driver's seat. In the small overlap test, 16 locations on the driver side interior and exterior of the vehicle are measured. The amount and pattern of intrusion shows how well the front-end crush zone managed the crash energy and how well the safety cage held up. Injury measures. Sensors in the dummy are used to determine the likelihood that a driver would sustain various types of TOP: Figure 5. 2012 Volvo S60, overall good rating in the small overlap frontal crash test. MIDDLE: Figure 6. Mercedes C-Class, overall Poor rating in the small overlap frontal crash test. BOTTOM: Figure 7. The Volkswagen CC is the first vehicle the Institute has ever evaluated to lose a door in a crash test. injuries in a similar real-world crash. Measures recorded by sensors in the head, neck, chest, legs and feet of the dummy indicate the level of stress or strain on that part of the body — in other words, the risk of injury. Restraints/dummy movement. Figure 8. Intrusion measuring points. Even if injury measures are low, it's important to consider the dummy's movement during the crash, since not all drivers are the same size as the dummy or seated exactly the same way. A close call for the dummy could be an actual injury for a person. Closer to home, ANCAP Chairman Lauchlan McIntosh supports the continuous development of crash testing, “We are monitoring developments in vehicle safety and the crash testing field worldwide so that we can incorporate best practice into our Australasian test regime... more demanding tests like the IIHS small overlap frontal crash test would complement the suite of ANCAP tests and discourage manufacturers from tuning the design of vehicles to a particular crash test.” These tests show that, while some vehicle manufacturers such as Volvo lead the way in safety development, the small overlap frontal test has exposed shortcomings with current vehicle safety design. Requirements for standards of occupant protection in a moderate offset frontal impact is currently legislated in Australian Design Rule 73. Incorporation of new tests to road safety legislation, such as the small overlap frontal crash test, may progressively improve occupant safety and reduce not only casualty rates. CONTACT Tandy Pok Arundell Delta-V Experts PH: (03) 9481 2200 WEB: www.dvexperts.net VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 33 INDUSTRY PARTNERS WHERE TO NOW FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN? AUSTRALIAN AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES ARE BROADENING THEIR HORIZONS, EXPANDING THEIR REACH AND DIVERSIFYING INTO ALTERNATIVE INDUSTRIES. Richard Reilly - CEO, FAPM Six months on from the announcements of GM Holden and Toyota Motor Company of Australia deciding to cease manufacturing in Australia by 2018, the Australian automotive supply chain is facing the challenges foreshadowed by commentators, the media and industry experts at the time. The FAPM has been working with our member companies, the Federal, Victorian and South Australian Governments and in new industries that can support our manufacturing industry. “The [automotive] industry has moved forward significantly and the FAPM is confident that a good number of companies will remain viable long after the last production vehicles come off the assembly lines” Importantly, local carmakers are still making cars and they will continue to do so until at least the end of 2017. Our member companies are still supplying components and fulfilling their contracts to the local big three. Australian’s must continue to buy these cars and keep the industry operating in order to give supply chain companies the best possible ‘run-away’ to ensure they remain viable as they explore and secure new customers, build export capability and diversify into new products and industries. 34 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER The industry has already moved forward significantly and the FAPM is confident that a good number of companies will remain viable long after the last production vehicles come off the assembly lines. Some companies have seen this transition period as an opportunity to restructure and reinvent their businesses into producers of high-value complex components that give Australia a competitive advantage in a globalised automotive world. Our members are expanding their reach into South East Asia with a number of companies such as Mackay Consolidated Industries and Composite Materials Engineering setting up facilities in Thailand amongst other Australian companies such as Futuris and Harringtons which are already there. Other companies such as Hella and PolyPacific are already supplying the Malaysian industry and the reach of similar manufacturers even extends to Europe with L&L Products supplying directly to Germany and Parish Engineering making components for Maserati. AUSTRALASIA July 2014 Furthermore, for every company expanding it’s automotive business, there is another diversifying into other industries. Geelong’s Backwell IXL is working with the renewable energy industry and Diver Consolidated producing the famous Triton Workbench. Between the FAPM, ASEA and the Victorian Government, multiple industries have been identified as being suitable for the skills and manufacturing expertise of the automotive industry. This list includes aftermarket automotive, mining and agriculture, military and aerospace, prefabricated construction and other heavy transport industries. The Victorian Government has been holding roundtable workshops between automotive suppliers and these industries. The recent prefabricated construction workshop included more than ten automotive companies and seven construction companies working together on opportunities that benefit both industries. Amongst this backdrop, the FAPM INDUSTRY PARTNERS is continuing its campaign to ensure crucial Automotive Transformation Scheme (ATS) federal funding is not reduced over the coming years. Political stakeholders have also been engaged on the importance of ATS funding to ensure supply chain companies have the best chance of transitioning through this period. Independent Senators such as Nick Xenophon have responded positively and are supporting this position. In addition to the roundtable workshops, the Victorian Government is hosting trade missions to China, Malaysia and the US in the coming months which will assist supply chain companies exposure to those markets. In particular, the recognition of Malaysia as a key opportunity and trading partner has resulted in the appointment of two in-country representatives tasked with building the relationship between the Malaysian automotive industry and Australian for the future of our industry. These include proposals to build electric cars, establish Australian owned car companies and even building a national supercar – the JOSS which can compete with directly with supercar marques like Ferrari and Lamborghini and is looking to raise funds through modern digital means including crowdsourcing. At the recent FAPM Southern Region, the mood was upbeat and positive. “At the recent FAPM Southern Region, the mood was upbeat and positive... Companies are determined to pursue all avenues to remain viable and keep industry in Australia” The JOSS JP1, a potential Australian made supercar. Featuring locally made parts and components. Federal Shadow Industry Minister Senator Kim Carr recently highlighted the importance of keeping an automotive industry in Australia post2017 in his response to the release of the Productivity Commission’s final report into Automotive manufacturing in Australia. It is paramount that ATS funding remains at its original amount until vehicles are no longer manufactured in Australia and the supply chain is clear on its direction post-2017. The Hon Ian Macfarlane recently announced the opening of the Automotive Diversification Programme (ADP). The ADP is a $20m federal government fund that provides grants to companies willing to invest in capital for manufacturing and is part of the larger $155m Growth Fund program designed to support employees at the carmakers and manufacturing in regional and new industries. suppliers. Automotive Supplier Excellence Australia (ASEA) Director Linsey Siede and Program Manager Peter Taylor are sharing the role and spending time in Malaysia building alliances and searching for opportunities. Other industry associations, including FAPM, are working through the capabilities and transition of supply chain companies. In South Australia, the SA Automotive Taskforce has been announced. Led by former Industry Minister Greg Combet AM, the taskforce will work on the impact of the closure of GM Holden’s facilities and opportunities in the broader economy. Australia has an innovative economy and amongst all the activity, new entrants are also looking to capitalise on the transition from volume vehicle manufacturing. In recent months a number of new companies have vocalised their bold plans The initial grieving period of knowing the landscape will change forever is over and companies are determined to pursue all avenues to remain viable and keep industry in Australia. The supply chain is resilient and mature, the management teams are strong and experts in their field. The focus is to keep cars coming off the production line as long as possible, secure funding assistance, build new markets and find industries where the supply chains capabilities can best be utilised. The FAPM supports our members and will continue to work to achieve these goals. CONTACT Richard Reilly CEO, FAPM PH: 03 9863 2400 EM: info@fapm.com.au WEB: www.fapm.com.au VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 35 INDUSTRY PARTNERS transportation and utilities costs and the third highest labour costs, see figure 1. As a result, there has been a progressive reduction in locally sourced automotive components by motor vehicle producers. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION: FINAL REPORT The Commission noted submissions from FAPM in this context, in particular that: FINAL REPORT RELEASED. AN ASSESSMENT ON IT'S AFFECT ON THE INDUSTRY. Evan Stents - Lead Partner, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers The Productivity Commission has released its Final Report setting out its recommendations on the future of government funding of the automotive industry. The Final Report follows on from the Interim Report of 20 December 2013 and Position Paper of 31 January 2014. Final Report Context. The Commission's Final Report observes, among other things, that government funding of the automotive industry needs to be considered in the following context: Motor vehicle producers operate in highly competitive global and domestic automotive markets and are moving to global platforms and investing in large-scale plants in low-cost locations in regions of growing demand such as Brazil, China, India and Thailand; Australian motor vehicle production would need to at least double or triple its output to be cost-competitive for global manufacturers, and has been unable to withstand relentless pressure to lower manufacturing costs throughout the automotive supply chain (identified as a key issue by many inquiry participants, including the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers 36 (FAPM) for the long-term viability of the Australian automotive industry); The ability to increase Australian motor vehicle production to cost-competitive levels has been constrained by Australia's small and highly fragmented new car market, a lack of exports, the high value of the Australian dollar and international barriers to trade; and Australia is the second most expensive country in which to manufacture automotive components (behind Japan), has the highest Philippines 1.66 Brazil 6.39 $ Italy Global Manufacturing Labour Costs 24.86 UK 24.98 Austria US 27.53 27.73 Belgium 28.34 Canada 28.60 Sweden 29.25 Finland 29.52 Germany 30.46 Ireland 31.03 33.70 Australia Switzerland Denmark 10 0 3. Recent decisions by Holden and Toyota to cease manufacturing had accelerated the timing and severity of structure adjustment to the industry, making the timing of policy decisions critical; and 4. A u s t r a l i a n m o t o r v e h i c l e producers are supported by a complex logistical chain of about 160 business involved in the engineering, design, tooling and manufacturing of automotive components (not including aftermarket-only suppliers). After taking into account inquiry participants' submissions, the Commission's concluded view of the future of automotive subsidies is, in summary, that: 25.58 Netherlands 2. Australia has several advantages as a production centre for smaller or 'niche' manufacturing activities (for example, electric vehicle manufacturing); Report Conclusions. Automotive Subsidies. 22.38 France 1. Government assistance to the Automotive industry was relatively low by international standards; 20 30 AU$, 2014 Net government subsidies of $30 billion between 1997 and 2012 only delayed the inevitable structural 40.48 change that the Australian auto41.03 motive industry is now going 40 through; Note: Direct pay for time worked is wages and salaries for time actually worked. Source: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2011. Figure 1. International comparison of hourly direct pay for time worked in manufacturing. Chart Source: International Labour Organization, 2013 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA July 2014 The cost benefit of industry-specific assistance to automotive manufacturing firms is too low to justify extending INDUSTRY PARTNERS industry-specific funding beyond the existing funding arrangements, which are set to end in 2017; Industry specific assistance risks locking firms into loss-making ventures and hinders rather than promotes businesses from adjusting to changing market conditions; The Automotive Transformation Scheme (ATS) should be closed after Ford, Holden and Toyota have ceased manufacturing motor vehicles in Australia as there are unlikely to be any eligible claimants on ATS funding after Ford, Holden and Toyota's manufacturing plants close; Governments should not provide any further ongoing or ad hoc assistance, including capital subsidies to the automotive industry, beyond what is already committed through the Automotive New Markets Program, ATS, Green Car Innovation Fund and other programs under the Automotive New Markets Initiative after their scheduled closure in 2015-16; and For those individuals affected by the structural change in the automotive industry, government may choose instead to direct funding to help minimise hardship, such as the $50 million committed under the Automotive Industry Structural Adjustment Program (AISAP), scheduled to run until 2017, to assist with job searching and basic skills training. Otherwise, the Commission recommends government policy be directed towards increasing productivity and competitiveness of the economy generally (the Commission cited industrial relations laws as one area of government policy which could be reviewed). The Commission also considered that there are 233,000 people employed in the repair, maintenance and retailing of motor vehicles and parts in 2013 who will not be significantly affected by the end of Australian automotive manufacturing. Policy Changes. It is against the large scale importation of 'end of life' vehicles from another jurisdiction into the Australian market; Abolishing the Luxury Car Tax; If there is to be liberalisation of largescale importation of second-hand vehicles, it would require a transition period to allow stakeholders in the industry to adjust and respond to the impact of any import surge; and The Commission recommended other policies to enhance the automotive industry, as follows: A gradual relaxation of restrictions under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 (Cth) on obtaining Vehicle Import Approval for the importation of second-hand vehicles commencing by no earlier than 2018; Consumers would be at risk in thinking that used imports may have the manufacturer's backing from a warranty and spare parts perspective. The Commission has taken on board AADA's submission in its recommendations, stating that: Any changes to the current regulatory arrangements should be progressively phased in, with advance notice given to affected businesses; and Harmonizing Australian Design Rules with their European counterparts and introduce mutual recognition of other appropriate vehicle standards; Abolishing the $12,000 second-hand import duty as soon as practicable; Removing government fleet purchasing policies that favour Australian-manufactured vehicles once Ford, Holden and Toyota cease manufacturing operations; and Abolishing the 5% tariff on vehicles imported into Australia (noting that there are already exceptions where preferential trade agreements are in place) once Ford, Holden and Toyota cease manufacturing operations. AADA Recommendations. The Commission noted in its Final Report the submissions from the Australian Automotive Dealers Association (AADA) concerning the relaxation on restrictions on importing second-hand vehicles. In particular, AADA submitted that: Relaxation of second-hand vehicle import restrictions should begin with vehicles less than five years old. The Next Steps. The Productivity Commission Inquiry Report should be considered in the context of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development's impending review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act and Regulations. While the Department has yet to release the timetable for the review it should be released very shortly. This review will consider amongst a number of issues whether existing motor vehicle standards are adequate and whether any relaxation of standards will adversely impact on consumer safety. CONTACT Evan Stents Lead Partner, Automotive Industry Group, HWLE Lawyers PH: (03) 8644 3509 EM: estents@hwle.com.au WEB: www.hwlebsworth.com.au VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 37 INDUSTRY PARTNERS MESSAGE FROM AUTOCRC CEO IAN CHRISTENSEN ENCOURAGES AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY TO CONSIDER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT. Ian Christensen - CEO, AutoCRC Recently there has been a surge in activity to identify new opportunities for companies and organisations in the automotive-related space. AutoCRC, through its business excellence and research divisions has been in the midst of this endeavour, assisting automotive companies to raise their skills, develop new technologies and find new opportunities. “Australia holds a great amount of automotive manufacturing knowhow and we have received expressions of interest from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India to access this capability” The Asian region is one of growth and opportunity, but the path to successful engagement is not always clear. Fortunately, AutoCRC has some good connections in Asia, and a particularly close relationship with Malaysia through the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI). From these contacts we believe there are numerous opportunities for Australian companies to do business with local companies and we are now working to identify and initiate the relevant contacts and discussions. AutoCRC’s business excellence division, Automotive Supplier Excellence Australia (ASEA), is now providing two Victorian Government funded automotive in-market advocates who are on the ground in Malaysia 38 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER facilitating business for Victorian manufacturing companies with Malaysian counterparts. ASEA Director, Linsey Siede and Program Manager, Peter Taylor, will each spend two weeks per month based in the MAI offices identifying opportunities that allow Victorian companies to access the expanding South East Asian automotive industry and markets. This process will be supported by the next Victorian Government trade mission to Malaysia in September. This mission will include a trade show featuring both Australian and Malaysian suppliers and this will give companies the opportunity to demonstrate their products and capability to the Malaysian supply chain and OEMs. If your company is operating in the automotive space and is looking for opportunities, AutoCRC encourages you to make contact with our ASEA team for assistance and suggestions. We would also encourage you to engage with the various initiatives of the Victorian and South Australian State Governments. Australia holds a great amount of automotive manufacturing knowhow and we have received expressions of interest from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India to access this capability. Furthermore, the long term success of Australian specialist AUSTRALASIA July 2014 automotive manufacturers, whose future lies in business expansion in the region, will be assisted by improving the global competitiveness of the car industries in these adjacent countries. It might be in everybody’s interest therefore for export minded Australian companies to partner with companies overseas and contribute to improvements in the overseas automotive manufacturing performance. And what of Australia-based manufacturing? Contrary to popular opinion it is not dead. There are numerous examples in the Australian manufacturing community of companies that successfully dominate a niche in the global market. They have achieved this position in every case by a combination of passion for product and service excellence, finding solutions to difficult problems, continuous innovation to stay at the front of their field, and close engagement with their global customer base. This high performance route is demonstrably successful and provides the basis for ongoing expansion and development. AutoCRC can assist with going down this path on a number of levels. We have resources and contacts available to help with technology development, optimisation of business and production processes and also identification of new business opportunities. Redarc, the innovative South Australian producer of mobile battery power systems, whose interview is recorded in an adjacent article, is just one of over 100 companies that have already enjoyed the benefits of engagement with the AutoCRC team. We invite you to follow their lead and contact us for assistance. CONTACT Ian Christensen CEO, AutoCRC PH: (03) 9948 0450 EM: enquiries@autocrc.com WEB: www.autocrc.com INDUSTRY PARTNERS REDARC SUCCESS STORY COMMITMENT TO BOTH INNOVATION AND BUSINESS EXCELLENCE MAKE A POWERFUL COMBINATION. Automotive power management systems manufacturer Redarc is an Australian manufacturing success story. Located in the Lonsdale area of Adelaide, the company has over 30 years of experience in the research, design, development and manufacture of a range of electronic voltage converters and associated products. These include inverters, power supplies, battery chargers, CANBus modules, turbo timers, glow plug timers, trailer braking products and customised electronic modules. In essence, Redarc’s products can be found in any moving vehicle that uses battery power including cars, boats, rail, trucks, mining equipment, bus and emergency vehicles. The company has won a number of manufacturing and innovation awards - including Telstra Australian Business of the Year in August 2014 - and has grown to have over 100 employees with big plans for the future. Quality and innovation are hallmarks of the company’s approach to business. As Redarc Managing Director Anthony Kittel explains, “You need to be an innovator, a learning organisation, and you need scale. And they’re the three things that we’re after.” AutoCRC’s involvement with Redarc has been in two different but related areas. Firstly, by providing business advisory services and secondly, by acting as facilitator, contributing funder and external collaborator in the company’s research and development activities. The most logical approach to research and new product development for a company is to firstly ensure that the business and its systems are operating effectively and smoothly. Being an enterprise run emphatically along logical lines, that’s exactly what Redarc did. Redarc Quality and Business Improvement Manager, Paul Nolan, explains, “AutoCRC’s business team – ASEA - did a review of the business, in effect an audit. The report identified a number of areas where we could improve and that was very useful. This has allowed us to continue to build a business that is innovative - that’s an overused word, but we are a very innovative business. “ASEA helped us develop a project management system. Our goal was to develop a stage gate management system. They helped us set in place a dashboard that allows us to actually ‘see’ where projects are, so you can visualize where the projects are in relation to the ‘gates’ or the stages where they should be. This system shows how much labour we’re using, how much we need, and whether we’re behind in any facet of the process, for example. These dashboards are now an ongoing part of our business. We even have them in our canteen. This very much helps to further develop cross functional team work within the business. “The most logical approach to research and development is to firstly ensure that the business and its systems are operating effectively and smoothly” “With projects, you can create silos. And unfortunately, getting information from one silo to another can be very difficult, so this is helping to break this down,” Paul Nolan says. “The stage gate system breaks projects down into a number of phases, with key deliverables for each The Redarc factory, located in the Lonsdale area of Adelaide. VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER AUSTRALASIA www.saea.com.au 39 INDUSTRY PARTNERS department, to deliver in each phase. It also sequences the project so that everything is done in a logical order.” Anthony Kittel adds, “ASEA has been about the practical enhancement of our business. The system they have helped us to introduce will be the platform that will allow us to look at much bigger projects. You need to have all your systems and processes in place from the start. It is imperative that any new management system introduced does not strangle the business and it is essential that you keep the nimbleness and the innovation within an organisation. “This has helped us drive up our capability, by improving lean, and strategy and process management. ASEA also worked with us on innovation, and enhancing the culture within the organisation, as well as having all the tools in place to ensure an efficient operation, so that we are able to maximize our commercialization opportunities.” Innovative companies like Redarc are always on the lookout for the next opportunity. This means they are very active in research and development and understand the need to collaborate with other organisations where necessary to make things happen. Redarc is currently involved in an exciting research project with the University of Wollongong looking at improved and vastly more efficient battery management systems for electrical vehicles. “AutoCRC assisted with the facilitation, helped with the networking and collaboration and provided the subsidy which means we contribute 40 VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER only half the cost of the research,’ Anthony Kittel says. “The battery management system is a critical component in electric vehicles. A key issue with batteries is the longevity and time between charges, and being able to assess the state of health of the battery non-invasively. Getting that feedback on the battery’s condition, especially in an electric vehicle, is paramount. The battery management system is going to be able to provide us with the ability to monitor the health of the battery – so it doesn’t overcharge, de-charge too much, overheat, or potentially create fires.” he says. “An improved for example. Following this, management may say ‘you know, we wouldn’t mind having a look at a few new products. We’d like to grow. We’d like to diversify’. That’s where our research and development work comes into play.” battery management system such as this is transferable to other areas, potentially ships, submarines, and elsewhere. So this is a very exciting new technology.” more than 150 years and companies like Redarc are maintaining this high standing and reputation. Redarc is clearly highly committed to R&D. “We invest roughly 15 percent of our revenue in research and development each year,” Anthony Kittel says. “This is three times higher than the average technology company. As our company grows we want to be doing fewer projects - bigger projects, but with much better outcomes. The relationship with AutoCRC has allowed us to undertake a much larger project than what we would have been able to do on our own, and with a lot more partners.” AutoCRC’s CEO Ian Christensen speaks of the CRC’s over-arching role. “Our goal is to first get companies up the ladder with the advisory services, making them more competitive. This may see an organisation being ‘5Sed’, the waste taken out, value stream mapping introduced, AUSTRALASIA July 2014 And so, where to next for Redarc? “The technology we are working on has the potential to be useful in defence, for example, submarines,” Anthony Kittel says. “We own some intellectual property in this space, and at the right time we’ll commercialize that. Australian manufacturing has a reputation for excellence forged over “We are a high quality manufacturer, and the after sales service we provide is better than anyone else in the industry. Our focus is always on the customer. We have a policy of absolutely no questions asked, in the unlikely event of an issue with one of our products. Making premium quality products while embracing an unequivocal commitment to customer service is how we run our business. And this must be the way forward for Australian manufacturing.” CONTACT Jacqueline King Communications Manager, AutoCRC MB: jvking@autocrc.com EM: 0404 045 293 WEB: www.autocrc.com AUTOCRC TECHNICAL CONFERENCE 20-21 OCTOBER 2014 MElBOuRnE COnvEnTiOn CEnTRE AustrAliA FeAturing guest sPeAkers: heAr ABout the lAtest reseArch ProF. görAn roos DePt. For MAnuFActuring, innovAtion, trADe, resources AnD energy chAir, ADvAnceD MAnuFActuring council network & shAre iDeAs Discuss inDustry relevAnt issues The future of manufacturing Dr DAviD Finn tritiuM Pty ltD conFerence theMes: chieF executive oFFicer & FounDer The Ev fast-charging technology taking the world by storm and how it happened BREAKTHROugH BATTERy ADvAnCED Ev & HyBRiD POwERTRAinS ProF. huei Peng university oF MichigAn uPTAKE Of AlTERnATivE EnERgy fOR TRAnSPORT Design and control of Hybrid Electric vehicles ProFessor, MechAnicAl engineering; us Director, us - chinA cleAn energy reseArch center - cleAn vehicle consortiuM BriAn thiele Futuris AutoMotive interiors fAST fill, HigH CAPACiTy STORAgE SOluTiOnS chieF technicAl oFFicer Supply chain success in Asia – how it can happen ligHTwEigHT STRuCTuRES Plus: ADvAnCED COATingS • Comment from AutoCRC CEO, ian Christensen and Professor Aleksandar Subic, Dean of Engineering, RMiT university • Senior researchers presenting across all research themes • MC Chris Keogh, Troupe Du jour EnjOy TwO full DAyS Of infORMATiOn, iDEAS AnD nETwORKing fOR Only $295 ($150 For stuDents) register here: wiRED.ivvy.COM/EvEnT/TECH14 PRinCiPAl SPOnSOR COnfEREnCE PARTnERS TECHniCAl THEME SPOnSORS Suncorp Group Suncorp Group, through its stable of Personal Insurance brands including AAMI, GIO and Apia, partners with hundreds of quality repairers around Australia to deliver around 500,000 passenger vehicle repairs each year. The Suncorp Vehicle Repairer Standard gives customers the confidence they are dealing with an insurance Group which values safety and vehicle integrity in every repair, and repairers who are just as committed to vehicle safety and meeting customer needs.

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