CES 2022: Ansys is sharing big tech updates about its support of the AV industry

A local simulations software company is making waves at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Ahead of the annual summit, which brings together companies from across the globe to present new products and technology in the title industry, Canonsburg’s Ansys announced that it would be sharing multiple updates around its sustainable mobility platforms.

Simulation capabilities are essential to the manufacturing processes required by cars and other vehicles, even before considering updates needed for autonomy, electrification or any other of the rapidly changing technologies in the industry. With its software, Ansys aims to streamline the adaptations needed in new manufacturing processes in order to speed the go-to-market timeline for all companies in the automotive industry.

At the end of December, Ansys published a statement on eight highlights of the new capabilities behind its simulations that it would be sharing at CES, which is happening now through Saturday in Las Vegas. Among those were simulations for electric vehicles, 4D imaging radar to identify dangers on the road and LiDAR technology enhancements.

Autonomous vehicle safety

These updates also involve partnerships with other companies, like international adhesive and materials company 3M (which also has offices in Pittsburgh), autonomous vehicle company EasyMile, and LiDAR sensor and perception software manufacturer Innoviz Technologies, about which Ansys released more info as the summit began.

Most notable are the latter two, which directly relate to the soon-to-be-deployed tech of autonomous vehicles.

With EasyMile — a company headquartered in Toulouse, France — Ansys developed a platform to model and demonstrate safety throughout the vehicles’ various development cycles. EasyMile’s vehicles perform at level 4 autonomy, meaning that a human won’t intervene unless there’s system failure, which increases the need for the safety assurances that Ansys’ safety analysis software, called medini analyze, can offer.

“It has been difficult in the past to demonstrate the safety of our products to clients,” said Romain Dupont, a safety and cybersecurity manager for EasyMile, in a statement. “Ansys medini analyze really helps us to streamline the process and bring it all together in a way that our clients can understand. Together with Ansys’ support, we’re helping shape future standards for autonomous vehicle safety.”

LiDAR sensors

Ansys’ partnership with Innoviz Technologies also has ties to the autonomous vehicle industry, as LiDAR sensors are often used for 3D representations for those vehicles. While LiDARs are commonplace in the AV industry, high-quality ones are still a challenge to manufacture and transport, though they’re needed for level 3 through 5 autonomy.

But with the help of Ansys’ multiphysics expertise, the two companies were able to simulate different iterations until they were able to integrate all the necessary components into one chip that met manufacturing industry standards and performance needs.

“We rely on Ansys capabilities to run structural analysis to understand the stresses and temperature variations of our chips,” said Oren Buskila, chief R&D officer and cofounder at Innoviz, in a statement. “We also use Ansys for dynamic simulation to understand vibration characteristics, and thermal simulation to see if we can dissipate the amount of power from the main components inside, like the laser. Ansys provides excellent simulation software and we value their experience in the automotive space to help us solve our biggest design challenges.”

Good news for Pittsburgh

All of these updates and the others presented by Ansys at CES position the company to be a strong support for the autonomous vehicle industry, which will be necessary for Pittsburgh to become a global hub. The company’s increased software capabilities also bode well for a year when commercial launches from AV companies are expected.

The company statements also noted that Ansys reps would host and take part in discussions on engineering simulation for mobility at the summit.

“2022 promises to be a pivotal year in democratization of simulation software to accelerate digital engineering transformation,” Ansys CTO Prith Banerjee said. “Virtual prototyping and testing create new business opportunities while also reducing costs and slashing development time. We look forward to showcasing our industry-leading mobility solutions and engaging with our customers and partners at CES.”