Munich. On the occasion of the BMW iNEXT prototype
production, the BMW Group is offering an exclusive glimpse behind the
scenes of its Pilot Plant in the heart of the Research
Innovation Centre (FIZ). Prototypes of all vehicles are manufactured
long before actual market launch, under the strictest secrecy in
specially restricted areas of the facility. They are used for testing
and to prepare for series assembly later. Experts from development and
production work in close collaboration. When series manufacturing of
the fully electric BMW iNEXT is launched in 2021, it will run on the
same assembly line as combustion-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
Udo Hänle, head of Production Integration and Pilot Plant: “Preparing
a fully electric vehicle for series production is an exciting but
challenging task. By the time of the official start of production, we
will have built as many as 100 prototypes of the BMW iNEXT. Until
then, the Pilot Plant will use a range of new innovations to
streamline and speed up our processes even further. We are also
already preparing our first production associates from Plant
Dingolfing to work on the new product.”
New innovations improve quality of production processes
The process steps for series production are defined and matured at
the Pilot Plant, where experts also validate all of the vehicle
functions, including electric and automated driving functions, and
sensors for driver assistance systems. In addition, associates working
on the BMW iNEXT are making use of brand-new digital tools for the
very first time to support more intelligent, efficient operations.
The first few bodies-in-white of the BMW iNEXT are being assembled in
the Pilot Plant bodyshop. The various sections are bonded with the
help of a new technology: rotary bonding. This joins aluminium and
high-strength steel by using the friction heat generated as a steel
element pierces an aluminium part. The heat of the steel part fuses
the two components.
Once assembled, the bodies undergo detailed checks by laser radar, an
automated measurement technology that quickly identifies individual
surface characteristics. This solution eliminates the need to place
measurement points manually, as has been done until now. The new
optical process also dramatically shortens the time required for
measurements to be made.
Complete surfaces of body parts are further examined using a
high-resolution scanner located in a virtual measuring room. Data
obtained here is compared fully automatically with the CAD model of
the part, delivering the required information much faster than
conventional methodologies.
An augmented reality app is radically speeding up the way bolts in
the floor assembly are identified and compared with the CAD model. The
app is an important innovation that verifies their precise position
and completeness. As well as reducing complexity, it makes cooperation
between the various specialist departments even more efficient.
The BMW Group also uses computer tomography to test prototypes in the
early stages of development. In a dedicated testing system in the
Pilot Plant, four closely coordinated robots create X-rays of the
vehicle by a scanning process. Moving around the outside, they face
each other in two pairs and send the X-rays to their opposites. The
data they gather is used to calculate a multilayered 3D image. This
can be used to analyse the internals of the entire vehicle. Computer
tomography allows new materials and bonding techniques to be examined
in minute detail without vehicles having to be dismantled. Previously
components had to be removed and taken apart for analysis. The system
picks up objects as small as 100 micro-metres – approximately the
width of a human hair.
Digitalisation opens up new opportunities for design and
efficiency in production
Digitalisation is opening up new perspectives for enhancing
production systems. Virtual models of workers are helping vehicle
experts to define assembly processes early on. Before the first
prototypes are even made, they can ensure workplaces are ergonomic and
offer easy access not only to the inside of the vehicle to bolt in
rear axles or integrate charging sockets, for example, but also to the
various parts that need fitting.
When it comes to flexible components such as brake hoses, the
specialists at the Pilot Plant use software to simulate their
behaviour inside the vehicle. Digital tools offer insights into the
dimensions and subsequent behaviour of fitted parts considerably
earlier and more quickly. The software solution replaces the complex,
costly construction of test setups used until now.
Radar sensors supporting the driver assistance systems and automated
driving are tested and calibrated on a new innovation test rig. This
ensures they can be fitted to vehicles without difficulty later on, in
series production.
BMW iNEXT is the technology flagship
With the proportions and dimensions of a luxury Sports Activity
Vehicle, a fifth-generation electric drive unit and systems for highly
automated driving, the BMW iNEXT embodies the future of driving
pleasure in a particularly comprehensive way. As the BMW Group’s
future modular construction system, it combines the latest innovations
in the areas of design, automated driving, connectivity,
electrification and services (D+ACES) defined by the NUMBER ONE
NEXT corporate strategy. The BMW eDrive ensures a range in excess of
600 kilometres*. Furthermore, the car is equipped with the latest
connectivity features and designed for Level 3 automated driving.
All figures relating to driving performance, consumption, emissions
and range are provisional.
Pilot Plant as a Competence Centre of the
BMW Group
The BMW Group’s Pilot Plant is located in the Research
Innovation Centre in Munich, with three further associated facilities
to the north of the city, in Hallbergmoos, Oberschleissheim and
Garching. With a total area of 100,000 m2, it is home to
850 associates, who work on up to six vehicle projects simultaneously.
Like the series plants, the Pilot Plant can assemble both electrically
and combustion-powered prototypes. As the interface between
development and production, it allows not only the product but also
the series assembly processes to be refined to maturity, ready for
transfer to regular plants where they are used in series production.
The Pilot Plant comprises a bodyshop as well as assembly, prototype
and concept car construction units, and the Additive Manufacturing
Centre, a centre of excellence for 3D printing.
The details marked * have already been calculated based on the new
WLTP test cycle.