5 trends in the automotive industries - Future by Semcon # 2 2013

futurebysemcon#22013
“Idon’tgetoutof
thewateruntilI
candothetrick”
HELÉN HOLMGREN
AFTER
WORK
name Helén Holmgren.
at workTechnical illustrations for
companies like Volvo Cars and Qoros.
after work Kitesurf as often as I can.
current challenge Fixing a“blind judge”,
which is a difficult kitesurfing trick.
TEXT:MAGNUSCARLSSONFOTO:ANNASIGVARDSSON
About me
“I’m very stubborn and don’t give up
until I’ve done what I set out to do.I’m
30 years old and live with my boyfriend
in Göteborg,but it sometimes feels like
I live on the motorway to the sea.I surf
as often as I can,meaning lots of trips to
and fromVarberg on the Swedish west
coast.”
About work
“I started at Semcon as a construction
engineer,but after a while wanted fresh
challenges and became an illustrator.I
currently work a lot with illustrations for
Volvo’s product and service information.
It’s creative and a lot of fun.”
About kitesurfing
“I started five years ago after taking a
kite surfing course inVarberg,and then I
was addicted to it.When I surf I can really
let go of everything else and just focus
on what I’m doing.I surf as much as I can
and have been on surfing holidays to
Australia,the Philippines and Zanzibar.
I’m a team surfer for a shop in
Varberg,but I don’t compete.I com-
peted in athletics when I was younger
and became so tired of competing
that when I stopped I promised never to
compete in anything else again.”
What I’ve learned from kitesurfing
“Kitesurfing has made me tougher.I
now know that it’s possible to be good at
anything,even if you find it hard to be-
gin with.When I make up my mind to do
a trick I don’t get out of the water until
I’m satisfied and have done the trick.I’m
sometimes out very late in the evening,
so it’s a good job that the sun doesn’t set
until very late during the summer.”
FACTS: KITESURFING
Kitesurfers use a kite and a surf-
board to make their way through
the water.The sport was developed
in the 70s when people experi-
mented with various forms of kites,
but it only became commercially
popular at the end of the 90s.
+
A MAGAZINE ABOUT THE ART
OF CREATING THE FUTURE
#2 2013
TRENDS THAT
ARE CHANGING
THE AUTOMOTIVE
INDUSTRY
VOLVOTRUCKS
EYEINGTHE
FUTURE
ELIFÖZCANVIEIRAABOUT
THEIMPORTANCEOF
SOUNDDESIGN
HOWCRYO
KEEPSHELIUM
(REALLY)COLD

2 FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013
CONTENTS #2.2013ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON
36Futuremodel
VolvoTruckshasspenttenyearsdeveloping
itsflagship,theVolvoFH.Joinusonthetest
trackandinthedesignstudiowhereSemcon
hashelpedwiththedevelopment.

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 3
32 MEETSEMCON’S
SHARPESTMINDS
InSemconBrainsmeetCharlotte
Wellrath-Jacobssonwhosavesspare
partsandmoneyforcustomers,
XuehongFuwhodevelopsenginesfor
DaimlerandErikaKlinglerwhocoaches
customersinsuccessfulleadership.
14 SAFEAPPSINCARS
Consumersdemandthem,buthow
doyoumakeappsincarssafeand
functional?Semcon,alongwithVolvo
Cars,tookonthechallengeaspartofan
innovationproject.
Website: semcon.com Letters: Future by Semcon, Semcon AB, 417 80 Göteborg, Sweden. Change of address: future@semcon.com
Publisher: Anders Atterling, tel: +46 (0)70-447 28 19, email: anders.atterling@semcon.com Semcon project manager: Madeleine
Andersson, tel: +46 (0)76-569 83 31, email: madeleine.andersson@semcon.com Editorial production: Spoon, spoon.se. Editor: Katarina
Misic. Designer:Mathias Lövström.Repro: Spoon. Printing:TrydellsTryckeri,Laholm.Translation: Cannon Språkkonsult AB.ISSN: 1650-9072.
EDITORIAL
The future is already here
22 LIQUIDHELIUM
–ACHILLYCHALLENGE
Storingheliumisachillypieceofpreci-
sion,whereafewdegreesofinaccuracy
cancostmillionsofkronor.Cryoisoneof
fewcompaniesthatcandothisandcon-
structionengineerMatthewHawkins
fromSemconhasbeenhelpingthem.
28 SOUNDDESIGNTHAT
MAKESADIFFERENCE
ElifÖzcanVieiraresearcheshow
consumersareaffectedbyproducts’
sounddesign.Readmoreabouthow
productsoundscanbeusedtostrengthen
brands,enhancefeelingsandpromotethe
productexperiencetonewlevels.
MARKUS GRANLUND,CEOSEMCON
T
he auto industry has been a goldmine
and driving force for new technologies
for over 100 years. It’s given us free-
dom and mobility in a way that would
have been hard to imagine a century ago. But it’s
also an industry facing challenges and change,
which will change the bedrock of its business
and products it creates. Many in the auto in-
dustry’s ecosystem consider this development
disturbing, others see it as a way of creating
new opportunities for innovative technological
development.
In this issue of Future by Semcon we look
closely at the five trends we believe will shape
the auto industry’s future – and what’s striking
is that the future, to a certain degree, is already
here. Semcon’s ambition is to create the future
together with its customers and it’s in the auto
industry that we will encounter many new, ex-
citing challenges over the coming years.
In this issue we have also visited Volvo
Trucks’test track and design studio to take a
closer look at their flagship, the Volvo FH. You
can also read about how to keep helium really
cold (-269°C) at Cryo, how to work with IT se-
curity at the highest level at secunet in Germany
and why you should invest in designing sound
into your products. You also, as usual, get to
meet some of our experts at Semcon who are
the foundation of our own and our cus-
tomers’future. Happy reading! 1

PEOPLE #2.2013PEOPLE IN THIS ISSUE OF FUTURE BY SEMCON
The auto industry is facing challenges that could revolutionize
the entire industry. Meet some people in Future by Semcon who
talk about the future of the auto industry.
elifözcanvieira,bscinsounddesignandassistant
professoratdesignaestheticside/tudelft
What doessounddesignmeanforcarsofthefuture?
“Acarhas twolisteners:thedriverand thepersonon thestreet.Tomorrow,like
today,soundwillbeneeded toprovidedriverswithinformativefeedbackabout
speed,brakingandengineproblems.But I’mhopingforachangein theoutside
sound–quietercars that warnof theirarrivalinotherways.”
viacheslavizosimov,safetysystemsmanageratsemcon
Aredriverlesscarsarealisticfuturevision?
“Yes.We’llbeseeingacompletelyautonomouscarreallysoon.But it’sdown to
customerdemand.Nobodywants tomakeaproduct that won’t sell.It’sabout
creatingvolumes.The technologyalreadyexists.”
17
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36
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28
PAGE
rikardorell,design
manager,volvotrucks
productdesign
What’sthebiggest challengefor
heavyvehiclesinthefuture?
“Energyandfuelconsumption.Clarify-
ing thisandallothersub-systemsina
functional,well-arrangeddesign.Also
expressingVolvo’sphilosophyandcore
valuesin thepureform.”

charlottewellrath-jacobsson,
sparepartsaftermarketspecialist,semcon
Howmuchmorecantheautoindustryoptimizehandlingspareparts
infuture?
“It’sallabout optimizingeverything,design,productionand theaf-
termarket.Onewayof tackling theproblemisexaminingwhat parts
arechangedat variousserviceandrepairintervals.It would thenbe
possible to“kit”variouspartsbypackaging them togetherundera
commonarticlenumber.Doit cleverlyandit wouldbepossible touse
different“kits”onanumberofmodels.Savingmoney.”
fuxuehong,teamleaderdesignengineering/
integrationandpowertrain/chassis,semcon
Howdoyouthinkcarengineswilldevelopoverthenext 20years?
“Ibelieve that theentireautoindustry’sfocusover thenext 20yearswillbe
governedbyhowenergysourcesdevelop.Consumershavestrict demands,but
ournaturalresourcesareindecline.Thequestionisife-mobilityisreally the
best andultimatesolutionforaneco-friendlyworldwithcars.I’mnot sosure.”
anderslindbom,technicalspecialist,
infotainment,volvocars
What’sthebiggest challengeinputtingappsintocars?
“Makingit interestingandsimplefor thirdpartydevelopers to
comeupwithapps that suit ourcars.Infotainment functionsare
increasinglyimportant whencustomerschoose theircars.Thepre-
requisitesforsuppliersshouldn’t be toospecific,whileVolvowants
tobeable toprovideitscustomerswithuniqueexperiences.”
33
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Newconditionsareprovidingnew
opportunitiesfortheautomotive
industry.Whoevercracksthecodewill
havethekeytoahugemarket. Here
arethetrendsthatwillaffectwhat
youdrive,howyoudrive–butalso
whowilldrivetomorrow’scar.
TEXT MARCUS OLSSON
TRENDS
CHANGINGTHE
AUTOMOTIVE
INDUSTRY

S
teve Mahan closes the door
to his house, goes out to his
light blue Toyota Prius parked
outside, gets in and drives off
to do his daily errands. Hardly
a revolutionary act, except that
Steve Mahan is nearly blind and
the car he’s in drives itself with
a rotating radar on the roof. The clip of Steve
Mahan on YouTube has been seen by over 4
million viewers since Google posted it in March
2012 and is, of course, not quite as straightfor-
ward as it may seem. The route Steve drives is
carefully programmed in advance and beside
him there is a Google technician who can inter-
vene if something goes wrong. There are still
many technical challenges and legal hurdles
before Steve can actually use a driverless car in
his day-to-day life, but no one can deny that
Google has come an amazingly long way since
it started its driverless car project in 2010.
EVERYONE, HOWEVER, IS NOT as impressed. The
chairman of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, com-
mented at a recent conference that“Google’s
self-driving car looks like a moon-landing
vessel”. For Zetsche, the future was more about
embedded sensors with wireless communica-
tion that can assist the driver during dull mo-
ments like traffic jams, but could hardly rule
out the driver completely out of the driving ex-
perience. Who will be right in the end remains
to be seen, but it’s an issue that could funda-
mentally change the car industry. Especially
considering that there are new players, such as
Google, Microsoft and Apple, starting to take
an interest in the future of mobility.
Driverless cars are not the only trend challeng-
ing the automotive industry. Views about mobili-
ty, about what we can do with a car, about the sta-
tus of owning a car, are in transition. In addition,
there are the technical challenges regarding how
the car of the future will be driven and how it can
be made safer, easier and smarter. Car manufac-
turers have to contend with endless choices in a
fragmented global market, still partly influenced
by the recent financial crisis and with new players
FOCUS:
THE AUTO INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE
“It is almost impossible to
predict beyond 10 to 15 years.
It is extremely difficult to
predict the technologies of
the future.”
Dr Irene Feige, director of the Institute for Mobility Research
PHOTO:KARENBLEIER/AFP/SCANPIX

knocking on the door, while at the same time it
has never been harder to predict what the future
will look like. Future takes a look at the key
trends that can shake up our view of mobility,
cars and the industry that has given us dreams
of freedom over the last 100 years.
1THE CAR BUYER IS CHANGING. Dr Irene
Feige is director of the Institute of Mobil-
ity Research in Munich. Together with her
colleagues, she’s trying to figure out how our
view of the future of mobility and transporta-
tion will look.
“Our timeline for various scenarios is usu-
ally between 10 and 15 years. It’s virtually
impossible to predict beyond that. Otherwise
it almost becomes Utopian. It’s extremely
difficult to predict the technologies of the
future,”she says.
On the board of the institute are players
such as Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn, MAN and
Siemens, but the institute is part of BMW
and demonstrates the importance of these
issues for one of the world’s most successful
car manufacturers.
“Many factors will change our views about
mobility. The fact that we are getting older
is one thing, the fact that we are becom-
ing healthier and living better is another.
This means that more people are driving for
longer, which in turn means that there will be
more cars in the future. One of our analyses
shows that this will offset the pattern we are
seeing in younger generations. In developed
countries, the average income for this group
of people has declined over the past 20 years.
They drive less frequently,”she says.
BMW’s analysis shows that a growing mid-
dle class and more people investing in their ca-
reers is leading to having families later in life.
“When people have a family they are more
likely to need a car. First-time car buyers are
getting older. There are greater demands on
better fuel economy, lower emissions and bet-
ter infotainment systems. We will therefore
see more variations of car models in the fu-
ture,”she says, continuing:
“The number of female buyers is increas-
ing, as is their influence when a family buys a
car. 20 years ago, it was much more common
for the driver to be a man, but female drivers
are becoming more and more commonplace.
By 2020, we could have as many as a billion
potential female car buyers.”
THERE IS A growing challenge regarding the
number of young people learning to drive de-

clining steadily - in some cases dramatically,
especially in American and European cities.
In Stockholm, now only 9% of 18-year-olds
in the city centre have a licence. In the US, the
number of 18-year-olds with driving licenses
fell from 80% to 65% in 25 years. The reason?
The costs of owning and driving a car, access
to alternative modes of transport and young
people social networking on the internet.
With more megacities on the rise, there are
also challenges regarding parking and emissions.
“Big cities like New York and London have
started to share their“big data”with their resi-
dents. This means that motorists can plan their
travel in a smarter way. Consumers and their
cars are directly connected to timetables and
traffic updates in real time. People can find out
the best way to travel between A and B, whether
it’s best to use the underground, cycle or drive,
for example. In the future, more people will
choose different options,”says Antony Douglas,
sales manager at BMW’s mobility service.
ONE SOLUTION IS car-sharing. Customers sign
up for a car pool. They pay a fixed monthly fee
and additional charges per mile driven.
“All the major car manufacturers are mov-
ing towards car-sharing solutions,”he says.
“BMW’s car sharing programme DriveNow
has upwards of 9,000 new customers each
month. However, in big cities like Berlin and
Munich, only 20% know what car sharing is.
As awareness grows, car sharing will increase.”
And with car-sharing (and by extension
the vision of driverless vehicles which can
be ordered as required, like a taxi) a different
view of the car is developing. Instead of a sta-
tus symbol that says something about us, the
car will be one of several available means of
transport where the main requirement is for
it to take us from A to B, rather than engine
performance, the colour of the paint or which
year it was made. In such a world, car manu-
facturers’revenue will be based on the number
of miles a vehicle can drive rather than the
S
tefanOhlsson,President forbusi-
nessareaAutomotiveR&Dat
Semcon,isconstantlylooking to the
future.Heworkscloselywith themajor
carmanufacturers.Heseesbigchanges
incompletelynewmarketsandemerg-
ingcustomergroups.
“TheBRICcountries–Brazil,Russia,
IndiaandChina- togetherwithwhat is
knownas theNext Elevenare thefuture
ofemergingmarkets,”Mr.Ohlssonsays.
“Chinahassucceededbycopyingother
technologiesandI thinkit willbecomea
successfulcountryofinnovation.TheChi-
nesewillcatchuponeverylevel.Qorosis
agoodexampleofanewChinesebrand.”
Ifhe’sright,manyof thenewcarbuyers
of thefutureareinBangladesh,Egypt,
Withtechnologyas
aprimemotivator
Asiahasthenewcustomersandmarkets
ofthefuture–andinnovationisthekey
inattractingthemtobuycars.ForStefan
Ohlsson,technologyisdrivingdevelop-
mentforward.
TEXT MARCUS OLSSON PHOTO LARS ARDARVE
NEW MARKETS AND CONSUMERS
FOCUS:

number of vehicles it can sell. This in turn
means that the lifespan of a car will become
more and more important, something that
will place quite different demands on devel-
opment departments within the car industry.
“The concept of short replacement cycles
will change as we move into the era of driver-
less cars and car manufacturers change from
selling cars to selling transport solutions. We
will be passengers rather than owners,”writes
Thomas Frey, an editor and author, in an arti-
cle on futuristspeaker.com.
2NEW MARKETS WILL TAKE OVER. It’s
not just the car users of the future who will
change their behaviour. The cars of the future will
not only be developed, manufactured or driven in
Europe, the USA or Japan. More like China, India
and Brazil. The world’s road map is being redrawn
and the car industry’s expansion in China is the
biggest reason. There has been a clear shift, and
Europe has lost its dominance as the world’s
most important manufacturing region.
In 2002, only three million vehicles were
manufactured in China. Just over a decade later,
the figure is nearly 20 million, according to a
report by OICA, the car manufacturers’organi-
zation.
The same survey states that manufactur-
ing in the U.S. has declined by 16%, to 10
million cars per year. At the same time, global
demand has risen by over 40%.
“The growth of the whole industry in China
has been phenomenal,”says Dayna Hart, Head
of Communications at General Motors China.
It has been the world’s largest market for the
past four years. And there is potential for
even greater growth.
TWO LARGE EMERGING markets are in south-east
Asia. Indonesia, with around 250 million peo-
ple, is about to overtake Thailand as the largest
market in the region. A report by the Boston
Consulting Group shows that there are current-
ly about 15 million Indonesians sufficiently af-
fluent to purchase new cars. By 2020 this group
is expected to be three times as large. Other big
emerging markets are India and Brazil.
Car ownership is low in developing coun-
tries, while disposable income is increasing
THEEXPERT
Stefan Ohlsson
Title:President forbusinessarea
AutomotiveR&D.
Indonesia,Iran,Mexico,Nigeria,Pakistan,
Turkey,SouthKoreaandVietnam.
“Whyis this thecase?Well,becauseof
alargepopulationandagrowingmiddle
class.Whenyoureachacertainstand-
ardofliving,manypeoplewant two
televisionsandacar.Volumeswillclearly
increasein thesecountries.”
With thehelpofnew technologiesand
widerrangesofmodels,newgroupsof
customersare temptedintobuyingcars.
“Therearemoremodelsindifferent
priceranges today.It isawayofadapting
to theneedsof theconsumer,ranging
from thefirst-timebuyer tofamilycars
andrecreationalvehicles.This,coupled
withalowercar-lifeexpectancy,isdriving
development in themarket.”
“Take theGolfasanexample.It isone
of theworld’sbest-sellingcars.Previously,
it hadalifeofnineor tenyearsbeforea
newmodelcameout.Thiswasduringthe
timeof theGolf1andGolf2.Nowweare
at theGolf7,andthecarshavealifespan
ofclosertofouryears,”Mr.Ohlssonsays.
Oneof themost important salesstrat-
egiesof thefutureis tosecurefirst-time
buyers.
“In theautomotiveworld-just like
inallconsumermarkets- thereisgreat
brandloyalty.It’seasier tosellanewcar
toanexistingcustomer thansellinga
newcar toabrandnewcustomer.What
wearegoingseeisalargeincreasein
low-pricedcars.InIndia,brandslikeMa-
hindraandSuzukiarebig.Todayyoucan
get acarforless than4,700Euro,within
afewyearsit willbe2,300Euro.”
Anotherinterestinggroupofcustom-
ersis thegenerations tocome.
“Formanypeopleof thenext genera-
tion,buyingacarwon’t beat the top
of thelist.For them,carswillbeabout
gettingfromA toB.Carsharingincar
poolswillbecomemorecommonfor
thisgroup.Thenit won’t beabout selling
onecar toonecustomer-maybeit’llbe
about sellingseveral thousandvehicles
toasinglecustomerwithacarpool.”
“Thenewmarketsandnewcustomers
willbeattractedtobuycarswithnewtech-
nology.Autonomousdrivingwillbecomea
reality,newpowertrainswillbedeveloped,
lightweightmaterialswillincrease,aswill
connectivity.Allofthisencouragesnew
technologicaldevelopments.”1
“The growth of the entire
industry in China has been
phenomenal. And there is
potential for even greater
growth.”
Dayna Hart, Communications Manager, General Motors China
percent is theexpectedannual
growthofChina’spremiumcar
market up to2020.
SOURCE: MCKINSEY& COMPANY

more there than in traditional markets. One of
the car manufacturers’main challenges is to
establish themselves in advance of long-term
investments in these markets.
However, the largest growth market is un-
doubtedly China. There, the number of cars sold
per year is expected to increase from 15 million
currently to over 35 million by 2030. All this is
according to a joint report by Volkswagen China
and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
There are clear differences between the old-
er traditional markets and emerging markets.
“Despite the explosive growth we’ve seen,
vehicle ownership in China is still less than
a tenth of that in the United States. In China
there are only 60 cars per 1000 inhabitants -
compared with 800 per 1 000 in the U.S. or
550 per 1 000 in Germany. Between 75 and
80% of car sales in China are to first-time
buyers,”she says.
Sales growth in China and the relocation of
production to the region is having an effect on
product development. One trend is that the
growing middle class in China is switching
from mid-sized cars to SUVs, for status and
comfort.
“Most car models are sold globally and are
not unique to China. But on the other hand,
great emphasis is placed on unique preferenc-
es in certain sectors. Because the market is so
strategically important for the future, Chinese
buyers’preferences are important in global
vehicle development. China is also playing an
increasingly central role in automotive design,
research and development. This will make
the country a centre for vehicle development
rather than merely a base for car manufactur-
ing,”she explains.
3THE POWERTRAIN. The car industry has al-
ways been a development-intensive indus-
try and the amount of technological innovation
over the years has been significant in compari-
son with other industries. However, there are
constantly new challenges around the corner.
One of the biggest is regarding how the car will
be propelled in a world where fossil fuels will
sooner or later run out. The entire automotive
industry is working on finding new fuels which
will take over,”says Dan Flores, General Motors’
spokesman for advanced technologies.
“Our major focus is on what we can do to
minimize and limit our dependence on fossil
fuels. Over 98% of cars on the road today are
propelled by fossil fuels. I think the figure is
the same for both the U.S. and the rest of the
world,”Dan says, continuing:
“There is a limit to how much fossil fuel
we can produce on this planet. If you include
carbon dioxide emissions in the calculation,
there are a variety of factors leading every ve-
hicle manufacturer to look for alternatives.
A change is slowly happening.
“There are huge efforts being made to
streamline the internal combustion engine, as
it will be with us for many decades to come.
One of our strategies is to do a lot of work on
“downsizing”, introducing smaller, turbo-
charged engines. They can perform like a
larger engine - but with lower fuel consump-
tion. Other fuel options, such as ethanol and
biodiesel, are being worked on. But we believe
most of all in electric vehicles,”he states.
By 2016, GM will have 600 000 such cars
on the road.
“There are many ways to achieve this and
even more. There is currently a lot of develop-
ment revolving around electric battery solu-
tions. It’s the short-term alternative for the
W
hentheXL1isoutandabout,
morepeoplestopandstareat
it thanatabrand-newsports
car.It’sflatterthanaPorscheBoxster,
shorterthanaVolkswagenPolo,weighs
just795kgemptyandhasanaerodynamic
monocoquemadeofcarbonfiber.With
dolphin-likelines,itsdragcoefficienthas
beenreducedtoarecordlowofonly0.189.
Withits27hpelectricengine,the two-
seaterrunsincity trafficforup to50km
withzeroemission.Theplug-inhybrid
alsohasa48hp two-cylinderdieselen-
gineforlongerdistancesofup to500km.
It onlyuses8.4hpat aconstant speedof
100kphand thelithium-ionbatterycan
VolkswagenXL1:
TheFutureisNow
Thefirstfleetoftheplug-inhybrid
VolkswagenXL1hasbeenoutonthe
streetssinceJuly.Withfuelconsumption
ofjust0.9Lper100km(261mpg),itmarks
anautomotivemilestone
TEXT FLORENCE OPPENHEIM PHOTO LARS ARDARVE
POWERTRAIN
percent of theworld’scarfleet
willbehybridcarsby2040.
SOURCE: EXXONMOBIL
FOCUS:

future. We have a hybrid technology that we
call eAssist, with a small lithium-ion battery
and electric motors connected to the wheels.
When a car starts, it’s the electric motors
which first propel it forward,”says Dan.
Then the petrol engine takes over. Fuel con-
sumption is significantly reduced, in some cases
by up to 25%, according to GM. Hybrid alterna-
tives are the first step towards future solutions.
“It’s hard to say exactly when, but we will
have cars powered entirely by electricity in
some form. How it will be generated is the big
question. It may be through batteries or why
not solar cells? It will probably be a combina-
tion. Having said that, we still believe that
hydrogen fuel cells have enormous potential,
especially considering that the only emission
is water. We are also continuing to develop
that alternative. There are still a lot of con-
cerns about the costs and infrastructure for
it. We’re still not in a position where it can be
seen as the obvious main alternative,”he says.
The ten largest automotive manufacturers
in the world are investing heavily in research
and development. In total, they are spending
37 billion Euro a year on improvements and
innovations, according to a report by OICA.
Whatever propels the cars, one thing is for
sure. The cars will be lighter. Dan continues:
befullychargedonahouseholdoutlet in
90minutes.Volkswagen’s technological
flagshiphasbrokenfuelconsumption
records,usingjust 0.9literfor100km.
Volkswagenhasalreadybuilt thefirst
fiftycarsandisnowproducingasmall
seriesof200.Volkswagenwillreuseits
experiencewith theXL1byimplement-
ingaplug-inhybridenginein theAudiA3
e-tronand theVolkswagenGolf7Twin-
DriveBlueMotion,asearlyasnext year.
“Theplug-inhybridcombines the
best ofbothworlds,”saysHolgerBock,
XL1project managerin the technical
development department atVolkswa-
gen.It combineszeroemissionfrom the
e-motorwithalongrangedue to the
efficient dieselengine.
Semconhasbeenpart of theXL1devel-
opment teamfrom theoutset,assisting
Volkswagenwithcalculation,simulation
anddesign.At thepeakof theproject,
some80employeeswereinvolved.“For
anengineer,it’sreallyexciting tobeable
toworkonsomethingcompletelynew-
something that hasn’t existedup tonow
andforwhich therearenobenchmarks,”
saysUlfSchönemann,managerof
Semcon’s officeinVolkswagen’shome
townofWolfsburg.“Theproject hasde-
mandedalot ofcreative thinking.”
Volkswagensees theXL1asa techno-
logicalflagship that willhelpprepareit
for thefuture.“Thebiggest challenge
was tocombineoptimalaerodynamics
withextremelylight constructionand
ensure thecarwassuitableforusein
everydaylife,”notesHolgerBock.“We
madeit veryflat but easy toget intoand
out ofwith thegull-wingdoors that fold
into theroof.”
Oneunusual thingabout theXL1is
that it hasnowingmirrorsinorder tore-
ducedrag.Theyarereplacedbye-mirrors
usingcamerasanddigitaldisplays,with
highresolutionforextrasafety.
“Aswellascontinuingdevelopment of
theXL1’sengineandelectroniccompo-
nentsforfutureprojects,we’llalsobedo-
ingmoreworkwith thematerials,using
acombinationofsteel,aluminumand
carbonfiberaspart ofourmulti-material
strategy,”commentsHolgerBock.
According toVolkswagen,alternative
engineswillbecomemainstreamwhen
widespreadbatterychargingfacilities
and theright politicalconditionsarein
place.Thecompanysaysit isimportant
tointroduceincentivesforpeople to
adopt e-vehicles,suchasfreeparkingin
citycenters.Thesenewcarconceptsalso
providefunctionssuchascoastingand
brakeenergyrecuperation,whichincite
drivers todrivemoreefficiently.“With the
XL1,driverscanrecoveralot ofpowerby
drivinginaproactiveway,because the
electricmotorisusedduringbraking to
recoupenergy,”explainsHolgerBock.
Volkswagenisobserving theXL1in
everydayconditionswithafleet ofcars
andawiderangeofdifferent drivers
tounderstandwhichmode theyuse,
when theycharge thebatteryandwhat
consumption theyachieve.Thecarof the
futureishere today.1
“The entire automotive
industry is working on
finding new fuels which
will take over.”
Dan Flores, spokesman for advanced technologies, General Motors

“Many people probably think that we most-
ly work on powertrains and fuels, but many
things can reduce fuel consumption. Making
the engine or the entire car lighter are two ma-
jor changes. There is huge development within
lightweight materials right now. Use of carbon
fibre and magnesium is continually increasing.
We will see more of it. Almost as much work
is put into developing lightweight materials as
finding alternative fuels for the future.”
Another major change is the car’s design.
“Many studies show that aerodynamics is
a key factor in improving fuel consumption -
with less resistance from the air around the car
it doesn’t require as much fuel. Making edges
and corners softer on a car is a simple way to
improve the aerodynamics,”Dan explains.
4CONNECTIVITY. Changing consumer behav-
iour,emerging markets,the question of how
the car is propelled - with these challenges we also
P
rojekt Plinta is an innovative project
which revolves around minimizing
the negative safety impacts of the
use of mobile internet-based functions
while driving.Specifically,the aim is to
develop a platform for a possible future
system in which functions and apps can
easily be added,updated and deleted
without affecting functions which are
critical to the safety of the car.The pro-
ject will also develop proposals on how
hardware and software will look in the
future and find new ways of coopera-
tion.
LeadingthisinitiativeisAndersLindbom,
technicalspecialistininfotainmentatVol-
voCars’developmentcentreinGöteborg.
“People todayareaccustomed to
constantlyhavingaccess tonewapps,”
hesays.“Ourgreat challengeisinfinding
systems that aresustainableover time.
Acar takesat least three tofouryears
todevelopandis thenaroundformany
years.Therearehundredsof thousands
ofappsandnewonesareaddedall
the time.Theremaybearoundadozen
important features that arerelevant and
safe tousewhendriving thecar.Then,of
course,youhave theoption touseothers
when thecarisstationary.”
Themainpurposeofacaris todrive
it.Infotainment systemsmust not be
Safe,smartappsin
thecarofthefuture
Consumerswanttobeabletousetheir
smartphonesandappsintheircars.But
howcanitbedonesafely?Thisisoneof
thechallengesforProjectPlinta.
TEXT FLORENCE OPPENHEIM PHOTO LARS ARDARVE
perceivedasintrusiveand theycannot
compromiseothersafety-criticalfunc-
tionsin thecar.
“Unfortunately,youoftenseedrivers
playingwith theirmobilephoneswhile
driving.Wecanlegislateasmuchaswe
like,but I thinkpeoplewillcontinue to
use theirphonesin theircars.Forusit’s
important toachieve thisfunctionalityin
thecar toavoid thesafetyrisksinvolved
inusingamobilephonewhiledriving.”
Plinta-Platformfor thesafeintegra-
tionofuserfunctionsin thecar-will
runfor threeyearsandisacollaborative
project betweenVolvoCars,Semconand
HiQ,withsupport from theSwedishin-
novationagencyVinnova.
“Weusually take theappropriateskills
fromservicecompaniesandorganize the
workourselves,”saysAnders.“With this
project,we’veinsteadchosenanimble
structure,i.e.anagileapproachwith
regularcheckswhere thedirectionof
theproject canbechangeddepending
on theresultsachieved.Volvo’sambition
is touseourfindingsinanupcoming
product project.”
ForVolvo,it’sabout beingable to
provide theircustomerswith theunique
Volvoexperiencebut stillusingstandard
technologyat abasicsoftwarelevel.
Thecloserit is to theoperatingsystem,
themoresimilar thesystemsare.One
strengthof thepartnershipisinhelping
eachother tosee trends toimprove the
development work.Theproject promotes
cross-fertilizationbetweencompanies
withdifferent skillsandallows thepar-
ties to takedevelopment astepfurther.
“Theway that peopleinteract and
communicatewith theirmachineswill
changein thefuture.Improvedvoicecon-
trolanddifferent typesofsolutionswith
gestureswethinkwillbreak throughvery
soon.In thisproject,weseeourselvesina
wayasaplumber,withSemconandHiQ
creating theconditionsfor thedevelop-
ment offuturesmart solutions,”hesays.
Semcon’smainareawithinPlintais
investigating the technicalsafetyof
integratingnewfeaturesandappsin the
car.Howcanyoucommunicatesecurely
betweendifferent partsofanetworkof
internet-basedfeatures?
“Ifyouhaveanapplication that you
want toinstall,thenit mayneed toac-
cessotherfeaturesin thecar,”saysJens
Pommer,softwaredeveloperat Semcon
andproject leaderforPlinta.“It maybe,
forexample,that thevolumeon the
stereoautomaticallyincreaseswhenyou
accelerateand theenginesoundgets
louder,without disturbingotherfunc-
tionsin thecar.Or that thecar“finds”the
sensoryouhaveinstalledandknows that
it isapproved.”
Theproblemisinhow thesystem
detectswhichapplicationsareapproved,
what theyareallowed todoandnot do,
and thelanguage-i.e.thecommunica-
CONNECTIVITY
FOCUS:

find expectations about how the car will become
part of our connected life.In the mid 00s,the
limits of technology were moved thanks to the new
smartphones.Around 2010 it was the turn of tab-
lets to do so even further.Now the car is the new
digital arena - when Apple unveiled its new operat-
ing system iOS 7 in June,the“iOS in the Car”was
demonstrated,with many of the phone’s features
integrated into the car’s infotainment system.
As early as 1997, Toyota launched its Monet
infotainment system, which made it possible to
read email and internet pages behind the wheel.
Nowadays, the connected car is an estab-
lished concept. It has already managed to
transform the driving experience and interac-
tive capabilities for the driver and passengers.
Many mobile applications have spread from
tablets and phones to the car dashboard.
Today there are multiple systems and plat-
forms providing connectivity. Volvo On Call
is one of them.
tionprotocol-which thesystemfollows.
Hereyouneed thecarmanufacturer to
haveaslowa thresholdaspossiblewith-
out compromisingsecurity.
Infact,Plintaisacoming togetherof
thelast 20years’focusonsafetyand the
new,internet-based technologies’need
forprotectionfromintrusionanddis-
ruptionofsafety-criticalfunctions.The
innovationin thisproject isinbringing
together technologyfromdifferent areas
toworkin thecar.Semconalsohopes
that theexperiencescanbeusedin
otherindustries,suchas thewindpower
industry,where therequirementsare
quitedifferent but thesame technology
couldbeused.
In theautomotiveindustryit isimpor-
tant for technology tokeepupwith the
rapiddevelopment andmeet custom-
ers’needforchange.In theproject,Jens
Pommerandhiscolleagueslookedat
themarket andpickedout acoupleof
themeswhich theystudiedinmore
detailat and then tested.
DavidGillblomisanHMIexpertatSem-
conandworksprimarilyoncreatingsolu-
tionsaroundhowthedriverinteractswith
technology,suchaswhetheritshouldbe
doneviaascreenorthroughvoicecontrol.
“Every interaction should be quick
and easy to perform without needing
any visual attention,”says David.“The
idea is that we should allow as many
features as possible without compro-
mising safety.It is particularly exciting
to explore this area together withVolvo
without being as blinkered as you can
get in a difficult situation in a product
project.”1
JensPommer
Softwaredeveloper,Semcon
AndersLindbom
Technicalspecialist ininfotainment,
VolvoCars

“The user can do an incredible number of
exciting things in the car. In recent years it
has changed from being a safety system to
providing state-of-the-art connectivity,”says
Robert Jagler, commercial connectivity man-
ager at Volvo Cars.
The various connectivity systems have
features that help the user navigate to a car
park or petrol station, listen to music or watch
movies. The text-to-speech feature means
that a computerized voice reads out everything
from email to the latest updates on Twitter or
Instagram. Using connectivity to make driving
safer is also an important development.
THERE IS MORE ON THE WAY. For example, Ford
is developing an application to measure the
blood sugar levels of diabetic drivers and, if
necessary, recommend nearby restaurants.
Location-based advertising and promotions,
which are projected onto the windscreen or
dashboard, are also about to become a reality.
“The future of connectivity has to be intui-
tive, and you must be able to control every-
thing from near the steering wheel. How but-
tons and other things are positioned around
the driver is very important for safety,”says
Robert. Usually everything is controlled by
the driver or passengers with either buttons,
movements on a touch screen or via voice
control. Soon it will also be possible to use
gesture control, similar to Microsoft’s Kinect
for video game consoles. Audi Connect is the
system closest to creating that opportunity.
One problem so far has been with integrat-
ing different mobiles and tablets with the
car’s existing systems. The solution is to re-
place mobiles and tablets as information hubs
in the car and instead store the data in a data
cloud or in the connectivity system.
The risk that the car’s computer system can
be hacked or infected by computer viruses
can also be minimized. In Ford’s SYNC sys-
tem, the user applications are separate from
the equipment controlling the car’s handling.
There are more good reasons for separating
them. The development of a new car model is
significantly slower than the development of
something like a mobile phone.
“It’s one of every car manufacturer’s great-
est challenges. The time from a car’s birth
until it’s replaced is about seven years and the
infotainment system usually remains dur-
ing that period. If you look at the mobile and
technology industry, much of the equipment
has a lifetime of as little as seven months.
What we do is try to separate the connectivity
from other parts of the car,”says Robert.
IN THE FUTURE, it’s unlikely that connectivity
technology will be obsolete when a new car is
launched. Integrated systems will only require a
simple software update rather than a brand new
car purchase to receive the latest technology.
“If I had to look into my crystal ball, I would
say that the next big step - and what will be
the future of connectivity - is“car to car”.
Therefore, cars are not just going to talk to
the driver but the vehicles will be talking to
each other a great deal. But then we are talk-
ing about something completely different - a
whole new level,”he says.
5THE DRIVERLESS CAR. The ultimate vision
for the connected, smart and communica-
tive vehicle is, of course, the driverless car. Ful-
ly autonomous driving is all about cars which
monitor the traffic and manoeuvre themselves
while the driver is doing something else. Put
FOCUS:
millionvehicleswillhave technologyfor
theintegrationofsmartphonesby2016.
SOURCE:JUNIPER RESEARCH

simply, the GPS, sensors, radars, cameras and
lasers collect large amounts of data, which is
put together so that the car can know and act
in response to what is happening around it. Just
as with Google’s driverless car.
“The car taking over is nothing new,”says
Dan Flores.“Look at speed limiters, stability
control and antilock brakes. They have been
around for between ten and 30 years. The dif-
ference is that the car of the future will do much
more than what today’s cars are capable of.”
“The focus is on improving safety. The first
step towards the fully autonomous car is to
create cars that are able to avoid accidents on
their own. The final step is cars which can
drive themselves regardless of external cir-
cumstances.”
CERTAIN PEOPLE PREDICT a battle regarding con-
nectivity and driverless cars with companies
like Google, Microsoft and Apple in one cor-
ner and the established vehicle manufacturers
in the other. Others believe in cooperation.
Regardless of how we get there, the transition
to more autonomous cars will not happen at
V
iacheslav is systems safety man-
ager responsible for Semcon’s
Swedish centre for safety-critical
systems.He sees many exciting chal-
lenges involving autonomous driving.
“Oneof thebiggest issues tosolveis
whichplatform tousein thefuture.Cur-
rently thereisnoplatformforautono-
mousdriving- the technologyisrathera
complement to traditionalplatforms,he
says,continuing:
“Therearedifferent levelsofau-
tonomous technology.Most probably
peoplewillneverneedfullyautonomous
ViacheslavIzosimov
believesinasafer,
autonomousfuture
Forsystemssafetymanager,Viacheslav
Izosimov,anautonomouscarisultimately
saferthanacarwithoutsuchtechnology.
Thenextstepisforcustomerstoaccept
autonomousdriving.
TEXT MARCUS OLSSON PHOTO NICKE JOHANSSON
THEEXPERT
Viacheslav Izosimov
Title: Systems Safety Manager
Company:Semcon,Sweden
driving,because theywant tomake
somedecisionsfor themselvesand the
driverwantsabsoluteultimatecontrolof
thecar.Someroutes,however,youmay
choose todrivecompletelyautonomous-
ly,likewhengoing toandfromwork.You
willalwayshave theability to takecon-
trolof thecar,but inmanycases thecar
willactuallymakebetterdecisions than
thedriverwouldmanage.Thismayin-
cluderapiddecelerationinanaccident.”
Customeracceptanceof the technol-
ogyis thebe-allandend-allinadvancing
the technology.
“Butitwilltaketime.Somepeople
finditdifficult toacceptchange.Some
peopleincertaincountriesstilldon’tuse
seatbelts,forexample.Wehavetocollect
statisticsanduserdataforscepticsto
understandthatanautonomouscar
isultimatelysaferthanacarwithout
that technology.Almost all trucksin
the transportsectorwillprobablybe
completelyautonomouswithin50years.
Thereisanincentivetodrivemore.There
arelimitationsrightnow.Insomecoun-
tries,atruckdrivercannotdrivemore
than8hoursatatimewithout takingan
off-dutybreak,andinEUcountries,only
fourandahalfhoursareallowed.”
Infutureallcarswillbeconnected,
but the transition tomoreautonomous
carscreateschallenges that have tobe
addressed.Thequestionofliabilityat ac-
cidentsisonesuchchallenge.
“Ifyouremove theresponsibilityfrom
thedriver,thecarcompaniescouldbe
responsible.It’sabigquestion.External
circumstancesalmost alwaysplayabig
part inaccidents.However,incertain
countries therearenolegalobstacles
to this,soautonomousdrivingcan,in
principle,start.”
Viacheslav predicts that today’s car
manufacturers will drive development
forward.
“TechnologycompanieslikeGoogle
are certainly interested in developing
technologies for autonomous driving.
But building an entire car from scratch
– I don’t know. Here, I believe more in
the traditional car manufacturers.”
Otherareashaveprogressedfurther
than theautomotivesector.
“At Semconwe’renot just workingon
this technologyincars,but alsoonaero-
planes,trainsandmilitaryuses.Thereis
alreadygreat acceptancefor this.It’sa
muchmorecontrolledenvironment than
out on themotorwayin traffic.”1
THE DRIVERLESS CAR
“The next big step is for cars
to communicate with each
other. But then we are talking
about something completely
different – a whole new level.”
Robert Jagler, commercial manager for connectivity, Volvo Cars

once. The new technology will be implement-
ed step by step and probably build on existing
technologies such as cruise control, parking
assistants and automatic braking, thinks Dan.
Google’s radar system for self-driving
cars is part of about a dozen test vehicles
right now. The equipment costs around USD
70,000 - per car. The new Mercedes Benz S-
Class, to be released this autumn, will be the
first vehicle on the market that is fully capa-
ble of driving itself, but it does so only under
almost ideal conditions.
The built-in steering assistant can keep the
car in the same lane at up to 200 kilometres
per hour, but the driver has to turn manually.
In“start and stop”, traffic cameras and sensors
keep track of nearby cars and other aspects,
and take care of the driving - as long as your
hands are on the wheel. Otherwise, the sys-
tem shuts down.
There are still laws and practical details
which prevent a fully autonomous vehicle
from being used in traffic.
“Semi-autonomous cars are already here.
But cars that drive themselves without any
assistance from the driver are definitely be-
tween ten and twenty years off.”
Practically all of the major car manufac-
turers are looking at this area today - Audi,
BMW, Ford, VW, Hyundai, Toyota and others.
Dan believes that the autonomous car will
change our view of mobility altogether.
“Yes, in line with customers accepting the
technology. Even today, many people want to
do other things in their car than merely driv-
ing it. All of us have been stuck in a traffic jam
and seen certain drivers with a shaver in one
hand and the steering wheel in the other. See-
ing someone apply make up is not unusual.
Some studies that say that driving itself is
becoming a distraction. A big difference in the
future will be that motorists wanting to do
more than merely driving will do it in a safer
environment,”says Dan, adding:
“The progress of technology is changing
the behaviour of drivers all the time. With
autonomous driving you will be able to relax
more. The experience will be safer and more
enjoyable. Anyone who has been driving for a
long time knows that you can get tired. This
will ease the burden. However, the driver
“Some studies say that
driving itself is becoming
a distraction.”
Dan Flores, spokesman for advanced technologies, General Motors
FOCUS:
percent ofallvehicleswillbe
autonomousby2040.
SOURCE: IEEE
BILD:GENERALMOTORS

must always be engaged and aware of what is
happening during the journey.
THE FASCINATION WITH THE driverless, con-
nected and shared car is also about a vision
of fewer accidents, better use of motorways
and reduced emissions. The fact that in just
a few years Google has managed to develop a
prototype that can drive a blind man in an ur-
ban environment shows that the car industry
is not immune to the kind of revolutionary
technologies affecting other industries (mo-
bile phones, music sales, computers).
For whoever manages to find a profitable and
successful strategy for challenges such as new
markets, changes in consumer preferences, new
propulsion technologies, connectivity and cars
that drive themselves, there is a huge market and
huge demand. And this is a challenge that today’s
car manufacturers can not afford to ignore.
“A car manufacturer doesn’t want to be on
the sidelines when Google, a China-funded
conglomerate or other large player comes in
and copyrights all the ground breaking intel-
lectual property and gets the advantage of
being first on the scene,”writes the innova-
tion strategist and author Chunka Mui in a
series of articles on Google’s driverless car in
Forbes.
According to him we are in the same posi-
tion as in the transition from horse-drawn
carriages to motorized cars (then called the
horseless carriage, just as the driverless car is
named after what it lacks...).
“Making horses superfluous didn’t just mean
that it was good to be Henry Ford and no longer
so good to be a horse breeder. The“horseless
carriage”had far-reaching effects which not
only redefined our transport network, but also
laid the foundation for our modern economy,
and even changed the way we live by making
the suburbs possible,”he writes.
Similarly, he thinks that driverless cars will
have an impact on our society, our economy and
our lives in a way that you can only speculate
about right now, with billions of dollars at stake.
It’s not difficult to understand that many
want a piece of this future. 1

THE SOLUTIONHOW SEMCON SOLVED THE CUSTOMER’S PROBLEM
ASSIGNMENT: When Perten Instruments bought the
Australian company Newport Scientific, Semcon was
assigned to review the design of the company’s analysis
instruments for grain, flour and feed for the food and
agriculture industry.
SOLUTION: Together with Perten, Semcon came up with
a general design making it easy to recognize Perten’s
instruments, while conveying the company’s core values of
ease of use, accuracy, innovation and quality.
RESULTS: Pertens DA 7250 combines superior analytical
accuracy with speed, ease of use and robustness. In parallel
with developing the new design Semcon came up with a
36-page guide to support all of Perten’s future instruments.
The guide describes in detail how to visualize Perten’s brand
and the company’s core values in design.
TEXT OLLE RÅDE PHOTO PERTEN
Designthatgives
aclearidentity

TOUCH-SCREEN
Thenewinstrument comeswithaproper
screenandacompletelynewuserinterface.
Thesoftwarefocusesonclearinformation
andisdesigned tobeassimpleaspossible
for theoperator.It’seasy tounderstand
what youaredoingandrequiresonlyoneor
twooptionsbefore theinstrument canstart
ananalysis.
ADJUSTABLE ARM
On thepreviousmodels thescreenwasfixed
andcouldonlybeangledupanddown.The
newscreenisset onanadjustablearm,allow-
ingit tobemovedupanddown,side-to-side
andangled towards theuser,irrespectiveof
where theuserisstanding.
LIGHT BLUE RUBBER GRIP
Thesidesof thescreenhavearubbergripfor
maximumeaseofuse.Thelight bluecolour
isnowstandardonPerten’sproductsand
indicatesakindofphysicalinteractionwith
theoperator.
LOGO TO MARK
QUALITYASSURANCE
ThemetalbadgewithPerten’slogoonisa
markofqualityassurance,indicating that
theproduct isapprovedandready tobe
used.It’smadeofmetaland theideaof
qualitybrings tomind that Pertenworks
with theright qualityoffoodproducts.
TACTILE CORE VALUES
Toconveyaccuracy,oneofPerten’s
corevalues,thedesignissharpand
concise.Thesurface towards theuser
isslightlyconvex toprovideastronger
impression.
OPTICAL SENSITIVITY
Theinstrument that carriesout the
analysisconsistsofablacksurface
where theoperatorplacesanopen
containercontaining thesample.
Alamp thenshinesdownfrom the
machineand thelight isreflectedin
thesample,wherebyit’sanalyzedby
sensorsin themachine.Thedesign
makesus thinkofvisualcamera
opticsand theroundedsilverdesign
makesus thinkofacameralens.
CLEAR COLOUR RANGE
Using thesamecoloursonallitsproductscreatesafeel-
ingofuniformityand theuserimmediatelysees that it’s
aPertenmachine.Thecoloursinquestionare
PertenWhite,PertenBlueandPertenGrey.Thelighter
greyis thebackgroundcolourofallitsproductsand the
darkergreyandblueareused tohighlight details.

MatthewHawkins
Constructionengineer,
Semcon
MartinBergqvist
Technicalmanagerof
distributionequipment,Cryo’s
headofficeinGöteborg.

Fivedegreesaboveabsolutezeroistoohot.Storing
liquidheliumispreciseworkwhereeventhetiniest
leakcanresultinmillionsofkronorliterallyvanishing
intothinair.Cryoisoneofafewcompaniesthatcan
managethischallenge.
TEXTKARIN AASE PHOTO ANNA SIGVARDSSON
I
t all actually began in Switzerland, at
CERN, to be precise. The vast particle
accelerators required helium, and to
store it requires storage tanks that
can withstand -269°C, just four de-
grees above absolute zero. One degree
warmer and the helium starts to convert to
gas form, and risks leaking out and millions of
kronor vanishing.
ONE OF THE VERY FEW organizations in the
world that can construct a tank to meet these
demands is Cryo, part of the German Linde
Group. The company has been working with
cryo technology for more than 50 years with
storing, transporting and handling liquefied
gas, and this experience meant that the com-
pany was soon able to develop the right tank
that CERN needed. The first was delivered in
2007, and since then the company has con-
structed another 3 for CERN and a further 6
for other customers worldwide.
AND AT ONE of Cryo’s huge workshops in the
port at Göteborg, the next tank is already be-
ing welded together. Cryo received a request
from a Russian gas company in 2012. It had
found helium at one of its natural gas sources
and needed a tank to store it in, could Cryo
help? The obvious answer was yes.
THERE WAS ONLY one problem. Every tank that
Cryo constructs is based on the same basic
construction, with installation made-to-
measure and customized according to the
customer’s requirements. When the Russian
company placed its order it meant that Cryo
needed someone who could use 3D in Inven-
tor, and although they had the expertise they
didn’t have enough construction engineers.
“If we hadn’t found this resource then we
would have lost the order, worth millions of
Euros,”says Martin Bergqvist, technical man-
ager at Cryo.
Matthew Hawkins from Semcon therefore
started in November to customize the tank
according to the Russian customer’s require-
ments.
“The challenge is to keep the heat out and
CHILLY
ASSIGNMENT
About Cryo
Cryo is a Swedish subsidiary of the German
company Linde Gas,previously owned by Aga.
The company’s offices and production are in
Göteborg with customers worldwide.
Cryo concentrates on cryo technology for
storing,transporting and handling liquefied
gas.The company has 157 employees and
around 60 consultants.
Cryo is Greek for cold.

costs down,”explains Matthew. There are lots
of pipes that need connecting to the tank, and
each pipe is a potential way in for heat. The
larger connection points are insulated using
the same vacuum and insulation technology
used for the tank itself, but that would be too
expensive for the smaller pipes and regulators.
MATTHEW’S SOLUTION was to construct a cool-
ing box that surrounds the connections and
pipes that cannot be insulated separately.
The box is filled with a perlite insulation and
Matthew demonstrates how he elongated the
connection point on the pipes that lead into
the box to hopefully making the distance too
long for heat to penetrate. So far the cool-
ing box is on the side of the workshop, where
mechanics are still experimenting on new
ways of guaranteeing the insulation works
properly.“I like that fact that the workshop
is here so that I can work with the people
who work here,”he says.“I’m here a couple
of times a day to try out various ideas, and
together we see what works and what can be
improved.”The tank stands on the workshop
floor and looks like a submarine, 22 meters
long, 3 meters in diameter and a capacity of
128 m3. Heavy traffic can be heard outside
the workshop, music blaring from radios, but
above all the other sounds the mute sound of
the vacuum pump can be heard, which stands
on a little table close to the front of the tank.
It’s kept running 24/7 for one month to create
the vacuum needed to keep the tank’s inside
temperature so low.
CRYO HOPES THAT DEMAND for the tanks will
continue to grow, and another tank is actually
being built next to the Russian tank for deliv-
ery to a customer in the US.
“Helium is used a lot in healthcare and re-
search and has been in scarce supply in recent
years so there is a backlog of demand,”Martin
explains.
“New sources are being opened up in Qatar
and Russia, meaning increased access to he-
lium, and the need to store it.”
FOR CRYO THIS HOPEFULLY means a market
boost, but Matthew also sees other benefits
to the assignment.
“I love physics and my aim is to work with
absolute cutting edge technology, which is
what I get to do here, just a few degrees from
absolute zero. Getting to also work with
something that helps healthcare and research
feels great.”1
FACTS
How the helium tank works
¢Cryo’sinsulation technologyiswhat
enables theextremelylow temperatures
inside thehelium tank.
¢The tankconsistsofaninnercontainer
that stores thehelium.Theinsulation
materialandoutercontaineract asa
shieldagainst theoutsideworld.
¢Theinnercontainerisbuilt upinlayers
ofinsulationconsistingofaluminium
andglasspaper.Theinnercontaineris
thenplacedin theoutercontainerso
that thereisminimalcontact between
the two,creatingalayerofairand
insulation.Thisareais thenconnected
toavacuumpumpcreatingavacuum
between thecontainersso that nothing
canconduct heat to theheliuminside
theinnercontainer.
¢Before theinsulationisfitted to the
tank thesurfacesareheated tobeas
cleanaspossible tominimizemoisture
orchemicalsconverting togasinside
theinsulation,orconductingheat to the
innercontainer.
“The challenge is to keep the
heat out and costs down.”
Matthew Hawkins, designer, Semcon

PORTABLE
MUSIC MACHINE
KEYSTATION MINI 32
“I’ve just come back
from an assignment
that meant I worked
on and off in Budapest
for six months.Because I
took my portable Keystation
Mini 32 I was able to spend a lot
of my spare time composing music,
which is a passion of mine.Keystation
is a USB keyboard,which,despite being so
small,has 32 keys.Connect it to a laptop and
you get quite good quality sound if you use an
X-mini Max II Capsule Speaker.”
TOMAS NYSTRÖM
TECHNICAL INFORMATION,
SEMCON
HOBBIES: Music
LAST GADGET BOUGHT:
The Bleep Drum.
GADGETS
I LIKE
SMALL, PRACTICAL SPEAKER
X-MINI MAX II CAPSULE SPEAKER
“You can use headphones when mak-
ing music,but you soon get tired.X-Mini
Max II is small,has inbuilt,rechargeable
batteries and better bass than one might
think.Its biggest benefit’s that it’s light
enough to take on business trips,and
works really well when sitting playing in
your hotel room.”
FLEXIBLE STAND
GRIP TIGHT GORILLAPOD
STAND
“This stand,with its
flexible legs is perfect
for taking with you
when recording
background sounds
or filming with a
telephone.The fixing
works for telephones,cameras
and microphones and the flexible
legs can wrap around branches
and posts.And because it’s so
compact it’s always easy
to take with you.”
SMART WALL SOCKET
EXXACT 4-OUTLET CLASS II
“If you like music and electronic gadgets
then you’ll appreciate solutions that make
managing network wires simpler.Exxact
is a wall socket for flat European plugs,
meaning they don’t
stick straight out of
the wall.Especially
useful for iPhone
chargers,which
often end up in the
way of furniture.”
VALUE-FOR-MONEY ANALOGUE SYNTHESIZERS
KORG MONOTRONS
“The slightly plastic design,the compact format and blister
packaging make them look like a toys when they’re in the
shop.Which is not all bad,because they are so much fun to
play on.The inbuilt,battery-driven speakers are not power-
ful,but Monotrons are easy to modify and can also be linked
to a PA system.I like using
gadgets and programs
with limitations as it
encourages creativity.”
PHOTO:PÄRPERSSON
“Perfect for
composing
music when
out travelling.”

A
uthentication tokens with
a self-destruct mechanism,
sturdy military laptops
called“Rocky”, highly se-
cure communication lines
and user manuals that even
the minister of foreign af-
fairs might flick through. These are topics for
Semcon, who has been involved in secunet
technologies since 2006 as an exclusive sup-
plier of technical documentation.
“I initially had concerns about whether
somebody from outside could identify and
reflect the complexity and specifics of our
product portfolio sufficiently,”says Dr. Kai
Martius, head of the Public Sector business
unit at secunet.“But after the training period,
Semcon proved they could understand our
products and their properties very well.”
ThereisonlyoneIPsec-basedcryptosystemintheworldthathasbeen
approvedforthehighestGermannationalsecurityclassificationof
TOPSECRET: the“SecureInter-NetworkArchitecture”(SINA)fromtheIT
companysecunet.Here,theeliminationofsecurityvulnerabilitiescomes
first– andthatgoesforthetechnicaldocumentationtoo.
TEXTLINDA KARLSSON ELDH PHOTO SECUNET KALLE SINGER
A SECURE
SOLUTION
secunet, with headquarters in Essen, is a
specialist in high-security IT and works par-
ticularly closely with German authorities and
related industries. It focuses on the Secure
Inter-Network Architecture (SINA), which
was developed on behalf of Germany’s Federal
Office for Information Security (BSI). The
system protects the processing, storage and
transmission of classified information and
other sensitive documents.
“Currently, we are developing SINA further
to enable it to securely track the compilation
and sharing of documents,”Martius explains.
“The Wikileaks affair is a good example of a se-
curity breach that may occur when it’s difficult
to prove who has had access to information at
secunet and SINA
The German IT company,with headquarters in
Essen,provides products and services related to IT
security.secunet has been a security supplier to the
German government since 2004.The company’s
Public Sector business unit is the largest with 200
employees.The company’s total sales in 2012:67.2
million euros.
SINA has been developed since 2002 for the
German Federal Ofﬁce
for Information Security
(BSI).SINA is based on a number of state-of-the-art
security technologies.Smart cards in a Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI) that authenticates users by
means of certificates and digital signatures,various
cryptographic functions and a highly secure operat-
ing system platform are a few examples.

what time and whether they have forward-
ed it to people outside the organization.”
CERTAIN SINA PRODUCTSare approved for the
highest German national security clas-
sification (TOP SECRET) and are used in
communication environments where unau-
thorized access may endanger the very ex-
istence of the German Federal Republic or
one of its states. Currently there are more
than 30,000 SINA components in opera-
tion worldwide. Semcon writes the user
and administrator manuals for this broad
product range, from workstations and gate-
ways to SINA Management, which is used
for the configuration and administration of
SINA components in the network.
“At the beginning, we established an
XML environment to manage and pub-
lish different types of formats,”explains
Robert Hinesley, technical writer and
managing editor at Semcon in Munich.
“As they are based on the same source
file, the user manuals can be published
in PDF and as online help as well as in
different languages and user versions.”
SINA has a very heterogeneous user
base, ranging from IT professionals to
clerks. This is why secunet places great
importance on manuals that make the
SINA system easy to understand for
any user.
“Semcon has worked on everything
from descriptions of operating processes
to possible scenarios in the form of use-
cases,”says Dr. Martius.“They have done
a great job and our documentation is now
much more user-friendly.” 1
Dr.KaiMartius
HeadofPublicSector
BusinessUnit,secunet
SecurityNetworksAG
Robert Hinesley
Technicalwriterand
managingeditor,Semcon

QA ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRA
SOUND DESIGN EXPERT
Soundisn’tonlyatechnicalproperty
ofaproduct,it’salsoaboutaesthetics
andpsychologyandisplayingan
increasingroleincreatingtheright
feel.ElifÖzcanVieirastartedhercareer
composingjingles.Shenowresearches
theimportanceofsoundonbrands
andpeople’sbuyingdecisions.
hen Elif Özcan
Vieira worked at a
student radio sta-
tion when studying
industrial design
in Ankara, Tur-
key, she focused
on making sound.
In her jingles and
radio theatre effects
she used a ruler
against a tabletop
to create the sound of a trampoline jump, a bag of
flour created the sound of walking in snow. She
realized that what was making the noise wasn’t
important, it was the result of the sound that
mattered. This got her interested in the psychol-
ogy and importance of sound in everyday prod-
ucts, which resulted in a degree and an assistant
professorship at the university of technology
in Delft, Holland. There she works in a small
laboratory called Product Sound Design, which
mainly works with companies to develop product
sounds and research effects and significance.
Product sounds can be split into tow main cat-
egories: consequential and intentional.
“Consequential sounds are those that the prod-
uct makes while being used. A hairdryer blowing
or an electric toothbrush rotating for example. The
sound will tell you whether or not something is
working properly. An electric toothbrush with bat-
teries that are dying can be quickly detected and
we can immediately decide that it’s time to change
the batteries due to the sound. Intentional sounds
are designed to warn and make us more aware, for
example an alarm clock. Here we need to design
the sound so that it conveys the right message and
right effect so everyone understands.”
TEXT SOFIA ERIKSSON
PHOTO JEROEN BOUMAN
WREAD MORE
about Semcon’s
offering within
sound design at
semcon.com

What is good sound?
You must understand the context: the
product, function, user and expectations. The
combination creates the experience. A loud,
crisp sound might be perfect in some cases,
while not in others. For example, my wash-
ing machine is an expensive German model.
When on the spin cycle it sounds like an aero-
plane. This doesn’t live up to my expectations
of German engineering, which I associate
with well-designed, low noise, and it doesn’t
suit my home where I want peace and quiet.
I thought at first that there was something
wrong with it so I called and complained, but
they said it was supposed to sound like that.
So that isn’t a good sound because it creates
the completely wrong effect and feel. A really
good sound on the other hand is the“pop”you
get when opening a bottle of Grolsch beer.
Just Grolsch?
“Yes. It might sound simple but it’s really
not. You need the right shape bottleneck, the
right amount of beer in the bottle and the
clip cork with the rubber ring. That’s a typi-
cal Grolsch sound, which is now so strongly
linked to the product that it acts as a single
reference associated with the brand and feel
that Grolsch wants to promote.”
What have product sounds meant historically?
“Product sounds have been a source of
fascination since the industrial revolution.
Noisy automobiles, the roar of steam engines,
steam train whistles, the clatter of typewriter
keys and the increased speed of a sewing
machine, all these sounds have had deep psy-
chological effects on people, not to mention
if something is switched on, on the road, or
working. Namely wealth, man’s progress and
technical innovation. When some products
were new there was a fascination with noise
and I’ve seen adverts for cars from the 50s
where the noise was advertised as something
positive. That’s not the case today.”
What is it like today?
“The auto and aviation industries in par-
ticular have a huge responsibility today to cut
noise pollution and strive to make quieter
products. We consumers also expect a well-
designed sound when we buy something
expensive with a particular image. It needs to
suit us. How a car sounds is just as important
as how it looks, feels or smells and one of the
product’s properties that contributes to how
we value it.”
An example?
“It’s all about brand identity. BMW for
example is known for making sporty cars
so the engine sound must be just right. But
they also need to be reliable, so they have de-
signed the doors to close with a sound that
“When some products were
new there was a fascination
with noise. That’s not the
case today.”
ElifÖzcanVieira,sounddesignexpert
1
USABILITY
Understanding of function.Sound is
needed to confirm that a product works
and is cooperating,i.e.does what we expect it
to,which improves its usability.
2
FEELINGS
Emotional effect.The right sound
promotes feelings:pride,confirmation,
and well-being.
3
BRAND
Improved experience of the brand’s
intentions that complement the other
impressions – a sporty sound strengthens a
sporty profile,quiet engines signal environ-
mental consideration for example.
3
thingsthat
goodsound
design
cangivea
product
QA ELIF ÖZCAN VIEIRA
SOUND DESIGN EXPERT

signals perfectionism and stability. I’ve been
told that BMW has over 150 engineers work-
ing on sound design alone – that shows how
important it’s.”
Give us an example of poor sound design!
“I bought a well-designed cute looking
coffee machine, and I was very pleased in
the shop. I’d also heard that it made excel-
lent coffee and I thought that the display and
functions seemed simple and attractive. But
when I got it home I was very upset. When a
product is so well designed and whose job it’s
to create wellbeing, i.e. a good cup of coffee, it
can’t sound like a threshing mill that makes
the entire worktop shake. If I pay EUR 80 for
something I want a proper sound, not noise.
The coffee machine should have had a softer
sound with the same associations as its ap-
pearance. But that’s something that product
manufacturers don’t always think about.”
What are companies’product sound develop-
ers good at?
“Manufacturers are generally good at inten-
tional sounds, such as the pling of a micro-
wave or dishwasher or mobile phones and
clocks when the alarm sounds. But there is a
lot of improvement to be made. We are sur-
rounded today by so many signals so product
developers need to make sounds as functional
and simplified as possible.”
How?
“One of my colleagues has worked on a
warning sound project on an emergency ward
with machines that monitor heart, lung and
kidney functions. The problem is that there
are no standard sounds for this. For instance
the same manufacturer can have different
sounds on different versions of the same
product so nurses find it difficult identify-
ing what’s wrong. In cases like these the
right alarm sound can save lives and avoid
catastrophes. So instead of different bleeps
they developed a blowing warning sound for
lung function, a drop sound for kidneys and
a sound similar to a heartbeat for heart func-
tion. In this way staff were immediately able
to detect what was wrong, thanks to sound
design.”
Electric cars are becoming more popular.How
will this affect the sound of cars?
“That’s very interesting. Electric power is
quieter and signals sustainable, environmen-
tal commitment, which in turn means a re-
ally quiet car. But neither manufacturers nor
consumers are quite ready for that. How do
you combine a quiet car with traffic safety for
example? How will other road users be aware
that there is a car approaching? I’m all for qui-
et and we should embrace the new technology
so that we no longer have the noise of mil-
lions of cars on the roads. The challenge is a
gradual development of ways to create aware-
ness, because we can’t put that responsibil-
ity on the pedestrian. Visual signals, warning
sounds sent to sensors so that blind people
get a warning signal. Designers have a huge
responsibility because we shouldn’t expect
other road users to‘get used to it’.”
Do you always think about sound?
“Yes. It’s an occupational hazard. The first
thing I did when my children were born was
to listen to them to make sure everything was
OK. I can’t listen to music on the way to work
because I’m too busy listening to my sur-
roundings so I don’t miss any signals.”1
Elif Özcan Vieira
Title:BSc in sound design and assistant
professor at the section of Design Aesthet-
ics IDE/TU Delft
Qualifications: Industrial design at the Mid-
dle EastTechnical University in Ankara,PhD
in Sound Design fromTU Delft.
Lives in: Delft in Holland
Hobbies: Photography,jogging and tennis.
Favourite sound: :The sound my newborn
daughter makes when she swallows while
I’m breastfeeding her.This is an interactive
sound that signals that she’s contented,
making me feel complete as a mother.

TEXT JESPER HULTÉN, LINDA KARLSSON JOHAN LARSSON
PHOTOS CHRISTER EHRLING, SEBASTIAN BERGER RICKARD KILSTRÖM
SEMCON
BRAINS
Spare parts specialist
CHARLOTTE WELLRATH-JACOBSSON helpscompa-
niesdevelopstrategiesandprocessesforoptimal
sparepartmanagement,forthemselvesandtheir
customers-somethingthatinvolvestheentirechain,
fromconstructiontotheaftermarket.
“Acarproject lastsanaverageoffiveyears,sowe
want tobeinvolvedasearlyaspossibleandset de-
mands,toinfluence theright levelofdetailin terms
ofsparepart composition.”
“Changingsmallpartsona truckisjust not fea-
sible,becauseit takes toolongandeachstoppage
costsmoney.Compared tocarsit pays therefore to
changealargersparepart moduleoneachoccasion.
Thismeansfewer,but morecomplex,spareparts.”
Otherindustrieshavealot tolearnfrom theauto
industry.Charlottehasjust workedonaproject with
acustomerinanotherindustry,wheresheshowed
them that it’spossible tocut thenumberofspare
partsbysmart planning.
“Welookedat twoseparateproductswithdiffer-
ent functionsandexaminedhowmuchofareduc-
tionin therespectivemachines’sparepartswecould
achieve.Wemanagedsavingsof45and65percent
respectively.Thisjust shows that it’spossible tocut
costsinindustriescharacterizedbycustomer-specif-
icordersandrelativelyshort productionruns.”
“But youneed tobe toughasanaftermarket man-
ager tosucceedinprojectscoveringmanylayersof
thevaluechainandinvolvingpeoplefromdifferent
countriesandcultures.”
charlotte wellrath-jacobsson, aftermarket spare parts specialist, semcon sweden

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.20103 33FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 33
BEHINDTHESCENES
ATSEMCONBRAINS
Want toknowmoreabout
Charlotte,herjobandwhat
challengesshehasfoundat
Semcon?Watch thefilmat
semcon.com

NO CAR LOVER woulddeny that
XuehongFuhasadreamjob. With
amajorGermanOEMas themain
customer,heisable toparticipatein
thedevelopment ofautomobileen-
ginesforsomeof theworld’sbest-
sellingcars.Bydoingso,heworkson
projectsfrom theinitialcustomer
request andproposal through to
theconstruction,calculationand
finallyprototypesand tests.In the
last coupleofyears,hehasbeenable
toworkonenginessuchas theMer-
cedesBenzV6,V8andV12.
“Formepersonally,theV6Turbo
wasanespeciallyexcitingproject,”
hesays.“Iwasinvolvedasadesign
engineerandworkedon theproject
from thebeginninguntilshortly
before theproductionstage”.
Thecardriversof todayhavehigh
expectationswhenit comes to
mobility,drivingpleasureandenvi-
ronmentalfriendliness.“Currently,
we’reconcentratingonfindingways
tomake thecombustionengine
greener,”Fuexplains.“However,a
great enginesoundandotheras-
pectsofdrivingpleasureneed tobe
fulfilledat thesame time.”
Asadevelopment partnerof
manufacturersin theautomo-
tiveindustry,it’simportant for the
company tolistencarefully to the
customer’sconcerns.That’swhy
communicationwith thecustomers
isoneofhismost important tasks.
“Theworkisbuilt on trust,”hesays.
“Thecustomerbringsusinto
thecompanyasexternalexperts
becausewecanalsooffervaluable
skillsincertainareas.This trust
demandsacertainamount of
sensitivity.”
The engine expert
xuehong fu, team leader design engineering / integration and powertrain/
chassis, bad friedrichshall and stuttgart semcon Deutschland
SEMCON
BRAINS

FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.20103 35FUTURE BY SEMCON 2.2013 35
ERIKA KLINGER HELPS projectmanagers
andothermanagersimprovetheirlead-
ershipandcommunicationskillsusing
provenmethodsandintuition.
“The best description of what I do
as a coach is to say that I’m a catalyst.
It’s about bringing out the potential in
people.”
Erikahasworkedinproject manage-
ment for19years.Shealsoteachesproject
management andleadership.But beinga
coachisdifferent torunningcourses.
“Asateacheryouteachwhatyou
know.Butacoachdoesn’t teach,you
justaskstrongquestionstohelpothers
becomeawareofwhat theywantand
howtoachieveit.”
Erikaisfascinatedbyhowmuch
peoplelearnabout themselveswhen
theyaregiventimetoreflect,findtheir
motivationandstartacting.
“It’s very powerful.I can often see
after the first day that the person has
more energy.I think this is because
they have set a path and they want
to know how much they can affect
themselves.”
“Coaching is mainly aimed at
managers and project managers.But
it’s really for anyone who wants to
achieve change,”she says.
“I’veseenthatpeoplesoonbecome
clearerintheirleadershipandcom-
municationabilities.Andtheybecome
moretarget-oriented.Thiscanhappenin
justamonth.Animportantpartofthisis
aboutself-confidence.Havingcleargoals
andbelievingthat theyaredoingthe
right thingstoachievetheirgoalsgives
peopleself-confidence.”
The coach
erika klingler, senior project management consultant, semcon sweden

Volvo FH has been Volvo Trucks’
flagship for almost 20 years. The work
on the latest version started in 2003,
focusing on safety, driving quality,
driver comfort and fuel economy. It’s
now arrived and Semcon helped.
TEXT MARIANNE OVESEN PHOTOS SÖREN HÅKANLIND, LARS ARDARVE VOLVO TRUCKS

MODEL FOR
THE FUTURE

O
lof Pawlowski testing engineer
at Semcon is standing in front
of a huge graphite grey truck
and looks up at its giant grille.
He can’t help but smile.
“It’s much cooler working
with trucks than cars,”he says.
The truck in question is Volvo Trucks’new
FH, a truck with the same name as its prede-
cessor – but that’s the only thing they share
in common. The new FH is something totally
different.
Olof strolls from the truck to the workshop by
Volvo’s test track at Hällered outside Borås. Eve-
ry truck and its technology is thoroughly tested
here before being released onto the market.
As a test engineer at Semcon, Olof has
worked with Volvo Trucks on many occa-
sions. His speciality is steering and road-
holding, two of the areas that Volvo has in-
vested that little bit extra in on the new truck.
THE NEW VOLVO FH has a lot to live up to. Over
the Volvo FH:s 20-year life the model has
been Volvo Trucks’biggest success to date
with over 650,000 trucks sold, which today is
equivalent to a significant part of overall sales.
Expectations are high for the new version to
lead the company into the future.
“The FH is our backbone. Many see Volvo
Trucks and the FH model as synonymous. The
new FH series is the bedrock for continued
successful marketing for us,”says Claes Nils-
son, CEO of Volvo Trucks, in a press release
connected with the launch of the new truck.
THE FUTURE DEMANDS on trucks when work on
the new FH began were that it should be ahead
of legislation, pass the Euro 6 emissions limits
with margin, and be equipped with tomorrow’s
safety technology. It should also drive more
like a car and be more homely inside the cab.
Billions of kronor and many engineer-
ing man-hours later Volvo Trucks had done
it. Over the years Semcon has assisted with
different areas of expertise, including testing
and design, but also electrics and electron-
ics, chassis, ergonomics and designing the
“No other truck in the world has
such good roll stability, steering
wheel sensitivity and road-
holding reliability.”
Stefan Axelsson, responsible for road performance at Volvo Trucks
OlofPawlowski
Test engineer,Semcon
StefanAxelsson
Responsibleforroadperfor-
mance,VolvoTrucksFVV(Feature
VerificationValidation)

new platform. Olof Pawlowski is one of the
engineers that worked on the unique, cutting
edge technology, in his case the individual
front suspension system, which on heavy
trucks uses the same basic technology used
on horse-drawn cabs back in the 18th century.
To get the market’s best road-holding,
Volvo Trucks instead developed individual
front suspension with rack steering gear. This
is technology used in most modern cars, but
almost a revolution in heavy trucks. This was
completely untested and required a lot of en-
gineering expertise.
INDIVIDUALFRONTSUSPENSIONmeans that the front
wheels move independently of one another. If the
right wheel goes into a depression or over a bump
in the road the left when acts as if nothing hap-
pened. The result is a much more pleasant driving
experience with less vibration and roll in the cab
and chassis, something that’s really important
for long-distance drivers, especially on winding
narrow roads. The rack steering gear provides a
more direct transfer of the driver’s steering wheel
movements, providing a clearer feel for the road.
It’s now time for Olof to demonstrate what
it’s like on Hällered’s test track. He climbs up
into the truck and slowly drives away.
AFTER A WHILE DRIVING on the long and wind-
ing track he arrives at a stretch prepared
with a variety of deep, and not so deep,
lumps and bumps, some of them so high
that the bumper can be heard scraping them.
Olof and Stefan Axelsson, responsible for
road-performance at Volvo Trucks, have test-
ed the individual front suspension, kingpin
and shock-absorbers, cab and chassis, over
and over again.
“We measured vibration in the cab, keeping
in mind driver comfort. We also measured
friction, acceleration, distortion and other
forces that affect steering and road-holding.
Using the results we identified problems and
suggested remedial measures,”Olof explains.
STEFAN AXELSSON, WHO accompanied Olof in
the truck, adds that a lot of time was spent
HOWITWORKS
Keycomponentsforindividual
front suspension
The challenge for the construction engineers was
to create a construction with lots of moving parts
that work as a solid unit. This is their solution.
RACK AND PINION POWER
STEERING GEAR
Steeringwheelmovement is transferred
to thegearrackviaagearedsteering
column.Movement is then transferred
toasteeringarmviabearingsandrods.
Thesteeringarm,fixed to thesteering
spindle,allow the truck’sfront wheels to
turn,thereby turning the truck.Because
therackedsteeringgearhasmuchshorter
rodsandeachwheelisindependently
linkedstraight to thegearrack,it stabilizes
thesystem.Lessflexibility,providingim-
provedresponseandprecisioncompared
withaconventionalsteeringsystem.
SHOCK ABSORBERS
Vibrationenergyisabsorbedby
shockabsorbersassembled to the
kingpost on thebottomand to the
chassisframeon the top.
KINGPOST
Upperandlowerlinkarm,
shockabsorbers,axleshaft,air
bellowsandsteeringsystem
areallconnected to theking-
post.Towithstandheavyloads
thekingpost ismadefrom
high-tensilematerials.The
constructionhascorrect axle
andkingpinangles,providing
excellent road-holdingand
minimum tyrewear.
LOAD-BEARING
CONSTRUCTION
Theupperandlowerlinkarms
areassembledonaload-bear-
ingconstruction that keeps
theentireinstallationinplace.
Theload-bearingconstruction
ismadefromcast ironand
mountedon thechassisframe.
DOUBLE CONTROL
ARMS
Thefront wheelsareconnected
toakingpinoneachsideand
individuallyhungon thechas-
siswithanupperandlowerlink
arm.Anairbellowsbetween
thekingpinandframecarries
theweight andabsorbsmove-
ment that ariseswithuneven
roadsurfaceswhiledriving.

MariaBalthammar
Title:Industrialdesigner,
Semcon
RikardOrell
Title:Designmanager,
VolvoTrucksProduct Design
The new instrument panel is angled towards the
driver’s seat,with all buttons and controls very
clearly arranged and accessible and extra smart
storage solutions.
The steering wheel has integrated controls
for many functions,including cruise control,
telephone and navigation.
Semcon’s assignment,
NewVolvo FH
Semcon has worked closely withVolvo
Trucks in a variety of areas:engine cooling,
air-intake systems,cab interior design and
instrument panel,cab construction,chassis,
HMI (Human Machine Interface),software
development for the new electronics
platform and air suspension,chassis and
infotainment,testing and driver instruction
manual.

optimizing the shock-absorbers, steering gear
characteristics, steering column and wheel
spindles from Olof’s analyses of the measure-
ment results.
“We have fine-tuned everything to beat
the ordinary Volvo FH, which was our nearest
rival. And we succeeded, no other truck in
the world has such good roll stability, steering
wheel sensitivity and road-holding reliability,”
says Stefan.
Olof has now completed his assignment
with individual front suspension and rack
steering gear, but has quickly moved onto a
new test project.
He points at a white truck circling around
far off into the distance on the test track.
“I’m working on that truck now, but I’m not
supposed to divulge any info, it’s top secret.”
There are not many testing engineers for
heavy vehicles, and Volvo Trucks has no in-
tention of letting Olof go just yet. This suits
him very well because his passion for big
trucks has not diminished over the years.
“I started here in 1998, just after starting
work at Semcon. That’s 15 years ago and for 11
of them I’ve worked on various assignments
for Volvo Trucks,”he says.
Olof’s long-term relationship with Volvo
Trucks is not unique. The same is true in de-
sign. Volvo Trucks employed the services of
Semcon’s industrial designer Maria Baltham-
mar in 2007 to develop the new truck’s cab
interior. She worked for three years at Volvo
Trucks’large, airy design studio in Lundby,
Hisingen, outside Göteborg.
She tells us that there were three designers
at the start whose job was to brainstorm.
“The main focus was on finding and con-
veying a feeling. Everything in the cab also
had to match and be a home for the person
who would be spending a lot of time there.”
The cab also had to have a very Volvo feel,
with simple, Scandinavian design.
Volvo Trucks’design manager Rikard Orell
shows us around the studio, where there are
real trucks standing alongside mockups made
out of aluminium, wood, clay and polysty-
rene. A clay modeller finely tunes details on
a model and the air has a slight aroma of glue
and paint.
RIKARD TELLS US that the product develop-
ment process always gravitates; it starts at
a visionary level and is then drawn towards
something that is considered to be realistic.
He therefore wants to be as open as possible
at the start of the process.
“We often choose a challenging concept,
one that can stand up to being properly twist-
ed and molded, before it turns into something
that works in reality.”
And the reality is drivers and their eve-
ryday lives. To get drivers’ opinions Volvo
placed interior models of various instru-
ment panels at a number of Truck Stops
around Europe. Thousands of truck drivers
got to test the panels and provide their
opinions. This allowed designers to see
how drivers moved their line of sight over
the instruments and how they reached the
buttons.
“Drivers’opinions were collected and
reviewed as input as we proceeded with the
design,”says Rikard.
APART FROM ALL THE SYSTEMS from climate
control to instrument clusters, needing to be
fixed behind the instrument panel, they also
need to be brought forward and shown on the
front of the panel.
Maria says that it was both exciting and
difficult. Not least the work on the climate
control.
“The climate department has very strict
rules to adhere to in relation to air ducts and
their positioning.”
But the trickiest thing was getting all the
packing behind the panel.
“I realized it wasn’t possible so we had to
rethink. Was there, for example, new, less
bulky packing on the market? There was, and
we found it after a lot of searching.”
But before work had reached this stage
Maria’s idea for an instrument panel, with
its soft, flowing lines, was considered to have
that Volvo feel. It was also visionary enough
to be realized by the design team.
“I got my inspiration from curved wooden
furniture. I wanted the shape to express pu-
rity, simplicity and calm,”she remembers.
Apart from all the instruments and buttons
the panel is also equipped with accessible
compartments and coffee sup holder. Every-
thing is within arms reach, even the“bird-
bath”, which is a non-slip bowl on top of the
instrument panel.
Rikard points out that the instrument panel
has taken a quantum leap forward compared
to its predecessor, despite the fact that the
classic Volvo FH instrument panel was very
popular. He and Maria are both very pleased
with the result. 1
“Everything in the cab also
had to match and be a home
for the person who would be
spending many hours there.”
Maria Balthammar, industrial designer, Semcon

SEMCON UPDATEWHAT’S HAPPENING IN SEMCON’S WORLD
A TEAM FROM SemconinSweden tookpart
in theNASASpaceAppsChallenge.Approx-
imately9,000developers,designersand
creativeprofessionalsworkedsimultan-
eouslyaround theworld tocreateinnovative
solutionsusingdatafromNASA.
In48hours theSemcon teamcreateda
webapp that showswhereon theplanet
renewableenergyisbeingused,suchassolar,
windandhydro-electricpower.Theappalso
showswhereconditionsaregood touse
renewableenergyandglobaldifferencesover
time.Theteamdiscoveredthat nowadaysless
renewableenergyisused than40yearsago.
“Byusing theappyoucanget ablackand
whitepictureof thesituation-wehopeit can
get people tounderstand that theproblem
isglobaland that wehave topull together
worldwide toget asustainableenergysolu-
tion,”saysAndreasFolkestad,experience
designerat SemconinGöteborg.
The team’sappdidn’t gofurtherin theglo-
balcompetition,but therewasgreat interest
in theappfromcompaniesandorganiza-
tions.
“Wehope that thissolutioncanbeusedin
thefuture,eitherforenergyproducersor to
showconsumersproblemsandopportuni-
ties,”saysAndreas.
Thepurposeof theNASASpaceAppsChal-
lengeis tofindsolutions toproblems,both
onearthandinspace.TheSemcon teamcon-
sistedofTorGuttormsen,SichengChenand
AndreasFolkestadfrom theDesign/Human
Factorsdepartment.
“Ifyoubring togethersmart peoplefrom
different disciplinesunder theright circums-
tances,youcanperformmagic.Thenyoufind
newinnovativesolutions,”saysAndreas.
Newideas
inNasaapp
competition PHOTO:NASA

SemconwonVCC
Innovationchallenge
ThejurychoseSemconamong tough
competitionfromcompaniessuch
asÅF,Consat,CybercomandHiQ to
mentionafewof thecompaniescom-
petingwithinActiveSafety.
“Weareveryproudof thisaward.A
great benefit is that wehaveextensive
expertisegatheredat Semconwho
couldcontribute.During thecontest
wealsohadalot offun.”saysMagnus
Carlsson,TeammanagerwithinSys-
temsSoftware,Semcon.
SemconwinsMAN
awardforthe
developmentof
softwaretesting
SemconBrazilhas
developedatool
forsoftwareand
functiontesting
forMANthat
bothimproves
qualityandhalves
thetestingtime.
Theprojectwon
aprizeatMAN’s
AnnualAwards
forBrilliantMinds
intheTotalPro-
ductiveCategory.
“It wasarelativelysmallproject
that led tobig timesavings,increases
inproductivityandwhichwillnow
enableus tocarryout ourassignments
inabetterway,”saysFabricioCampos,
CTO,SemconBrazil.
Steeringsafely
towardsthefuture
Semconisstartingacollaborationwith
Sentient,workingon thecompany’s
steeringsoftware.The technology
involvessoftwareforactivesafetyand
amorecomfortablesteering“feel”.
“We’reconfident that thesoftware
canbenefit ourcustomersin theauto-
motiveindustry,”saysStefanOhlsson,
President forbusinessareaAutomo-
tiveRDat Semcon.
Ajoint teamfromSemconand
Sentient willworkon thedelivery,
integrationanddevelopment of the
technology.
Newpatentopensupopportunities
Largeclimatechamber
inplaceinIngolstadt
THE WAY AIR FLOWS behindavehiclecan
greatlyaffectfueleconomy.Semconhas
patentsinActiveFlowControltechnology
-whichcanreducefuelconsumptionin
vehiclesincludingtrucksbyjustover5%.
“ActiveFlowControlcanreducedrag
in trucksbyup to25%.Thisoccursbyre-
ducingdesignresistancein thevent,the
part behind the truckwithlowairpres-
sureandaswirlingairflow.It savesboth
energyandmoney,”saysPontusWettrell,
headof theComputerAidedEngineering
department at Semcon.
Semcon’sActiveFlowControl techno-
logyutilizesactivelyinducedflowstruc-
turesin thevehicle’srear toreduce the
sizeof thewakebehindit.This technique
canreducecosts,particularlyforheavy
vehiclesdrivinglongdistances.It canalso
beusedinbuses,trainsandcars.
“Semconhas twopatentsinActive
FlowControl technology,whichoffers
great potentialforfurtherdevelopment
andproduction,”saysPontus.
SemconinIngolstadt hasopened theplant’s
thirdclimatechamber.Thechamber tests
howvehiclesvibrateundervariouscondi-
tions.Different climaticandenvironmental
situationscanbesimulatedandvehiclescan
be testedat different temperatures.
“Thenewclimatechamberiswiderand
longer thanpreviousones,andcanbeused
withlargerparts,”saysMathiasBrandis,
headof the testingdepartment.
SemconhasinvestedEUR175,000in the
newclimatechamber,whichmanycusto-
mersrequested.
“Wenowhavegreatercapacityanda
shorterdelivery time.Inaddition,wecan
test largervehiclesandpartsin thenew
climatechamber,whichcanalsobecomple-
telycovered,”saysMathias.

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