Crash test dummies go digital

Virtual reality and simulation are now key steps in the manufacturing of tractors and other machinery.

CNH Industrial dedicates a five hectare complex in Modena, Italy, to simulation, design and prototype testing of its agricultural and industrial machinery, including tractors and headers.

CNH Industrial, global director of design analysis and simulation, Gennaro Monacelli, said digital simulation was being used across the board in tractor design, in everything from safety, ergonomics and fuel consumption, to crop and soil implement interactions.

“We live in the age of digital revolution,” Mr Moncelli said.

“The new digital technologies will transform the way we think, the way we design and the way we produce our products.”

Mr Monacelli said digital technology allowed CNH to work internationally, collaborating on the early stages of development and engineering.

“This allows us to reduce the time to market and improve product performance,” he said.

“And we can map out new agricultural machinery years before a standard prototype could be bought to market.”

Mr Monacelli said of the more than 900 employees based at the Modena site, about 57 per cent were professional management and engineers.

“This technology requires new skills and new jobs,” he said.

“High performance computing (HPC) has reduced the requirement for crash test dummies and costly physical prototypes.

“We can evaluate the safety of our products and their structural integrity.”

Mr Monacelli said thermal and aerodynamics of the machinery could be evaluated, giving the example of temperature simulations monitoring air-flow around a working tractor, which exceeded measurements that could be made physically in the paddock.

CNH Industrial is the parent company of agricultural machinery brands Case IH and New Holland, FTP Powertrain Technologies as well as trucking company Iveco.

- Sharon O’Keeffe visited CNH Industrial, Modena as a guest of FTP powertrain technologies.