And More Comfortably Through the Real World

ENCOUNTER 02 / 2016 The Audi Technology Magazine The AudiThe Technology Magazine 0 2016 / 02 ENCOUNTER Quba Libre →Page 14 Fully Tensed →Page 82

Widespread Effect →Page 60 Needle inthe Red →Page 116 Modern Talking The HERE map database moves cars even more safely safely more even cars moves database map HERE The SIMple →Page 90 and more comfortably through the real world. real the through comfortably more and → Page 24 HERE andNow →Page 64 A Cyberway in 3D in Cyberway Hands On→Page 128 Tech News →Page 92 N Time ofMyDrive →Page 32 D

N O W The Perfect WaveThe →Page 72 Flight Club →Page 134 Mission tothe Moon→Page 100 Electric Avenue →Page 50

ENCOUNTER 02 / 2016

The Audi Technology Magazine

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Simply send an e-mail with your address to: [email protected] EDITORIAL

Dear reader,

In the age of globalization and digitalization, the auto- On the pages that follow, you can read motive industry is facing a seismic shift. As a premium about the innovations with which we are turning our manufacturer, we have the corporate and social respon- automobiles into “best companions” for their users. For sibility to shape the future of mobility with our products example, you can find out how the highly automated – in a manner that is efficient and sustainable, digital driving of the future will save you valuable time. And and connected, with a high level of comfort and emo- you can see how mature our developments for piloted tional design. driving and parking already are in the report on the We can and will be an engine of digital powerful laser scanner we are installing in the new Audi change – by also pursuing disruptive approaches, enter- A8. It observes its surroundings with a level of precision ing into smart cooperations and incorporating our ex- that far exceeds that of the human eye. perience from more than 100 years of developing and It is capabilities like this that characterize producing automobiles. the automobile of the future. It will gather informa- And we have a very clear target in this en- tion, store it in a data cloud, learn with every kilometer deavor – the premium experience for our customers. In and exchange its knowledge with other cars. From a the latest issue of our Encounter magazine series we technical standpoint, the car will become a central provide you with a glimpse of what that looks like. integrator of artificial intelligence with which we will Experience the new Audi Q2, our first compact SUV, and shape the mobility of tomorrow. the Audi A5 Coupé, the second generation of our multi- award-winning design classic. Enjoy!

Yours, Dr. Stefan Knirsch

We can and will be an engine of digital change – by also pursuing disruptive approaches, entering into smart cooperations and incorporating our experience from more than 100 years of developing and producing automobiles.

Dr. Stefan Knirsch Board Member for Technical Development AUDI AG

2 Encounter Technology 3 Encounter Technology CONTENTS

MINDSET 14 Quba Libre Audi presented its new 14 24 32 Q2 on Cuba. Quba Libre Modern Talking Time of My Drive The new Audi Q2 on its first Board Member for Technical Development The piloted car will give us outing in a Dr. Stefan Knirsch on the more time – fascinating city – Havana. technology strategy of the Audi brand. but how will we use it? 24 72 The Perfect Wave The three-dimensional shoulder line of the Audi A5 Coupé takes the form SKILLS of a wave. 32 50 60 64 Electric Avenue Widespread Effect HERE and Now 100 Inside a car’s black boxes The laser scanner opens up a new How does HERE’s map model work are veritable supercomputers – approach to sensors, to keep improving the and they look fascinating. for more safety and comfort. way our cars are guided? Needle in the Red Passion for racing and road motorcycles at Ducati. 72 82 90 The Perfect Wave Fully Tensed SIMple The new Audi A5 Coupé Centuries-old hunting bows reveal Audi connect services are available is a design masterpiece – the art their early hi-tech secrets – across European 116 of the line. with parallels to the Audi R8 Spyder. borders with the new e-SIM. 64 92 HERE and Now Tech News The new HERE data platform describes the traffic space Exciting inventions, as a three-dimensional model. ideas and visions from the world of technology.

82 PA SSION

100 116 128 Mission to the Moon Needle in the Red Hands On The first Audi will land on the moon Visit to the holy grail – this is Do-it-yourself engine building – in 2017 – we talk to Frank Schätzing and where Ducati works the successful take a look behind the scenes. on its superfast racing machines. V12 TDI for Le Mans.

Flight Club The R18 e-tron quattro and 134 Eurofighter Typhoon push Flight Club at the boundaries of physics. Both insist on everything from their pilots – the Audi R18 e-tron and the Eurofighter Typhoon. 134

4 Encounter Technology 5 Encounter Technology LINE.

The Heir to the Icon: The first Audi A5 Coupé was already a design highlight. Its successor looks even tighter and sharper.

→ Page 72

The Elegance of the Wave The new A5 Coupé is a fine balance of timeless beauty and fashion. But what do we perceive as beautiful and why? Lutz Fügener, Professor of Design at Pforzheim College, talks to us about automotive aesthetics.

TIME. The Time Hunter: “Time is a real luxury in my job,” says Marcel Fässler, three-time overall winner at Le Mans with Audi.

→ Page 32

The 25th Hour Audi’s piloted cars will give their users the gift of time. But what will they do with this so-called 25th hour? Eight very different time experts provide some fascinating answers. VISION.

This is what Explorers Look Like: The Audi lunar quattro orientates itself on the Moon with its four cameras.

→ Page 100

The Moon Becomes the Land of quattro The first Audi is scheduled to drive on the Moon in 2017. An engineering team from Ingolstadt is working with the Part-Time Scientists SMART. from Berlin to prepare the Audi lunar quattro for its mission. The Digital Nervous System: Audi’s central driver assistance control unit (zFAS) will facilitate piloted driving in the near future.

→ Page 50

Hi-tech Control Units The electronic elements that Audi uses in its cars achieve immense performance in a tiny space. 20 years ago, the computing power delivered by the zFAS circuit board would still have needed a huge supercomputer. Two at the Limit Extreme g-forces, immense acceleration: Three-time Le Mans champion André Lotterer and Eurofighter chief test pilot Geri Krähenbühl compare the tools of their trade. A conversation about concentration, RACE. perception and danger. Passion and Skill: Ducati’s racing motorcycles are created in a workshop at the headquarters in Bologna.

→ Page 116 CONTROL.

5 g? 9 g! The Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 race car meets the Eurofighter Typhoon.

→ Page 134

Hi-tech Puzzle A rear swing fork made from CFRP; engines spinning at 18,000 revs – a whole lot of hi-tech components are packed into a Ducati racing bike. We pay a visit to Ducati Corse. 12 Encounter Technology 13 Encounter Technology

MINDSET Quba Modern Time of My

It is the courage to innovate Libre Talking Drive that put Audi at the top. The company The new Audi Q2 on its Board Member for Technical The piloted car will give us wants to expand that lead even first outing in a Development Dr. Stefan Knirsch on more time – further with a continual flow of new fascinating city – Havana. the technology strategy of the but how will we use it? ideas and a clear approach. Page 14 Audi brand. Page 32 Page 24 QUBA Text Hermann Reil

Photos Tobias Sagmeister Hermann Reil

LIBRETHE FUTURE IS TODAY Cuba seems to be changing cautiously, with the country heading towards new freedom. The new Audi Q2 enjoyed a very special appearance. Here, against the automotive backdrop of the 1950s, the compact SUV bears the message of a promising future.

14 Encounter Technology 15 Encounter Technology Pearl of the Caribbean – There are phases in which change has not yet truly begun, all that Cuba is a land of exists is a sense of anticipation. An omnipresent past mixes with a contradictions – magni- future that is still hanging in the air; that has not yet truly material- ficent boulevards lie alongside dilapidated ized – and yet hides a promise. side streets. Preserv- Cuba is in this fascinating phase right now. It is a land ing the old automobiles in which, almost 60 years after the revolution, many people still is not exactly easy. live in financial need, a land that still has no real industrial production to speak of and that survived for many years on subsidies from its fellow communist states. But it is also a land whose citizens are well educated and that has a properly functioning healthcare system, one which serves as a role model – and not just for the Caribbean. It is a land that is perhaps still sleeping, but that has a very good chance for excellent development – if the path of cautious opening up is pursued consistently and correctly over the years to come. Cuba is currently surely one of the world’s most THIS IS AUDI’S NEW exciting countries. Q-BAN Audi used this phase for a pioneering undertaking – for the first modern-day vehicle launch in this fascinating island state. Two worlds come crashing together on this sunny day in Cuba. A small group of brand-new Audi Q2s* made a very special appear- An American beauty from the 50s takes its place ance on the roads of the capital city Havana and its surroundings. alongside a chic and rather smart fun-mobile from Germany – While the vast majority of Cuban traffic looks like some kind of the brand-new Audi Q2. living museum, the urban SUVs from Ingolstadt came across like 1 messengers of a promising future. BILD Unique the world over, the automotive population of the island of Cuba was founded on New Year’s Eve 1958. While the band was still playing its fanfare in the ballroom of the venerable Hotel Nacional in Havana and a firework display on the terrace her- alded the beginning of the New Year, a rumor began to spread – President Fulgencio Batista has allegedly fled the country! Two days beforehand, revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara had occupied the city of Santa Clara in the center of the island – the situation had obviously become too hot for the dictator who had ruled the country since 1940. Just one day later, on the night of January 1, Fidel Castro declared victory for the revolution in Santiago de Cuba.

* Audi Q2 1.4 TFSI COD (110 kW): On new terrain – Malecón, the coastal Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.7 – 5.4 (41.3 – 43.6 US mpg); Audi is conquering the promenade along Combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 130 – 124 (209.2 – 199.6 g/mi) urban SUV segment with the edge of Havana’s the Q2 – starting with old town. its first appearance on the ↓

1 Cuba Official language Spanish 2 Havana 3 Varadero Capital Havana (La Habana) 2 3 4 Santiago de Cuba Area 109,884.01 km²

Population 11,238,317 (2014)

Flag

16 Encounter Technology 17 Encounter Technology Caribbean joy – Even if everyday life in the country is not Q MEETS CUBA always easy, the pure lust for life is always designboom test drives the AUDI Q2 in havana. apparent in the Cuban apart from its vivid landscape, vibrant people. However, inhabitants, vivacious music and food, and strong Ernest Hemingway’s sense of diversity, cuba is widely recognized for one favorite bar is almost entirely populated emblematic trait: its cars. now, cuba is in the by tourists these days. midst of a fascinating transitional phase. recognizing ↙ its developing landscape, and unparalleled blend of tradition, evolution, style and lust for life, AUDI has become the first car maker in modern times to present a new model in cuba. whether driving through the bustling streets, or parked on the beach, the AUDI Q2 makes a bold statement with its rugged look and feel.

DESIGNBOOM.COM

Back from the Future – Everyday life here The convoy of red Q2s is still dominated by cars ON THE on the roads in and from the 1950s – FAST LANE around Havana looked a museum on wheels almost like an alien that is utterly unique in The Audi Q2 makes its mark from the very arrival. the world. first moment. ↑

AUTO ZEITUNG

AUDI’S HAVANA BABY

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

18 Encounter Technology A large proportion of its wealthy inhabitants, naturally But there are also some automotive horrors around – all U.S. citizens and those Cubans who did business with the vehicles that are kept running largely by the deeply held beliefs of Americans on a more or sometimes less honest basis, beat a very their drivers in the magic of the Afro-Caribbean Santería rituals and hasty retreat from the island. Those who managed to secure space whose brakes have been replaced by carefully selected, preemptive for their cars on one of the last ferries to Miami obviously took them route planning. Theoretically, the state regularly checks the techni- along. However, most fled by sail boat or motor launch or simply cal condition of the vehicles on its roads. The rules, however, seem took very little with them, leaving behind their sedans and con- to be open to a large degree of interpretation. vertibles in large numbers. Cuba had an impressive selection of After the embargo came into force, the former Soviet automobiles in the 1950s. The mafia in particular, which raked in Union took over the role of the country’s most important trading substantial profits from its casinos on Cuba under notorious boss partner. When the USSR collapsed in the early 90s and broke into Meyer Lansky, left behind quite a few automotive gems. individual states, the island not only fell into the “Periodo Especial” Following the dispossession of American citizens and – a genteel term for financial crisis – it also became increasingly companies by the revolutionary government, the USA placed an difficult to get hold of replacement parts for all the Moskwitsch, embargo on Cuba at the start of 1960. From that point on, no more ZIL, Lada and VAZ vehicles that populate the island in considerable replacement parts for the American vehicles were able to make it numbers as plucky “young classics”. The supply of fresh automo- to the island – at least officially. This led to the creation of an iso- biles from socialist production lines ran dry – a comeback seems lated automotive gene pool, unique in the world – a Galapagos unlikely. Islands for road cruisers, if you will. Or perhaps more of an automotive Jurassic Park? In any event, today, around 60 years later, these Buicks, Chevrolets, Chryslers, Oldsmobiles, Ford V8s and Cadillacs still dominate the island’s roads thanks to the enormous skill and NUEVO AUDI Q2. improvisation of its mechanics. European cars from this era are Un extraterrestre en La Habana. rare, a handful of DKWs produced in Ingolstadt during the 50s are still to be seen from time to time on the island. Altogether, they TOP GEAR SPANIEN form a major part of the unique time-machine feeling you always get in Havana. The technical condition of these museum pieces on wheels varies enormously. Most are incredibly well cared for, and some of them even retain much of their original technology – thanks either to components reproduced by hand with impressive Plaza de la revolución – Magicians of metal – craftsmanship or replacement parts generously gifted by relatives Che Guevara is larger 70 year-old cars in the U.S. Most, however, are what the artists in the workshops than life and omni- are kept alive in Cuba’s refer to as Frankenstein cars. Instead of American big blocks, they present, and not only car workshops, often have long since been transplanted with measly four-cylinders from on the Plaza de la through technol- Revolución in Havana. ogy donations from China or diesel engines of European origin. This is good for running ↙ the modern day. costs, as gasoline prices on Cuba are on par with those in Europe, → which is extortionate for the impoverished locals. From the outside, these automotive zombies look extremely well preserved. To accommodate the foreign driveline technology, entire subassemblies as well as front and rear ends are designed from scratch. Bodyshell production often takes place in barns, where dents are lovingly hammered out, filled and smoothed. And when it comes to paintwork, which is done largely in the open air with paltry spray pistols, the Cubans are absolute world cham- pions.

THIS MINI-SUV IS GOING TO BE A SUCCESS.

STERN

20 Encounter Technology When it comes to modern vehicles on the island, it BACK TO THE FUTURE comes as no surprise that the Chinese have a long-established foot- hold. The taxi market in Havana is no longer utterly dominated by AUTO MOTOR UND SPORT Frankenstein classics, but is now laced with a substantial number of Geely sedans. Western automakers are the brands in demand in the premium segment. Audi delivered 200 vehicles to the island Until the revolution, Cuba was extremely popular among following a call-for-tender issued by the Cuban government. American automakers as a location for launching new car models. President Raúl Castro, who wants to lead the country through Audi is returning to this tradition with the Q2, becoming the first cautious reforms, drives – or rather, is driven in – an Audi A8. vehicle manufacturer in modern times to present a new vehicle to The sale of cars and replacement parts is generally the international media in Cuba – which was no easy project, even managed by the state. For the last five years, Cubans have been in this Cuba of cautiously blossoming change. The fundamental permitted to buy cars for private use, although the private transfer feasibility was checked a good six months in advance. The first con- of classic cars between private individuals has always been allowed. tact to the authorities in Havana was made by the German Embassy The number of people in Cuba with the wealth to afford a new car and the German Chamber of Foreign Trade. Responsible for the is obviously still extremely small. Nevertheless, Cubans are pas- final permission was Mincex, the Ministerio del Comercio Exterior sionate about cars, whether they are at the wheel of an automobile y la Inversión Extranjera. But agreement first had to be obtained LIKE A MESSENGER FROM from the 50s, a young classic from the Soviet era, a modern-day from a diverse array of bodies across the country. One particularly THE FUTURE Chinese car or a premium product from Europe. And they are also complicated aspect was the customs formalities for every single remarkably considerate drivers. screw in the boxes belonging to Audi’s team of technicians – on the DIE WELT way into and back out of the country again. It ultimately proved extremely useful that the mechanics needed almost none of their equipment and parts supplies. The reward for all the hard work was a tour packed with VIVE LA intense images and experiences that will remain in the memories REVOLUTION of the participants for years to come. And should the country’s HAPPY IN HAVANNA Audi mixes it up in the urban jungle cautious opening be successful then the Audi Q2 will someday with the Q2 PEOPLE MAGAZINE become part of the everyday street scene. MOTOSOUND

Scan the QR code to experience the new Audi Q2 on test drive in Havana.

22 Encounter Technology 23 Encounter Technology NEW SCOPE FOR CREATIVITY Dr.-Ing. Stefan Knirsch was born in Bamberg in 1966. He joined AUDI AG in 1990 as an engine designer. From 1996 until INTERVIEW WITH AUDI’S BOARD MEMBER FOR 2003 he worked in management positions for Porsche and the Rheinmetall Group. Dr. Knirsch returned to Audi in 2013 as the Head of Engine Development, becoming Board Member for Technical TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT DR. STEFAN KNIRSCH Development in 2016.

Audi’s Board Member for Technical Development tells us about Audi’s most powerful motivators for the years ahead:piloted driving, artificial intelligence and electrified drives. And he reveals what Audi can learn from Apple.

Text Photos Johannes Köbler Bernhard Huber

MODERN TALK

24 IEncounter TechnologyNG. Dr. Knirsch, how is Audi transporting the brand Can you keep up with the speed of Silicon Valley? claim “Vorsprung durch Technik” into the future? Dr. Knirsch: We already have a lot of development NEW Dr. Knirsch: We lead the competitive field in connectiv engineers who live and breathe the spirit of Silicon Valley ity. The same goes for piloted driving. When it comes to in that they work virtually to a great extent and are fully alternative drives, we have a very broad offering – mas- open in their thinking. Plus, Audi holds shares in a few MOBILITY tering all key future technologies from plug-in hybrid highly interesting start-ups in areas such as the detec- AUDI E-TRON to battery systems to heat pumps to fuel cells. We’ve tion of parking cars. And we’ll keep building up our exper done our homework and will keep pushing forward. tise in the field of artificial intelligence in particular. 2018 will see Audi put into production a battery-electric full-size SUV. Changes in the sector are effecting not only the How do you structure the development processes The Audi e-tron quattro concept, the technology study from the 2015 Frankfurt cars, but also the development work. How does Audi within the digital and analogue worlds? stay in front? Motor Show, shows the way – it is a sporty full-size SUV with an elegant look Dr. Knirsch: Focus is the key. We have to find the impor- and plenty of muscle. Its large, flat lithium-ion battery has a capacity of 95 kWh, Dr. Knirsch: The extremely dynamic pace of change that tant approaches from among all the topics and ap- which delivers a range of more than 500 km. The battery feeds three electric we are experiencing brings us to a whole new way of proaches out there and integrate them into our work in motors. Together they deliver an output of up to 370 kW and more than 800 Nm thinking – the step-by-step approach of days past a way that fits. Over the years, the automotive industry doesn’t get us anywhere today. I want to work with my has created enormous variety that has led to a corre- of torque. The Audi e-tron quattro concept accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h team to formulate visions and generate scope for cre- sponding degree of complexity. If we condense this again in 4.6 seconds and reaches an electronically regulated top speed of 210 km/h. ativity and an innovative diversity. The limits of fea without any negative impact on the customer, we will be The three electric motors can be separately activated and controlled, making sibility will come into play soon enough. able to concentrate even more on the new technologies. the full-size electric SUV an electrified quattro – an e-quattro. When the driver

Is a company like Google more of a competitor wants maximum performance, the Torque Control Manager actively distributes ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE to you or a partner? the torque between the rear wheels. As a rule, however, the drive management IS EXTREMELY INTERESTING prioritizes low energy consumption. A heat Dr. Knirsch: We cooperate with a lot of IT companies on pump and an extremely aerodynamic TO US. WE WANT TO KEEP a working level – Google, for instance, possesses a lot BUILDING UP OUR EXPERTISE of knowledge on artificial intelligence which is of inter- bodyshell (cd 0.25) with active aero ele- HERE. est to us. But we don’t permit our technology partner ments likewise contribute to efficiency. any form of access to our cars’ operating systems. We Dr. Stefan Knirsch owe that to our customers. They trust us and they also Audi Board Member for Technical Development Charging connection – know that catching up with us in the classic areas of The socket for charging with technology is not such an easy task. direct and alternating current is in the right front fender. What can Audi learn from Google and Apple?

Dr. Knirsch: Apple and a few other companies have succeeded in establishing product worlds that their cus- The Audi e-tron quattro concept in detail tomers no longer want to live without. And we want 1 Front electric motor that, too, although we are not aiming at beating Google 2 Power electronics or Apple. What we can do is deepen the already strong 3 Lithium-ion battery with 95 kWh capacity 5 loyalty our customers have to the brand. To do that, we 4 Two rear electric motors want to offer them an environment that closely net- 5 Solar roof with up to 320 W peak output works the car, office and home to create a new kind of convenience. The service of connecting customers directly with the workshop, which we offer through Audi connect, is a step in this direction. 4

OUR ELECTRIC CAR WILL BE FANTASTIC. IT HAS A RANGE OF MORE THAN 500 KILOMETERS AND IMMENSE TORQUE. AND IT OFFERS THE QUALITY AND DRIVING FUN THAT CUSTOMERS EXPECT FROM AUDI.

Dr. Stefan Knirsch Audi Board Member for Technical Development

26 Encounter Technology 27 Encounter Technology Can this digital customer environment have an How can you be certain that the piloted driving impact on the brand? systems function reliably in all circumstances and THE FUTURE that customer data remains protected? Dr. Knirsch: Imagine you get into an Audi rental car at the airport. You have your personal data with you and Dr. Knirsch: This is something we’re working very hard BEGINS the car configures itself to your preferences – in music, on. In the case of piloted driving, the hardware and PILOTED DRIVING internal lighting, chassis setup, route selection. This is software is a matter of life and limb. This also means a whole new level of comfort and convenience that no we need extremely reliable approval processes. There’s Audi’s test cars for piloted driving all have longer requires apps or programs. I can well imagine a lot of thought going into data protection here, pre- human names. One of them is “Jack”, an that this raises brand loyalty even further. vention of attack by hackers and other related issues. A7 Sportback. It specializes in highway driv The big project for the years to come is piloted Will you have to completely rethink the concept ing and exhibits an interactive driving style driving. What’s the Audi roadmap for this? of the car in the medium term? matched to the prevailing situation. A host of sensors, including laser scanners front Dr. Knirsch: We will enter the field of piloted driving for Dr. Knirsch: We’re looking very closely at the change in the first time in 2017 with the new Audi A8 – in traffic mobility and the resulting questions, such as variable and rear, monitor the surroundings. The cen- jams and in slow-moving highway traffic up to 60 kilo- interior concepts for the future. I have a vision that, a tral driver assistance system (zFAS) uses meters per hour. The next big step could be automated few years from now, I will climb into my electric car and their data to calculate a model of the sur- driving in parking garages. And towards the end of the it will drive me automatically to my destination over- roundings that enables the car to behave like next decade there will be fully piloted, self-driving cars. night. If the car has to charge the battery, it automatic As it stands today, however, our customers don’t want ally drives to a rapid charging station. Piloted driving possible – an accomplished driver. The cockpit inside “Jack” the technology showcase. to delegate full responsibility. As is the case with every Audi has carved out a place for itself new technology, we will introduce them gradually to at the very top of the automotive industry in the field of piloted driving – step-by- piloted driving. ELECTRIC DRIVE step, the brand will soon start bringing its new technologies to series production. WILL MAKE NEW Piloted driving will increase safety. What other They stand for safety, time savings, efficiency and comfort. Above all, the systems benefits does it have? VEHICLE ARCHITECTURES can make a valuable contribution to safety when the driver is over or under-chal- POSSIBLE. Dr. Knirsch: In addition to road traffic safety, there is lenged. The anticipatory technology makes driving even more efficient, reduces Dr. Stefan Knirsch stress and raises comfort and convenience. Furthermore, it allows the driver also major progress in comfort and efficiency. Our pre- Audi Board Member for Technical Development dictive efficiency assistant already provides recommen- greater freedom in how he manages his time in the car. dations for economical driving. In future, the car will do that fully automatically and this will reduce its consumption considerably. We’re already able to commu- Audi A7 piloted driving concept nicate with the traffic signals in Las Vegas, which saves Sensors and camera systems around eight minutes on a cross-town drive.

1 Front camera 2 Top-view cameras But who finances the infrastructure? 3 Ultrasound sensors 4 Front laser scanner Dr. Knirsch: Our cars see and learn using artificial intel- 5 Front radar scanner ligence. We don’t need much infrastructure. We need 6 Corner radar scanner 2 1 7 Rapid prototyping control unit a connection to the traffic management system, i.e. the 8 Rear laser scanner 8 9 signals. And we need intelligent parking garages to be 9 Rear radar sensors 7 able to provide automated parking, which will allow us to fit far more cars into the parking garage. We don’t need much more than that in the city.

Will Audi built and sell robot cars one day?

Dr. Knirsch: We’re not thinking along those lines at all. 3 Our aim with piloted driving is not to replace the driver, but to provide him with better protection and to ease the load in stressful situations. Our piloted car will be 4 6 a guardian angel and chauffeur in one.

The eyes of progress – 5 Laser, radar, ultrasound, video cameras – the sensors scan “Jack’s” surroundings with extreme precision.

ROBOT CARS ARE NOT OUR FOCUS. THE PILOTED CARS WE ARE DEVELOPING WILL NOT REPLACE THE DRIVER, BUT WILL PROTECT HIM AND EASE THE LOAD.

Dr. Stefan Knirsch Audi Board Member for Technical Development

28 Encounter Technology 29 Encounter Technology Are you only speaking here about electric cars? OUR PILOTED CARS WILL BE CHAUFFEURS AND Dr. Knirsch: You can obviously build a piloted car with TDI AND an internal combustion engine. However, we’re con- GUARDIAN ANGELS IN ONE. vinced that the issue of sustainability will gain major Dr. Stefan Knirsch importance and that the new zero-emissions drives will TFSI Audi Board Member for Technical Development be the method of choice for piloted driving. And that THE ENGINES could just as well be a fuel cell car. With 320 kW (435 hp) of power and 900 Nm of torque, What are the realistic perspectives for that? How important is the 48 volt partial electrical the 4.0 TDI that drives the new Audi SQ7* makes a powerful statement in the system to Audi? Dr. Knirsch: Audi has taken on fuel cell development on diesel world – thanks to innovative technical solutions. Its electric compressor behalf of the whole Group. Our team is growing rapidly Dr. Knirsch: We recently launched the first model with (EAV), which draws its energy from a 48 volt partial electrical system, guaran- right now, despite the fact that nothing will happen in a 48 volt partial electrical system. With 48 volts, and also tees spontaneous response characteristics. The two turbochargers work on the terms of series production before 2020. But that’s not on the existing 12-volt level, we have plenty of options register principle, whereby the Audi valvelift system (AVS) switches the second down to the technology – we have that well in hand. The for reducing consumption while increasing driving fun. underlying conditions have to change, and part of that This applies to the electric turbocharger, which is par- charger on and off in line with requirements. is a widespread network of hydrogen fuel stations in the ticularly suitable for small engines in large cars, and to The common-rail injection system in the 4.0 TDI generates pressure of up relevant markets. new, intelligent chassis and handling control systems. to 2,500 bar. Its exhaust side, with the two turbochargers, is between the We’re working with a whole technology matrix here. banks of the V – a layout that ensures short gas paths, which equates to sponta- Fuel cell cars are still very expensive right now. What’s so interesting about them from How great is the potential for CO₂ savings neous response characteristics. The V8 diesel accelerates the Audi SQ7 from your standpoint? with 48 volts? 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Yet in the NEDC it consumes just 7.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (189 grams of CO₂ per km). Dr. Knirsch: Because they bring together the best of Dr. Knirsch: 48 volts and high currents put you in the When it comes to gasoline engines, too, Audi recently presented a power two worlds, as demonstrated by our A7 h-tron study. ballpark of 20 kW generator output. If the overall sys- The car is filled up in three minutes, just like a conven- tem is configured accordingly, you can achieve moder- unit that sets new benchmarks – the 3.0 TFSI delivers sports-car performance in tional car with an internal combustion engine. When it ate electric driving and potentially CO₂ on the right side the S4, S4 Avant and S5 Coupé. The turbocharged V6 produces 260 kW (354 hp), comes to performance, they will soon be on par with of 10 grams. 48 volts simply makes the car better – and yet consumes just 7.3 liters of gasoline per 100 km in the NEDC (166 grams of battery-electric drives, and even better under high load. the best hybrid technology is the one the customer CO₂ per km). One important factor in And then there’s another aspect – the energy transition. doesn’t notice at all. 48 volts will make its way into the Our Audi e-gas facility in Werlte produces hydrogen as lower mid-class, I’m sure of it. this is a new combustion process devel a precursor to synthetic methane, and in the overall oped by Audi. context of renewable energies it would be an ideal way Be it 48 volts or high voltage – electrification costs TFSI technology – of storing energy. a lot of money. Is that at the expense of The three-liter V6 in the new Audi S4. development in internal combustion engines? Audi is launching a battery-electric SUV in 2018. Why so late? Dr. Knirsch: It’s clear that if the proportion of zero- emissions drives continues to increase, we have to look Dr. Knirsch: We’re pushing hard for this technology and at which conventional drives we should no longer offer. working on platforms and matrices that facilitate new Emissions regulations worldwide are becoming increas- spatial concepts and architectures. 2018 will see us ingly complex, in China, too, and this makes develop- offer our customers a fantastic electric car – with a range ment a lot more expensive. It makes no sense to keep of more than 500 kilometers, phenomenal torque and expanding the number of variants. the kind of quality and driving fun you expect from an 6 Audi. Electric mobility is still a niche. It will take until What are the future perspectives of gasoline and 7 into the next decade for electric vehicles to impact the diesel engines? market in any substantial way and for the infrastructure Muscular power pack – 5 The 4.0 TDI for the new Audi SQ7 TDI is the to be sufficiently well developed – although we’re Dr. Knirsch: In the TFSI we now have a further develop- 3 state-of-the-art in diesel technology. already putting inductive charging into production ment of the Miller combustion cycle on the market that 2 in 2017. significantly reduces consumption without lowering performance. Generally speaking, improvement of The 4.0 TDI in detail Plug-in hybrid technology is an important charge cycling is an interesting way forward. As far as 4 1 Charge-air cooler stepping stone to the all-electric car. What’s your the TDI is concerned, we are continuing to focus on 1 2 Electric compressor strategy here? high-performance engines with six and eight cylinders. 3 AVS actuator, intake valve Our colleagues in Neckarsulm are doing an absolutely 4 Intake manifold collector with Dr. Knirsch: We’re currently bringing a new e-tron model first-class job there. swirl control 5 AVS actuator, exhaust valve to market every year. In a few years we’ll be offering a 6 Turbocharger plug-in hybrid in almost every model range. Right now Is the TDI not gradually approaching the end of 7 Turbocharger we have 50 kilometers of electric range, but 80 or even its development options? 100 won’t be a problem in future. Dr. Knirsch: We recently launched the SQ7 TDI with 435 hp and fuel consumption of 7.6 liters per 100 kilometers – figures that would have sounded like science- I AM ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED fiction just a few years ago. I am convinced that the THAT THE DIESEL ENGINE STILL OFFERS GREAT diesel engine still has great technical potential and offers major leverage for continued reduction of fleet TECHNICAL POTENTIAL AND MAJOR consumption. It’s likely to remain the most attractive LEVERAGE FOR THE REDUCTION OF FLEET CONSUMPTION. drive in Europe in vehicle segments with high customer mileage – at least as long as the political system doesn’t Dr. Stefan Knirsch apply the brakes. Audi Board Member for Technical Development * Audi SQ7 TDI (5-seater model): Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 7.5 – 7.2 (31.4 – 32.7 US mpg); 30 Encounter Technology 31 Encounter Technology Combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 198 – 189 (318.7 – 304.2 g/mi) TIME O F M Y

25th Hour Be it on the highways of America, in Shanghai city traffic or in downtown Berlin, Audi continues to push DRIVE forward with piloted driving. The long-term vision is the fully Text automated vehicle – always driving itself when the Lisa Marie Feldmann

“driver” doesn’t want to control his Audi himself. This creates Photos new levels of freedom and wide-ranging opportunities. Manfred Jarisch But what will we do with all this extra time?

Need around 10 minutes to focus. Lunch at 1 pm Book table Average user picks up his device more than 1,500 times a week! Time is scarce and could be used more efficiently. Nobody knows the exact year, but in the extremely foreseeable future, many of our cars will be able to drive themselves. Fine sensors, cameras and on-board computers Buy with high-definition maps will be able to handle steering, acceleration and braking. Audi is one of the pioneers of the necessary technologies. In the fully automated car, the driver will then become the passenger. He will be able to decide for himself what to do with the time currently spent concentrating 4 out of 10 admit behind the wheel or being stressed out in feeling lost without traffic congestion. Audi calls this the “25th their devices … hour” – a metaphor for a new kind of freedom and control over time. As part of the research conducted for the study of the same name, Audi Trend Communication surveyed and observed people on three continents to assess how they spend their time, and spoke to experts Should sleep in the fields of time psychology, mobility around 7 to 8 hours. planning and city planning. The aim was to Being stressed understand the way people use their time has become the “new normal”. in their car and in their everyday lives. More than 100 hours of material in the form of interviews and observations, films and photos provide information on what people do with their time and the factors that bother them when in their cars and while driving. Scan the QR code to see a video of Audi A7 piloted driving concept “Jack”.

32 Encounter Technology 33 Encounter Technology 25th Hour Is there any chance nowadays to Gaining more control over personal time SPEED escape the diktat of time, without having to move to a farm in the mountains?

Opitz: We have to learn to set ourselves Interview digital and individual boundaries. We must with Florian Opitz take public holidays, vacation time and the end of the working day seriously. But the fundamental principle of our economic and For his film Speed – In Search of Lost social system is now the ongoing increase Time, well-known German in pace. We should therefore also think documentary filmmaker Florian Optiz about whether this is the kind of society we met a wide variety of people, want or if it is sometimes worthwhile to hit including a corporate consultant, the brakes. Time researcher Karlheinz Geißler a burnout doctor and a family gave me a new understanding of the word of Swiss mountain farmers. Each of them “restraint”. If we restrain ourselves from makes their own arrangements some of the many options, we have more One significant result of the The parameters: The findings aid Audi designers for dealing with the hectic pace of life. time for the things remaining, such as fam- study is the five different time modes that in their work to reinvent the vehicle interior We discuss life in the fast lane, ily and friends. And we can learn once again fundamentally define our everyday lives. In qt of the future, as automated driving will a chronic lack of time and the 25th hour, to turn to books, films and conversation. the “Quality Time” mode, we spend time Quality Time bring considerable changes to a car’s oper- which is perhaps the key to a new with our children or meet friends in the pub. ating logic and interior configuration. Intel mobility culture and approach to time. Cars will drive themselves in future. This is the time we enjoy. In the “Productive dt ligent filters could, for example, ensure that Florian Opitz This will enable us to recover Time” mode we discuss the next steps for Down Time the information making it into the interior In his film Speed, the documentary time otherwise spent at the wheel. filmmaker draws attention an event at an important company meeting is restricted to only that wished by the oc- Mr. Opitz, you made a documentary What would you do with this to a widespread problem within our society – or work on a presentation for the boss. When pt cupants. Instead of being influenced by film on the topic of time. the lack of time. 25th hour? we are doing household chores like cleaning Productive Time external factors like calls, e-mails and chats, Why do so many people these days or washing dishes, we are in “Necessity Time” time management will become a matter for have so little time? Opitz: A lot of things spring to mind. I – the time spent seeing to our obligations. x self-determination, which intentionally also new technical ways to make everything go would read, look out of the window, talk to And when we put our feet up on the couch Personal Preferences includes phases of peace and quiet. The Audi Opitz: Reasons for the lack of time are to even faster. This technical acceleration leads my children. It would be nice to be able to at the weekend and look out at the rain – i.e. of tomorrow could therefore become an some extent individual and to some extent to social acceleration that in turn leaves us create more space that allows us to have step back from the everyday – we are in so- nt experiential place of relaxation – a mobile social. We live in a society in which we have hoping for more technical acceleration. It’s more time for ourselves again. I just fear called “Down Time”. The fifth and final mode Necessity Time space that adapts specifically to customer an increasing number of options. At the a vicious circle, because this development that many people would also fill this with – “Transition Time” – refers to the time spent needs. It could become a place where we same time we want to be good fathers, pur- constantly stirs up new desires and needs. digital activities. This notwithstanding, we moving from one time mode to the next. tt can sometimes simply lean back while time sue a career, achieve self-fulfillment and go are often striving to find our way back to a Often, we see driving a car pri- Transition Time stands still. The biggest difference to the climbing and skiing in our free time. It is How are people dealing with certain simplicity. We have to achieve clar- marily as “Necessity Time”. We have to make here and now is that we will be able to precisely because we have so many choices this acceleration? ity on the mechanisms of technological it through rush-hour traffic to get to work y choose how we spend time in the car – thus that we are permanently under pressure. compression. Then we will be able to affect or travel to the grocery store for the weekly Disturbing factors, also winning back control of our time. These days, everybody is reachable at all Opitz: The acceleration makes some people some degree of change in this lack of time. shopping. We use that time to get from one e.g. traffic Networking cars in traffic will times, even after work and at the weekend. happy, because they say they want to in- place to the other. In future, we will have not only change the quality of the time crease their performance and crank up the Do you use your control over how we use the time spent in z spent in the car, but also reduce transfer On average, we spend more than economy. They see this development as posi time differently today? the car. While the car is driving itself it will Disturbing factors, time, meaning a further time saving for the three hours a day on our tive. But there are also an increasing num- be possible that “Necessity Time” becomes e.g. bad connection individual – and less traffic for all. This will smartphones and feel lost without them. ber of people struggling with this and for Opitz: I can’t claim that I always manage “Quality Time” or “Down Time”. We can learn lead to free space, particularly in cities, and So what is the role played by whom the consequence, at least sometimes, to achieve that. Awareness of the need to Italian or relax while reading a book, call our today: T < 0 a significant improvement to quality of life. new technologies in the way we deal is to escape the hamster wheel. And I’ve exercise restraint is very straightforward. best friend or watch our favorite TV show. Not in full control of time with time? met people like Swiss farmer Erika Batzli However, implementing it is pretty tough. And if we want to, we can simply look out in the car who is not bothered by any of it and who The sociologist Hartmut Rosa called these the window and enjoy watching the world Opitz: New technologies have a massive lives in harmony with nature and her cows. important time-outs in our lives “fields of go by. tomorrow: T > 0 impact on how we perceive time, because resonance”, referring to the windows of In full control of time we can do everything faster. We are increas- time that bring us joy. It’s not about climb- in the car ing our communication quota because we ing every mountain or traveling around the have more frequent contact with multiple world. It’s basically all about that good old people. But this obviously doesn’t lead to saying: “The road is the destination”. deeper acquaintances or to less stress. Our smartphones put the whole world in our pockets and that intensifies our lives. We stand impatiently in line at the grocery store and hope the checkout assistant will get a move on. We hope there will also be

34 Encounter Technology 35 Encounter Technology Quality or Down Time? Documentary filmmaker Florian Opitz also lives his life in the five time modes that, according to the Audi study “25th Hour”, define our everyday lives.

36 Encounter Technology 37 Encounter Technology TIME-BASED

How do we experience time? How does it define our lives? And how do we deal with it? Seven people in whose professional lives time plays a special role, albeit in very different ways, provide their answers.

Dr. Marc Wittmann The neuropsychologist from Freiburg is conducting research into how the brain perceives time.

→ Annika Freitag The Lufthansa flight attendant has to adapt to the various different time zones as part of her everyday job.

38 Encounter Technology Each time has its own Time has a very particular meaning for rac- Given my workload, I am often asked if every P. 38 P. 42 ing drivers. A major part of our performance thing is okay with my work-life balance. I P. 47 meaning. The neglect is measured in terms of time. We have to work long hours, which would obviously lead take as few seconds as possible to complete you to believe that other things in my life of time can never a lap on a race track. In the course of the FIA suffer. But I don’t see life and work as com- go unpunished. For me, World Endurance Championship, we travel peting with one another. I enjoy my job and to races all over the world for Audi nine spend every day with intelligent and friend- there is wisdom in times a year, and also spend time testing ly people. Instead of dreaming about ex- and at lots of other engagements. Time is panding the areas of our lives outside of tuning in with times therefore a very scarce commodity. Person work, we should strive to create a meaning- and rhythms and ally, I would like to spend as much time as ful working life for ourselves and our co- possible with my family. If someone would workers, in which everyone can bring their shaping them; in giving give me the gift of an hour, I would spend it own capabilities and interests to bear. That with my wife and my four daughters. In a is, of course, relatively easy when you work space to all forms of profession as intense as that of a racing for a product like die ZEIT (newspaper), time and keeping them driver, time is a true luxury. That’s why I which many other people enjoy during their would enjoy it very much if the car of the free time. in balance. future were to be self-driving. I don’t really enjoy driving long distances in everyday life. Fr. Dr. Christian Rutishauser A self-driving car would give the driver the Dr. Marc Wittmann (49) Hubertus Reygers (59) chance to do things like read a long article Fr. Dr. Christian Rutishauser (50) Neuroscientist at the Institute Gallery owner and watch seller in peace and quiet. I’m a classic newspaper P. 46 Provincial of the Swiss Jesuits for Frontier Areas of Psychology and from Munich reader and could therefore very much enjoy Mental Health in Freiburg the extra time gained in the car. Inciden Time is a gift, which is why it falls short to P. 39 I have been dealing professionally with tally, a 25th hour would be particularly ap- speak of “having time” or “not having time”. Time is life, because I can only experience time for 25 years now and with old time- pealing to us racing drivers after a 24-hour Time is not like a possession to be admini- myself in time. Together with colleagues at pieces in particular. In our gallery for old race. If we win, we could savor the victory stered. This is insinuated by traffic adviso the University of California, I have found out wristwatches, each customer must take the for an hour longer! ries when they no longer say “30 minutes that a very specific region of the brain – the time to arrange an appointment in order to wait”, but “30 minutes time lost”. Waiting so-called insular cortex, known in Latin as look at one of the classic, old watches at can be a positive or negative experience, but insula – is particularly active during the per- their leisure in peace and quiet. In a time loss has a negative implication. But life has ception of time. This region registers phys- when anyone can easily read the time on Time is to human beings different quality and different rhythms, and ical sensations such as heat, hunger or emo- every cell phone and every computer at any what water is to fish. They so does time – times of waiting and hoping; tions – and these physical signals ultimately time of day, the notion of purchasing an old compressed time in which something de- decide how we perceive time. Subjective wristwatch may appear quite antiquated. swim in it without cisive happens; monotonous, repetitive time thus does not form through the per- But for the customer, it’s not primarily about thinking about what they’re time; social time with others; working time; ception of external stimuli, but through reading the exact time. The main things are moving in. The human time of retreat and solitude. Each time has that of self. Based on his physical sensa- mostly the aesthetic pleasure of the vintage being doesn’t have time, he its own meaning. The neglect of time can tions, each individual is his own internal classics, the fascinating mechanisms of the never go unpunished. For me, there is wis- clock. For human beings, there are also two movements and the aspect of an attractive is time. dom in tuning in with times and rhythms different time perspectives – one is the pre financial investment. But at the end of the Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Geißler (71) and shaping them; in giving space to all Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Geißler sent experience of time and the other is the day, everyone, especially those wearing Time researcher and Head of the forms of time and keeping them in balance. retrospective passing of time. If I am enjoy- wrist chronographs, is well aware that you Institute for Time Research How I use the time spent in a car depends ing a pleasant conversation, time seems to Annika Freitag (23) may be able to stop a clock, but you can’t very much on my creative power – whether fly by. However, if I’m waiting in line at the Flight attendant with Lufthansa stop time. Time is to human beings what water is to the car now drives itself, I’m at the wheel or grocery store, it just can’t go fast enough. fish. They swim in it without thinking about the passenger, or whether I’m stuck in a The fact is, the more you experience, the An airport is a place where it is especially what they’re moving in. However, in con- traffic jam or not. The time in respect of my longer the time span seems when consid- obvious how tightly scheduled and fast- trast to the fish, the human being possesses life remains the same, but its quality is up ered retrospectively. To “extend” life, we paced modern life actually is. Punctuality P. 44 P. 45 the capability to think about the element in to me.” have to break out of our routine and create is incredibly important at Lufthansa. But I which he is moving. The human being doesn’t new experiences – travel to unfamiliar vaca- notice that clocks don’t tick the same way have time, he is time. So whoever saves time tion destinations or learn to play a new mu- everywhere when I fly through the world’s is saving his own life. To the question “What sical instrument. various time zones. What I notice in par- is time?” there is not just one, but thou ticular is that the perception of time differs sands of different answers. For me, “time” from culture to culture. In Latin America, is conceptually somewhat like varifocal spec for instance, punctuality is not seen to be as tacles that I use to look at what’s going on important. Above all, however, advanced in the world between before and after. The technical possibilities mean that human best and probably also most fitting answer beings can reach far flung places in ever to the question of what time is came from shorter periods of time. my six year-old granddaughter: “There’s no such thing as time. It’s only in your brain – right next to your dreams.”

Marcel Fässler (40) Rainer Esser (59) Le Mans driver with Audi CEO of ZEIT Verlagsgruppe (publishing house)

40 Encounter Technology 41 Encounter Technology Hubertus Reygers The qualified attorney has moved from being a private collector and enthusiast to watch seller. His specialty is original watch faces.

42 Encounter Technology 43 Encounter Technology Rainer Esser The CEO of the ZEIT Verlagsgruppe had no time at short notice for a photo shoot.

← Marcel Fässler As a racing driver for Audi, he battles for fractions of a second. He considers the victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans among his greatest successes.

45 Encounter Technology Fr. Dr. Christian Rutishauser The Provincial of the Swiss Jesuits sees helping to combine personal time with religious time as a major part of his pastoral work.

← Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Geißler The time researcher has lived without clocks and watches for more than 30 years and is woken each morning by the sun, which is why he never books appointments before 10 am.

46 Encounter Technology 47 Encounter Technology 48 Encounter Technology 49 Encounter Technology

SKILLS Electric Widespread HERE and

The skill and dedication of every Avenue Effect Now single employee is Audi’s Inside a car’s black boxes The laser scanner opens up a new How does HERE’s map model work greatest corporate asset. They form are veritable supercomputers – approach to sensors, to keep improving the the basis for perfection and and they look fascinating. for more safety and comfort. way our cars are guided? innovation. Page 50 Page 60 Page 64

The Perfect Fully SIMple Tech Wave Tensed News The new Audi A5 Coupé is Centuries-old hunting bows reveal Audi connect services are Exciting inventions, a design masterpiece – the art their early hi-tech secrets – available across European borders ideas and visions from the of the line. with parallels to the Audi R8 Spyder with the new e-SIM. world of technology. Page 72 Page 82 Page 90 Page 92 Text Hermann Reil

Photos Manfred Jarisch

Electric Avenue

Compact Computing Power From audiophile pleasure to piloted driving – the electronics in an Audi are extremely powerful. These days, the black boxes are home to real supercomputers. And they are as visually distinctive as their jobs – to the layperson they look like the mass of buildings and streets that make up a major city.

50 Encounter Technology ElectriCity DL 382 Audi computing power Transmission control unit for the in supercomputer format Audi seven-speed S tronic Berthold Hellenthal doesn’t really like the image of The DL 382 transmission control unit for the seven- a “car’s brain”. He’s too much of a technician for that. speed S-tronic, for instance, is evocative of the desert But sometimes simple comparisons like this make it home of a gold-loving sheikh. “It was also actually con- easier to understand complex systems. And the zFAS structed as you might build a city on the side of volca- is definitely complex – in its structure, in its functional no,” says Hellenthal, right next door to phenomenal diversity and also in its name. In Audi terminology, zFAS heat. The reason is simple. The circuit board that con- stands for “zentrale Fahrerassistenzsteuergerät”, which trols all the gearshifts in the dual-clutch transmission translates into “central driver assistance control unit”. is integrated into the shift box, with transmission oil It is thus the unit that controls everything – that will flowing round it on almost all sides – it can reach up to make driving in an Audi even safer and more comfort- 160 degrees Celsius. “That’s why the board is made able in future. And as of 2017 – in the next-generation from ceramic and we don’t have a plastic casing. They Audi A8 – it will also facilitate entry into piloted driving. would all give up their ghosts otherwise.” However, Berthold Hellenthal is prepared An observer with a sufficiently sharp eye to admit that the analogy with the brain is actually can identify several hundred gold wires just 50 micro quite accurate. Similar to the central nervous system of meters thick used to transfer the functions from the a living being, the zFAS gathers all the information on integrated circuit to the circuit board. Around them are the current status of an individual’s body and the envi- what appear to be an endless number of capacitors and ronment as a whole. All the sensor data – in effect, the resistors – elements measuring sometimes just half a car’s senses – are brought together here, compared, millimeter and weighing five milligrams. “The people evaluated and the subsequently derived strategies put working in production wear face masks to make sure into action. In short, if there is a bend ahead, the Audi Mini supercomputer – they don’t breathe any of them in,” says Hellenthal. The For rich sound – steers; if a surprise obstacle appears, it brakes – just as The central driver assistance system evaluates all whole circuit board is covered with a soft silicone gel, The amplifier for the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System sensor data and issues “driving commands”. delivers almost two kilowatts to the speakers. a person would do and, in some cases, even better. which protects the contacts against dampness and It all takes a massive amount of computing other environmental factors. power. The zFAS is not only the most powerful system in an Audi right now; it will also remain so for quite a few years to come. Hellenthal explains just how zFAS B&O powerful it is with a simple comparison. The computing capacity of Audi’s central driver assistance control unit The super-brain of the future True power for the 3D is more than that of the world’s biggest supercom- for piloted driving sound system puter in 1996. Back then it filled an entire hall and de- voured the electricity generated by a dedicated power Although part of the everyday grind for one of Audi’s From a desert colony to a Chinese high-rise commuter station. The zFAS, on the other hand, is one single cir- leading electronics development engineers, Berthold city – the high-end audio amplifier in the Audi Q7 is a cuit board around 20 centimeters in length, boasting a Hellenthal never fails to be impressed by how the per- true power plant. The 23 speakers in the Bang & Olufsen computing power of 741.8 GigaFLOPS, which means formance and quality of electronics elements have de- system draw almost two kilowatts. It takes quite a trans 741,800,000,000 calculations per second, and power veloped over the years. “The error quotas for the com- former to supply that kind of power. And a cooling sys- consumption of around just 30 watts. ponent parts are virtually imperceptible these days. If tem to match, with big, metal heat sinks and efficient a customer has a problem after years of use, it’s almost compressed-air fans on the back. The many capacitors always in the surrounding mechatronics, the casing or and coils are considerably higher and heavier than other simply the plug pins.” And Hellenthal is certain that the electronic components and therefore subject to great- pace of development towards faster, smaller and er mechanical loads from the continual vibrations gen- cheaper is set to stay, and even increase. erated by a car. They are thus bonded to one another It’s Berthold Hellenthal’s job in Audi’s elec- and encapsulated to create an incredibly solid package. tronic development to assess such issues. Within the “This may have a one-dimensional function, it ‘only’ has Robust Design function, he is responsible for the com- to amplify the audio signals, but the customer has very petence center dealing with electronic hardware and high expectations of it and can immediately hear tiny semiconductors, as well as the Audi semiconductor functional deviations,” says Hellenthal. strategy. This area handles not only the concept evaluation of elements and control units for specific tasks within the vehicle, but also their testing and analysis for functionality and quality – their robustness, in fact. If a cell phone crashes These days, every single Audi contains doz- ens of electronic elements – from rather simple applica- Built on hot stone – that’s too bad. But that can Controls the control units – tions such as electric seat adjustment to highly complex The components in the transmission control unit are not packed in plastic. The gold wires never be allowed Berthold Hellenthal conceives and tests systems like the electronic chassis system in the new electronic systems – and is already are protected by a transparent gel. Audi Q7. And even if the black boxes look quite similar looking forward to the next development steps. to happen to a car. from the outside, their inner workings differ vastly in Berthold Hellenthal line with their respective task – in a visual sense, too.

52 Encounter Technology 53 Encounter Technology Golden City

The fascinating micro-world of electronics Gold wires just 50 micrometers thick connect the functions of the integrated circuit with the ceramic board.

1 1 Inverse-polarity protection

2 Safety controller

3 Micro-controller

4 Power supply component

5 Valve driver

6 Valve controller

2 3

6 In the space of 25 years, electronics have become 1,000 times smaller and at the same time 1,000 times less expensive and 1,000 times better quality. You really can’t imagine those kinds of numbers – but it’s all pretty good.

Berthold Hellenthal

1 Controller

2 Digital sound processor

3 4 Low-voltage capacitors

4 Combinational circuit component

5 High-voltage capacitors

6 Output stage with heat sink

7 Inductor (digital amplifier) 2 2 1

Boomtown

The powerhouse for acoustic wellbeing Under peak loads, the energy flowing through here is substantial, which is why cooling is critical, with heat sinks and fans on the back.

56 Encounter Technology 57 Encounter Technology 1 zFAS The big step into the future of piloted driving However, the major discipline in the world of Audi electronics is currently the central driver assistance control unit mentioned at the start – a highly integrated supercomputer where the information from all the environmental sensors converges. The data from camera, radar, 5 laser and ultrasound are individually evaluated and compared with one another in the zFAS’s various components. The central chip uses this information to calculate a current model of the surroundings, which is combined with the digital model from the navigation 2 system and online information from HERE (see page 64). This is when the decisions are taken: steer, accelerate, brake – the car does this all by itself during piloted driving, commanded by the zFAS. It is constantly sending commands to the control units for the steering, engine, transmission, suspension … So far, so good. The reality is, of course, far more complex. “80 sensors in the car create an 80-dimensional image. A human being simply can’t handle that,” says Hellenthal, and his job means he is well Small but perfectly formed – 4 versed in comprehending such processes. The sensor- Under the magnifying glass, electronic components data fusion is so complex because each system works possess their very own aesthetic. at its own speed. However, to create an accurate overall image, all the values have to be synchronized. For reasons of safety, Audi would never rely on sensor data from just one sensor system. Things are less complicated in EFP the map fusion, as the zFAS draws the sections it currently needs directly from the navigation system. So it The chassis platform is one example knows where the next part of the route is headed. The of excellent integration object fusion, on the other hand, presents far greater demands. It has to clarify: What might cross our path?

1 Considerably more important is the job of the electron- And what doesn’t present a danger? The car is moving ic chassis platform (EFP), which features in the new within this this self-created digital tron world – for real. Movement sensor generations of the Audi A4, A5 and Audi Q7. In short, it This calls for highly specialized computing 2 controls the movement of the vehicle body in space. In components called Tegra K1 and Cyclon V from Nvidia Controller for the greater detail, the chassis platform records the car’s and EyeQ3 from Mobileye, the world’s leading company air springs vertical, roll and pitch movements as well as the work in the evaluation of camera images. These chips are sur- 3 done by the dampers and air springs. It knows the cur- rounded by memory units, power supply and, not least, Filter rent data from the drive and steering and uses all of this the integrated police force – a controller that continu-

4 to calculate the optimum settings for the adaptive ally monitors the correct function of the super-compact dampers and air springs, the quattro sports differential computing centers. It’s all mounted on the usual green Micro-controller and the electromechanical active roll stabilization in circuit board made from epoxy resin. But the appar- 5 the new Audi SQ7. ently homogenous board comprises twelve (!) layers, Power component The electronic chassis platform is one ex- each with its own individual tracks. It’s comparable to a (watchdog) ample of excellent integration. From the movement city whose infrastructure is distributed across twelve 6 sensors to the output stages used to control the chassis different levels, each one with different road layouts and Controller for adjustment systems, everything is condensed onto one connected by different staircases. An architect would the adaptive dampers single circuit board smaller than an iPad mini. This lose all oversight, and even the board developer man- saves space and energy and is, above all, extremely fast. ages it only with intensive support from design soft- The EFP needs just one millisecond to process all the ware. In production, each layer is processed with a laser sensor information. The blink of a human eye takes a and the board built up layer-by-layer before assembly of hundred times longer. the semiconductors can begin on the “top floor”. Although Audi is taking a major step into the future with the central driver assistance system, 6 Berthold Hellenthal is already looking further down the Audi has been showing the world the line. But that is being kept strictly under wraps for the quality with which it develops time being … 3 its products for more than a hundred years. We’ll keep doing that, even when the pace continues to increase.

Berthold Hellenthal

58 Encounter Technology WIDES P R E A D

Text Photos EFFECT Benedikt Still Bernhard Huber

Piloted Driving They attracted enormous attention at the International Film Festival in Berlin, yet they could well become an everyday sight in the foreseeable future – self-driving cars in city traffic. The portfolio of sensors installed in Audi vehicles will soon be receiving a major boost – the laser scanner. It works with absolutely no restrictions in the dark, too, and identifies vehicles pulling into traffic extremely early, thanks to its wide-angle beam.

However, the secret star of the evening remains invisible. The unobtrusive laser scanner, which will soon be entering series production, is no bigger than your fist and is tucked away inside the A8’s radiator grille. Audi is using this optical counterpart to radar to expand its tried-and-tested sensor technology with a further type of measurement. It marks a substantial and important development step on the path to piloted driving. A radar system already captures the area in front of the car. A 3D video camera recognizes road markings, guard rails, pedestrians and other vehicles. Ultrasound sensors and other cameras monitor the complete area around the car. In future, a highly accurate image of the surroundings will be calculated by fusing together all the sensor data inside a central driver assistance control unit (zFAS in German). What matters is that the various sensors are able to validate In the storm of flash photography, a black Audi A8 rolls their data through reciprocal comparison. Their spe- up to the gala opening of the International Film Festival cific characteristics in terms of range and recording in Berlin. Hollywood star Daniel Brühl sits on the pas- speed must be complementary and be able to compen- senger seat with a fascinated smile on his face, shaking sate for one another in the event of a sensor defect. Scan the QR code to experience how an Audi learns to see with the laser scanner. his head in disbelief. Again and again he looks at the Once the information provided by the laser scanner is empty driver’s seat next to him. The steering wheel is added to the mix in future, it will improve not only re- moving as if by magic, maneuvering the actor and his dundancy, but also the detail recognition of static and girlfriend Felicitas Rombold safe and sound to the red dynamic objects. The car will have a more comprehen- carpet. The car then brakes gently to a halt all by itself sive perception of its surroundings, be able to measure Optical assistance – In contrast to the human eye, and waits patiently as its occupants step out and into distances more accurately and identify obstacles even the laser scanner also works in the the thronging mass. more reliably. dark without restriction.

60 Encounter Technology 61 Encounter Technology The current technology is able to look way be scanned. If the beam hits an object, such as another Modern supermarket cashiers also work in front of the car. The long-distance radar captures car, particles of light are thrown back onto the mirror with a laser scanner that emits beams via a rotating objects almost 250 meters away, while the cameras can in fractions of a second. Photo diodes detect the inci- mirror. In contrast to vehicle applications, however, it see around 150 meters. Against this, the 80 to 100 me- dent light and convert the optical signal into digital is not the time taken for the light to travel that matters, ters covered by the laser scanner seem almost modest. information. but the stronger or weaker light reflections caused by However, the sensor broadens the previously narrow Alongside object recognition, the scanner the light and dark barcode stripes. Only the principle is field of vision of 35 degrees provided by the long-dis- can also precisely determine the distance to an obsta- comparable. While the supermarket cashier only has to tance radar to 145 degrees – adding up to four times as cle. The electronics measure the time from sending a interpret two dozen stripes, the car must reliably iden- much. Thanks to the far wider visibility, the car will be laser impulse to its detection on the photo diode – all tify and understand the complex world of road traffic able to identify and interpret other road users and their in an incredibly short space of time. The light pulse, in all conceivable situations. behavior, such as pulling into and out of traffic flow, far which lasts just 0.004 microseconds (four nanosec- This is only possible because Audi develop- earlier than was possible before. The laser beam itself onds), covers the distance to and from an object 100 ment engineers have taught the car to interpret the is on the infrared band and therefore invisible to the meters away in less than 0.7 microseconds. reflected beams and the resulting patterns. Using the human eye. accumulation of dots, known as scatter plots, the con- The new sensor also improves orientation trol unit can differentiate between a large number of at night. Similar to radar, the laser scanner actively different objects. “We achieve extremely high resolu- emits signals and thus works largely independently of tion because the scanning process is divided into 581 Unobtrusive – ambient light. This is in marked contrast to the camera, The laser scanner is integrated laser pulses and the light pulse is released after a mirror which depends on incident rays, meaning its perfor- unobtrusively into the front rotation of 0.25 degrees,” explains Kroll. “Compared mance deteriorates in the dark. of the vehicle. The beams with radar, the contours appear much sharper, which “In simple terms, you can picture the laser can only be seen with the use enables us to classify objects far better.” of a special camera. scanner as a finger of light that scans the surroundings The precise data from the laser scanner is an and creates a spatial image of the immediate environ- essential element for calculating a three-dimensional ment,” explains Hans-Martin Kroll, a concept develop- model of the surroundings. The zFAS (see page 50) ment engineer working for Audi on the sensors for fuses the high-precision sensor data in real time, while driver assistance systems. A rotating mirror inside the the connection to a cloud-based IT backend delivers device, which weighs around just 500 grams, fans the entirely new application opportunities that consider- laser beams in tiny individual steps across the area to ably expand the role of the car as an emotional, com- fortable and modern living space. The fact that the laser scanner is seamlessly and unobtrusively integrated into the vehicle design is the successful outcome of many years of development work. Not only have engineers succeeded in reducing the sensor from a weight of several kilograms mounted mostly on the roof to the size of a fist, the cost of the highly complex laser scanner is now orders of magnitude cheaper. Because the sensor has reached production maturity and has been incorporated into the zFAS, the first self-driving Audi is now under starter’s orders. In the very near future, Audi Laser scanner Laser drivers will therefore be able to rely on the services of measuring principle an extremely keen-eyed chauffeur. 2. Invisible infrared laser with a wavelength of 905 nm Procedure based on angle setting: — 581 laser pulses per scan 1. Laser sends brief flash of light (approx. 4 ns long) — One laser pulse lasts 4 ns 2. Light is scattered onto the target object 3. Backscattered light is detected inside the laser scanner Rotating – 72.5° 1. mirror + 72.5° Mirror rotates at 750 rpm

3. In simple terms, you can Hans-Martin Kroll Concept Development Engineer for Rotating mirror – picture the laser scanner as a Driver Assistance Sensors Pivots laser beams from finger of light that scans – 72.5° to + 72.5° the surroundings and creates a spatial image of the immediate environment.

Hans-Martin Kroll Direction of travel

62 Encounter Technology 63 Encounter Technology DYNAMIC AND NOW

The self-driving cars of tomorrow must be able to navigate with centimeter precision. A company called HERE, in which Audi is a shareholder, creates the digital map needed to achieve this – the HERE HD Live Map. COMFORT

Text Illustrations Johannes Köbler Lightshape ECO

HUMANIZED DRIVING The piloted cars of the future will adapt their behavior to the habits of their drivers. START

LIVE ROAD MAP The dynamic level provides traffic information in nearly real time.

HD MAP The traffic areas are depicted statically with the highest degree of precision.

64 Encounter Technology 65 Encounter Technology USE CASE HERE

In the live roads layer, the HERE map incorporates real-time information on the traffic environment. Together with the HD map, they will be able to provide a wide range of useful services to car drivers in the near future. Let’s face it – all H sorts of things can happen on the daily commute.

HERE has enormous experience in the navigation map business – but with the HERE HD Live Map, the company is taking a huge step forward. The new data platform depicts the traffic space as a three-dimensional model with a whole new level of precision – it is accurate down to centimeters, not meters, and dynamic instead of static. The HERE HD Live Map forms the digital basis for the piloted driving of the future. The new map is divided into square tiles, known as map tiles, with each edge measuring 2.0 kilometers. This division means that immense data vol- umes can be split into manageable portions. The up- dates within each tile can be measured in kilobytes. The data is hosted on a HERE backend in the cloud, with transfer to and from the cars most likely handled via the cell phone network. Today’s LTE standard is already fa- cilitating all sorts of things, while future 5G networks promise to raise data transfer rates and connection speeds even more substantially. The HERE HD Live Map is structured in three layers. The first of them, the HD map, incorporates a static digital image of the surroundings. Guardrails, stoplights, road signs, curbsides and similar fixed ob- USE CASE jects forms the reference points on which the self-driving cars of the future will be able to orientate them- STOPLIGHT selves with centimeter precision. The HD map also in- INFORMATION cludes a database of information on hotels, business and restaurants. Stoplight information is one of the services provided on The second layer carries the “live roads” in- the HERE map, providing information to the networked formation. This is a dynamic level that holds current cars and their drivers on the switching phases for the data in nearly real time. Construction zones, accidents, stoplights along their route. If they adapt their speed emergencies, black ice or fog – the live roads content accordingly, they can ride the green wave, saving con- comes from various different sources, but primarily HERE siderable time and energy. USE CASE from the sensors of participating cars. The intelligent swarm generates extensive traffic knowledge that is A consortium made up of AUDI AG, the BMW Group and EMERGENCY VEHICLES always up-to-date, on things like green waves in city Daimler AG acquired Berlin-based map database HERE traffic, changing speed limits and available parking from the Nokia Corporation at the end of 2015. As one Our driver wants to travel from his home to work in pi- spaces. of the strongest players in the sector, HERE provides loted mode. There has been an accident involving inju- digital navigation maps and location-based services for ries at an intersection on his route. The paramedic ve- almost 200 countries in more than 50 languages. These hicle and police car continuously transmit their location maps are available to a level of detail suitable for auto- data to the HERE backend. Every user nearby receives a motive use for 136 of these countries. 80 percent of all warning tailor-made for him, enabling him to take the cars currently driving in Europe and North America with necessary avoiding action. integrated navigation systems are equipped with HERE maps. Employing around 6,500 people, the map service remains an open, independent, continuously expanded and updated platform for cloud-based maps and mobility services even after the acquisition. Acces sible for all customers within the automotive industry and other sectors, HERE is laying the foundation for piloted driving and the development of new mobility services.

66 Encounter Technology The third layer is the “humanized driving” section – which is an investment in the near future. The self-driving cars of the future will find out from the HERE data pool how the driver has behaved in a certain situation similar to the current one – whether, for instance, he braked sooner or a little later in response to a slower- moving vehicle on the highway. This monitoring will enable the system to adapt its behavior to the habits and expectations of the driver. The HERE HD Live Map is still under development – however, some of its functions are already being used by a large number of networked cars in North America and Western Europe. For Audi customers, the map makes demanding driver assistance functions like traffic jam assist or predictive efficiency assist even more exact and powerful. The new car-to-x services for providing information on traffic signs and dangers ahead will likewise be based on the HERE HD Live Map in future.

USE CASE PARKING GARAGE

The workplace destination is in the city, where there are no employee parking spaces. Our piloted Audi has to drive itself to one of the nearby parking garages, where the centimeter-precise HD map helps it find its way LiDar technology has considerable strengths, around with great accuracy. In a subsequent HERE it- DATA but also certain handicaps. Its high angular resolution eration, it will also receive detailed information on avail- means it can identify objects with great certainty – e.g. able parking spaces. COLLECTOR it can differentiate between a trashcan and a pedes- trian at the side of the road, even if there are right next The new HERE HD map uses around 80,000 different to each other. Because LiDar systems use their own sources worldwide, including data from traffic control light, they also work at night. However, their perfor- centers and land registries, images from satellites and mance deteriorates in bad weather such as rain, snow aircraft and camera images from fleet vehicles. The and fog. lion’s share comes from around 200 HERE “True Cars” LiDar devices do not deliver color or bright- that drive along roads and capture information. ness values for their surroundings, instead measuring Mounted on the roof of the current mea- the intensity of the reflected beam. They can have prob- surement cars is a rotating LiDar device (Light Detection lems with strong or weak reflections (due to dirt) from and Ranging). It continuously sends ultra-short light traffic signs and road markings. During image genera- pulses on a wavelength of 905 nanometers – invisible tion, this information is processed with the aid of cam- to the human eye and harmless. The object being era data before being integrated into the HD map. scanned reflects the beams back to the receiver unit. The software calculates the distance between object and sensor based on the elapsed time. The 360-degree scans made by HERE “True Cars” generate 700,000 pixels per second, adding up USE CASE to 140 gigabytes of data per day. The pixel cloud creates WEATHER a 360-degree image of the surroundings extending for a distance of up to 80 meters and a height of 30 meters. A particular part of the city is currently experiencing a The rolling and nodding movements made by the car heavy downpour. The cars driving through here identify while driving are recorded separately and calculated out the situation via their sensors and windshield wiper and of the data set. notify the backend in the cloud. When a piloted Audi receives the advisory, it reduces its speed in plenty of time. Convertibles and roadsters close their roofs.

68 Encounter Technology 69 Encounter Technology PAVING STONES How will the data be hosted in the cloud?

BECOME Dr. Steiner: We will put the data into the cloud and take out as much computing power as we need – surely at its INTELLIGENT highest during rush hour and less so during the night and at the height of summer when everyone is on vacation.

Paving stones that can use embedded sensors to signal available parking spaces; We’re talking here about “elastic computing” Audi models that can chauffeur their owners overnight from Ingolstadt – this also means that the computing power can to Florence. AEV General Manager Peter Steiner shows us the new perspectives be more or less expensive depending on need opened up by the HERE map. and capacity utilization. How do you assure data protection? DR. PETER Dr. Steiner: For the HD Live Map, the idea is to generate STEINER Dr. Steiner, HERE has earned a good reputation Are you currently in a race with Silicon Valley? as much anonymized sensor data as possible in order in a very short space of time. Are there interested to offer intelligent services from its analysis. As is the is General Manager of Audi Electronics Venture GmbH parties that want to invest? Dr. Steiner: The foundations already exist for all the case today, we will continue to strictly separate per- (AEV), a 100-percent subsidiary of AUDI AG. projects we are currently discussing. IT technology is sonal data from the vehicle data we need for functions. Within the HERE consortium, he represents Audi on Dr. Steiner: We’re in talks with companies from the not rocket science – the mathematics is well known. the technical level. tech sector, with Chinese providers and with other auto What matters is putting the bricks together to create a And piloted cars will need vast amounts of data … makers and tier-one suppliers. The primary aim is to new building, and that’s made possible by the comput- build up the leading cross-industry and multi-OEM loca- ing power and vast amounts of data we now have today. Dr. Steiner: Yes, and it means the highly autonomous tion platform and the HD map necessary for automated But we need experts to execute this and there aren’t car will be considerably superior to the human being, driving. An open platform naturally needs standardized many of those around. We have to set out a strong stall because the collective intelligence is unbeatable. Ex interfaces, but that can be resolved technically. HERE against Silicon Valley, as the companies there have a perience comes only from learning. And we’ll soon have has tabled a productive proposal in the form of its Sensor whole lot of capital for securing the necessary compe- cars able to use the experience values of millions of Data Cloud Ingestion Interface. We are also talking to tences. In order to be better equipped, we joined forces other cars that have already handled all imaginable the partners I mentioned about possible financial in- with BMW and Daimler in acquiring HERE. traffic situations. This wealth of experience is larger and vestment. The stated aim is the acquisition of further more valuable than anything an individual can process shareholders to provide access to expertise from other during his lifetime. industries and other countries. IT TECHNOLOGY IS NOT If all new Audis will soon be able to pilot them- How open is your consortium to third parties? ROCKET SCIENCE. selves perfectly with the aid of the HERE map, what WHAT MATTERS IS PUTTING THE happens to the brand identity? Dr. Steiner: HERE will allow third-party developers ac- BRICKS TOGETHER TO cess for a fee – be it a joint venture partner, a systems CREATE A NEW BUILDING. Dr. Steiner: I’m not worried about that at all. An Audi supplier or a start-up. They can then develop their appli will always be an Audi – with a great design, emotional cations and sell them to customers. This principle ap- drive, top quality and fantastic fun to drive. But now plies not only the automotive sector, but also to a whole Dr. Peter Steiner there’s another level to that. If you look at Apple, you General Manager of AEV array of service providers and the public domain, too. realize that it also sells products with great hardware Cities and their traffic management systems can use – but what makes the iPhone really sexy is access to the our data to massively optimize their traffic flow. In App Store. And this is exactly what we have to do. We some major cities, for instance, there are parking spaces In the new HERE map, the cars generate the have to offer new services in addition to the car – such that are not covered in any way by the administration live data themselves. Does this mean the HERE as piloted driving. system. In future, it will be possible to embed a sensor consortium is establishing a decisive lead? If someone would like to be driven over- into a paving stone for just a few euros. It can then in- night from Ingolstadt to Florence, perhaps he will use form us whether an individual parking spot is occupied Dr. Steiner: Each car driving with intelligent sensors is an Audi for the trip, precisely because we have mastered or not. paying into the account with its anonymized data. AUDI piloted driving so well. The better car, the more intel- AG represents the Volkswagen Group in the consor- ligent service, the more emotionally portrayed applica- Who are your partners and who are your rivals in tium, because, together with BMW and Daimler, it is tion – I’m certain that our piloted cars will have an in- the digital HD map? competing for the most state-of-the-art sensor tech- credibly strong brand character. nologies. We’ll be bringing LiDar technology to the Dr. Steiner: Microsoft would like to strengthen its of- roads within the foreseeable future. We’re also benefit- fering of location-based services and is talking to HERE ting greatly from the Group in return, because we can about that. Facebook and Samsung are likewise cus- use the camera data from the high-volume models. tomers. Google is certainly a major player and is pushing harder and harder into business areas where we are How many cars with intelligent sensors are needed or should also be involved. But competition motivates for real swarm intelligence on the road? us to stay on the ball. Dr. Steiner: Several hundred thousand intelligently sighted cars, i.e. the inventory now achieved by Audi, BMW and Daimler, will enable us to generate the data for a semi-dynamic HD map. If a traffic sign changes, we usually notice it within a week. By 2020, when there will be millions of intelligent cars, it’ll just take a day or maybe even a few seconds.

70 Encounter Technology 71 Encounter Technology AUDI A5 COUPÉ IN 2007, THE BRAND WITH THE FOUR RINGS CREATED A PIECE OF TRUE DESIGN WITH THE AUDI A5. NOW IT IS LAUNCHING THE SECOND GENERATION – WITH A SHARPER, EVEN FRESHER LOOK. ONE CENTRAL DESIGN ELEMENT IS THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SHOULDER LINE IN THE SHAPE OF A WAVE.

THE PERFECT WAVE

Photos Robin Wink

Text Timo Pape

72 Encounter Technology WE SHOULDN’T PROCESS LINES INTELLECTUALLY, I BUT RATHER PERCEIVE THEM THROUGH OUR GUT FEELING.

PROFESSOR LUTZ FÜGENER It is its athletic, elegantly sporty character that makes the Audi A5 Coupé* so emotionally compelling. Its powerful appearance is thanks in part to its dynamic lines. “We shouldn’t process lines intellectually, but rather perceive them through our gut feeling,” says Lutz Fügener, Professor of Transportation Design at Pforzheim College. “Straight lines convey the impression of engineering skill, while sweeping lines are more artistic. The A5 combines both notions in a beautiful interaction of two design concepts.” One design element is particularly characteristic of the Audi A5 Coupé – the precisely sweeping shoulder line, known as the “wave”. It was already a feature of the last model, but now takes on a three-dimensional form along the car’s flanks – with several changes of direction, bulging powerfully over the wheel arches and sinking around the door area. “Lines like the ‘wave’ have aesthetic appeal,” explains Professor Fügener. “We find it beautiful when something flows without resistance.” Racing drivers are the best example of that. “Instead of complying with an angular track layout, they prefer to take the smooth ideal line. A designer likewise seeks to maintain the speed of a line.”

Attention to detail – Even the tiniest detail of the Audi A5 Coupé fits into the cohesive overall image.

* Audi A5 Coupé 2.0 TDI S tronic (140 kW): * Audi S5 Coupé: Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 4.3 – 4.1 (54.7 – 57.4 US mpg); Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 7.4 – 7.3 (31.8 – 32.2 US mpg); 74 Encounter Technology Combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 113 – 107 (181.9 – 172.2 g/mi) 75 Encounter Technology Combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 170 – 166 (273.6 – 267.2 g/mi) Spatial feeling – The distinctive shoulder line that was already a feature of the last model now takes on a three-dimensional form. ←

Dome structure – Stretched along the middle of the Audi A5 Coupé’s hood is the power dome. ↙ T

The dynamic styling of the Audi A5 Coupé, with its distinctive wheel arches, also points in equal measure to a core Audi competence – quattro drive. The short body side places conscious emphasis on the wheels with which the A5 delivers its power to the road. The stretched wheelbase, the short overhangs, the long hood with its power dome and the low center of gravity of the Audi A5 Coupé underline the model’s sporting character and deliver excellent handling and dynamics. Nevertheless, the proportions are perfectly balanced and possess a timeless elegance. “The A5 maintains a wonderful balance between timeless beauty and fashion,” says Professor Fügener. “Cars designed too much in ac- cord with a fashion trend quickly look dated, as fashion changes all the time. The Audi A5 Coupé’s ‘wave’, on the other hand, is a very fashionable element that at the same time arises from a function, because it pushes the proportions into the right light. And that’s why the ‘wave’ outlives fashion.” This successful balance continues into the details – the sculptur- ally shaped Singleframe grille of the Audi A5 Coupé is considerably shallower and wider than on the last model. The finely contoured headlamps harmonize perfectly with the horizontal lines gracing the front end, while the short rear end, with its distinctive spoiler edge on the trunk lid, likewise displays strong, horizontal lines. The Audi A5 Coupé continues to set benchmarks in its second generation, too – as befitting a true design masterpiece.

THE A5 MAINTAINS A VERY FINE BALANCE BETWEEN TIMELESS BEAUTY AND FASHION. PROFESSOR LUTZ FÜGENER

77 Encounter Technology Extreme points – The “wave” reaches its high points just above the wheel arches.

True to the line – The headlamps harmonize perfectly with the horizontal lines of the front end. ↓

THE BODYSHELL RUNS IN TAUT CURVES OVER THE WHEELS.

Scan the QR code to see a video of the new WE INTUITIVELY PERCEIVE Audi S5 Coupé and A5 Coupé models. THAT AS BEAUTIFUL.

PROFESSOR LUTZ FÜGENER

78 Encounter Technology 79 Encounter Technology WHAT DO WE PERCEIVE AS BEAUTIFUL? WHAT IS ATTRACTIVE? Illustrations What is the role played by the curvature of the bodyshell? Bernd Schifferdecker AND WHAT DO THESE CATEGORIES HAVE TO DO WITH Prof. Fügener: The bodyshell has a major impact on the impression conveyed by the Audi OUR INTUITION? WE INTERVIEW LUTZ FÜGENER, A5 as a whole. That’s because another factor contributing to the aesthetic appeal of a body is how the skin is stretched over the muscles. Here, too, there are direct parallels with a CAR DESIGNER AND PROFESSOR OF TRANSPORTATION car. The higher the tension, the more aesthetically pleasing it is. This is evident in the fenders, for instance. The bodyshell is tautly curved as it runs over the wheels. We intuitively DESIGN AT PFORZHEIM COLLEGE, ABOUT EDGES, TENSION, perceive this as beautiful. Angular design elements likewise have a high aesthetic appeal, MOVEMENT AND THE NEW AUDI A5 COUPÉ. but are not related to living nature. It is this combination that defines the appeal of the A5 Coupé.

What influence does our intuition have on our perception of a car?

Natural form – Prof. Fügener: Evolution has given us certain mechanisms for reacting to patterns. When NATURALLY Wave forms similar to those of the we look at the front end of a car, we automatically see a face. We intuitively scan our sur- Audi A5 Coupé can be found between the shoulder roundings for faces and try to put everything in relation to living beings. This gives them and hip areas in many living creatures. greater meaning to us. In the case of cars, this effect is enormous, which is why designers make very clever use of it. You can even send messages with the radiator grille: For instance, vertical bars are seen as more aggressive because they are evocative of teeth in a BEAUTIFUL mouth. Until well into the 1990s, some cars still had faces with completely neutral expressions – there was no apparent feeling or emotion. Today, designers use the “facial expression” to make a clear statement.

Why do we find proportions like those of the new Audi A5 Coupé aesthetically pleasing? What factors can alter our perception of something?

Prof. Fügener: The fenders of the Audi A5 are, in a way, its muscles. They have been spe- Prof. Fügener: There are some things or even people that don’t appeal to us on first sight, cifically carved out by the designers and bulge over the wheels. The A5’s distinctive shoul- but that we perceive as increasingly beautiful over time. The more often I see something, der line, the so-called “wave” makes this particularly evident. We perceive muscles as the more natural or self-evident is appears to me. Even inner conflicts with something aesthetically pleasing. It’s an archaic principle that applies to all people. It’s intuitive and entirely new disappear once people become used to it. Also, our perception is influenced independent of culture. In a similar vein, the wheels would be the extremities emerging by high quality or a very pleasant character. When, for example, a race car wins a Grand from the shoulders and hips. You can definitely find a link here: What we find beautiful in Prix, it’s suddenly perceived as more beautiful. This might occur on a cultural or a social a living creature, we often find beautiful in a car when we believe we recognize it. level. If all those participating in an event say a car is beautiful, it also influences our perception, because human beings strive for conformity. The fenders of the Audi A5 flare out further than the doors between them. People describe that as a Coke-bottle shape. When does something have timeless beauty? Is this design feature also evident in the natural world? A narrow waist – Prof. Fügener: Timeless beauty is something generated by our intuition. This kind The waist is particularly noticeable in the female form. Regardless of perspective, Prof. Fügener: Any living creature has its biggest muscles in those places that must exert of beauty is perceived the same way by our grandparents as by us and by people 200 it remains the narrowest part of the greatest force – in the hip area and, to a somewhat lesser degree, in the shoulder area. years from now. The other side of the same coin is trends that emerge from the automo- Teacher of form – the upper body. The female body is usually more curved than the male. In a metaphorical sense, this would Lutz Fügener is a Professor of Transportation tive culture. These are changing all the time. Whether cars tend more to be rounded or indicate rear-wheel drive. And it is indeed our legs that transport us. The human body, Design at Pforzheim College. angular – these are fashion phenomena. The Audi A5 combines timeless beauty with mod- especially the female body, is fundamentally similar in form to the A5. In plan view, the ern design elements. so-called Coke-bottle shape produces two wider areas with a narrower waist in between them. This also applies to the side and the front view. Does an attractive car have to be beautiful?

Prof. Fügener: Beauty and attractiveness must be considered separately from one another. They are, of course related – beauty generally contributes to the attractiveness of a person, animal or product. However, there are also beautiful people who are not attractive and vice versa. That depends on other characteristics, such as the charisma exuded by an individual. And the same goes for a car. There are, for instance, old off-road vehicles that aren’t really beautiful in the sense of aesthetics. Nevertheless, they are incredibly attractive and possess a certain something. That’s why you should always treat the two words separately from one another.

What form of beauty is particularly well received within the automotive sector? Leverage – The places where extremities emerge are where the biggest muscles are needed – Prof. Fügener: When it comes to cars, aesthetics derived from movement are highly ef- in human beings, too. fective. An iceberg, for example, is beautiful, but its immobility means it doesn’t fit well to a car. Forms like valleys cut out of the landscape or sand dunes, on the other hand, are always derived from movement. As long as an aesthetic has even a remote connection with movement, it’s fit-for-purpose for vehicle designers, because cars have to convey the impression of movement even when standing still.

80 Encounter Technology 81 Encounter Technology FULLY TENSED

Composite Materials Technology 5TH One archeologist, two lightweight design experts and one computer tomography specialist are CENTURY B.C. working together to investigate three objects. It all sounds mysterious – and it is. As are the objects of the research itself: three hunting bows, including one around 2,500 years Hi-tech 2,500 years ago – old. It turns out that the technology displays parallels to today’s hi-tech automotive design. The Scythian recurve bow originates from We pay a visit to Audi Quality Assurance in Neckarsulm. the 5th century B.C., with its distinctive feature being the forward arc (recurve) of the grip, which makes it extremely powerful. It is a composite bow, consisting of many layers and materials bonded together.

Martin Kruse (left) is the project leader responsible for laying out the bodyshell of the R8 Spyder for various different functions and loads.

Peter Haffner (right) is responsible for bodyshell stiffness in the new Audi R8 Spyder.

2016

Hi-tech today – The center tunnel of the Audi R8 Spyder has to absorb a major proportion of the load. The composite component is made from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer, known for short as CFRP.

82 Encounter Technology 83 Encounter Technology Text The notion of the ingenious de- Verena Väth tective who sought out clues with a simple 12TH magnifying glass, as once did Sherlock Photos Manfred Jarisch Holmes, is long since passé – and not only CENTURY A.D. Bernhard Huber in forensic science, but also in Neckarsulm. Audi investigators have long developed “x- Mongolian bow – ray vision”. The CT experts from Quality As The Mongolian bow from the 12th century surance Materials Technology are examin- A.D. likewise features innovative joining ing the inside of the bow, drawing cross sec technology. The grip materials were not only tions at various points and working their way glued together, but also fixed with optically through the individual layers. The wooden dowels. quality of the scan is dependent on the material density. In the case of steel, the CT hits In Medieval times, the domain of the its limits at a thickness of 20 millimeters, central Asian horse people extended from whereas it can go through aluminum up to China to Eastern Europe. a depth of 120 millimeters. The examina- tion of the bows is delivering five gigabytes of data – the equivalent of around 3,333 medium-resolution vacation photos. The x-ray images reveal a huge surprise for the experts. The bows are only partly made of wood. On the front face, where they are stretched when drawn, a layer of elastic animal sinew has been ap- I plied to some kind of wooden structure. On the back face, where each bow is subject to heavy compression, the pressure is absorbed in parts by several layers of horn. All the COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY materials are bonded together with a layer IN AUDI It is semi-dark in the small room. Two ex- of natural adhesive, presumably made from QUALITY ASSURANCE perts are sitting in front of a computer and the air bladder of certain types of fish. The screwing up their eyes. Their areas of exper- layer is less than half a millimeter thick. The The computer tomography equipment in A8 tise could hardly be more different. What bows are also wrapped in tendon fibers Bodyshell Design in Neckarsulm is unique in its configuration. It can scan objects the size of a secret is being fathomed out by a freelance soaked in fish glue. The archeologist is fas- sewing needle or a whole car body. A robot arm archeologist working with a materials tech- cinated: “Every single component brings a just less than four meters long lifts large nician from Audi Quality Assurance? The specific characteristic to the bow. This means parts between the x-ray tube and the flat-panel two stare transfixed at the brightly lit that it achieves an overall functionality that detector. Normally, Quality Assurance uses com- screen, on which we can make out the inner exceeds that of the individual components. puter tomography to examine parts or joints structure of a slender object. The two “in- In that respect, it’s a classic composite part.” for hairline cracks and air bubbles. Before, ma- vestigators” are on the trail of a centuries- terials technicians had to saw the parts into old technology. In the clinical, white room pieces, but now a quick look inside is all it takes. “Non-destructive testing” is the technical next door is the huge computer tomogra- term for this process. To penetrate the materi- phy (CT) machine belonging to Audi Quality als in a bodyshell, experts use a so-called Assurance. This is where the images are microfocus x-ray tube with an acceleration vol- coming from. The narrow, artistically arched tage of 225 kilovolts and high dose rate. This would be far too high for examining a human wooden object on the machine looks like a body. By way of comparison, a clinical computer foreign object against this hi-tech back- tomography machine operates only with short drop. It is a 2,500 year-old bow. Will the pulses and a voltage of up to 160 kilovolts. The scan of it reveal the hoped-for details? equipment at Audi Neckarsulm achieves detail accuracy in its measurements of up to three Word has spread about the CT VERY LITTLE IS CURRENTLY micrometers – thirty times smaller than the expertise in Quality Assurance at Audi KNOWN ABOUT THE diameter of a human hair – which makes it fifty Neckarsulm – even outside of the automo- STRUCTURE OF ASIAN BOWS. times more precise than a medical device. tive sector. Audi has already x-rayed several I’M HOPING THE SCAN Quality Assurance in Ingolstadt also works with a computer tomography machine. historical artifacts, revealing many a secret WILL SHED SOME LIGHT ON along the way. This time, it was archeologist THE MATTER. Dr. Jürgen Junkmanns who called on Audi’s Dr. Jürgen Junkmanns support. He has been working on historical The archeologist specializes in bows for many years. He is now examining historical bows. three objects from private ownership that are about to be sold at auction – a Scythian bow from the 5th century B.C., a Hunnic bow from the 3rd century and a Mongolian ↑ Valuable commodity – bow from the 12th century. For Junkmanns, The delicate bows are carefully positioned in the this is an ideal opportunity to investigate large CT machine. the structure of these weapons used by the Eurasian cultures in times gone by for hunt- → Unfamiliar worlds – ing and for conquering entire territories. Archeologist Dr. Jürgen Junkmanns with his “Very little is currently known about the treasures in Audi Quality structure of Asian bows,” he says. “I’m hop- Assurance in Neckarsulm. ing the scan will shed some light on the matter.”

84 Encounter Technology 85 Encounter Technology The subject of material compos- 5TH 3RD ites is a primary discipline in lightweight engineering. No wonder that two of the CENTURY B.C. CENTURY A.D. plant’s lightweight design experts decide to take a closer look at the results. The “CSI Details of the Scythian bow – Scan of the Hun bow – bow squad” is thus complete. Peter Haffner Each component in the Scythian bow The Hunnic bow from the 3rd century A.D. and Martin Kruse work on the material mix delivers a specific characteristic is somewhat longer, but broader and flatter used in bodyshell design and are therefore that incrases its functionality. Its material than the Scythian bow, which means it always on the lookout for new materials to mix makes it a classic composite component. can store more energy. The narrow ends were make certain car parts even lighter and safer. reinforced with horn, which made the And what’s more, Haffner also builds bows The Scythians ruled from around 800 arrows fly even faster. in his spare time and is keen to find out to 300 B.C. in the steppe extending from the whether he can derive from the findings not Black Sea to central Asia. The largest area of Hun occupation occurred only something for his work, but also for his around the year 450 A.D. under Attila. hobby. The eyes of both lightweight design experts widen when they see the results.

BONDING THROUGHOUT THE BOW

The entire bow is subject ↑ Bow screening – to enormous tension when Archeologist Jürgen in use. Fish glue holds Junkmanns analyzes the the individual components images taken by the together. computer tomography machine.

ELONGATION ON THE FRONT FACE

Elastic animal sinews are attached to the outer face of the bow. They yield “These bows are made from a when the bow is stretched. large number of different materials and are extremely scientific in their construction. Bow makers 2,500 years ago had obviously already developed an extremely deep understanding of materials,” says Haffner. He certainly sees parallels to his work at the Lightweight Design Center in Neckarsulm, where his most recent work was on the body STRUCTURE OF THE shell stiffness of the new Audi R8. “When I HUN BOW build a bow with the perspective of a lightweight design engineer, I look for a wood Several material components work together to that is extremely light, but also stiff. We give the bow its high-per- seek the same material characteristics for formance characteristics. our bodyshells – including the R8 Spyder.” PRESSURE ON Even the wooden Right now, CFRP composites, i.e. carbon- THE BACK FACE core consists of several laminates. fiber reinforced polymers, are among the most important research subjects at the Animal sinews are wrapped around the bow Audi Lightweight Design Center. Several to make it more robust. In bodyshell parts in the R8 Spyder are made the layers beneath is from this composite material. The carbon horn, which withstands the fibers, visually comparable in the first in- compression pressure on the bow’s inner surface. stance with woven fabric, are soaked in resin, pressed into a mold and then cured. The light, flowing fibers become hard and extremely stiff plastic, meaning the part barely bends at all when force is applied. If several layers of carbon fiber are laid one on top of the other, the material becomes thicker and stiffer and can therefore transmit higher forces.

86 Encounter Technology 87 Encounter Technology The composite material in the The decisive conclusion for light 2016 roughly 1.8-meter-long center tunnel of the weight design engineers Haffner and Kruse Audi R8 Spyder* is subject to particularly following their trip back in time is that, even The backbone of the Audi R8 Spyder – high demands. Together with the rear wall more than 2,000 years ago, people were The center tunnel, the rear bulkhead and the and the B-pillars, both likewise made from already well versed in the core principles of B-pillars of the Audi R8 Spyder are made CFRP, it forms the backbone of the high- today’s lightweight design – by using the from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer strength, multi-material space frame, which best combination of different materials. (CFRP). Together, they form the extremely has extremely high torsional stiffness. In “Our approach today is fundamentally the strong and torsionally stiff backbone of the the case of the coupé, the stability of the same. We use the right material in the right multi-material space frame. driver cell is achieved through the roof amount at the right place to best fulfill the 50% frames and central floor element, while the function. We are adhering to the same laws convertible depends entirely on the center of physics applied 2,500 ago,” says Kruse. The dynamic potential floor for load bearing. “This is extremely im- Haffner is already thinking about how he of automotive lightweight portant, especially in view of the exception- can interlink his job and his hobby even fur- design is impressively ally stiff suspension typical of a super sports ther: “I would like to integrate CFRP into a demonstrated by the car,” explains Peter Haffner. “If the driver wooden bow. But it will be hard to bond new Audi R8 Spyder V10 with a drives over a railway crossing, there can be these two materials with one another,” he 4,800 bodyshell weight of just no post-pulse oscillation in the bodyshell.” says, with a knowing smile. Perhaps, six 208 kilograms. Its torsional Torsional stiffness is also incred- months from now, he’ll be sitting in a dark- 4,800 megapascals is the stiffness has been raised ibly important in the event of an accident. ened room in Quality Assurance, screwing tensile strength of the by more than 50 percent com- “That’s a phenomenal test of strength, main up his eyes and using CT images to check his transverse beam in the rear pared with the last model. ly for the sills and the center tunnel. They bonding technology. He certainly won’t bulkhead. All layers of have to absorb the majority of the load and need a magnifying glass any more. matting are laid in the same absolutely must withstand an impact,” ex- direction, because what plains Martin Kruse, who configured the matters here is maximum late- A TREE ARRANGES THE center tunnel to protect the occupants in ral strength. MATERIAL IN A WAY THAT precisely this kind of critical situation. BEST DISTRIBUTES Because this is primarily dependent on the TENSION. WE STRIVE TO SEEK outer material parts, the CFRP layer on the INSPIRATION FROM upper face of the center tunnel in the R8 NATURE IN MANY AREAS. Spyder is considerably thicker than in the coupé. A total of 18 layers of carbon fibers Peter Haffner The lightweight design engineer from Neckarsulm have been applied largely longitudinally. build bows in his spare time. “They can absorb the loads without breaking. Fibers laid in a transverse orientation wouldn’t withstand it,” adds Kruse. The somewhat thinner side walls of the tunnel, on the other hand, are made of fibers lay- ered mostly at an angle of 45 degrees to one another. This is the best layout for absorbing the shearing force that occurs here. A bow also has to be incredibly stiff. It is therefore carved out of a wooden log so that its growth rings run along its entire length. “This is where you can really see the analogy between lightweight design and bow design,” says Haffner, going on to add, “In the bow and in the center tunnel of the R8 Spyder, the energy has to be distributed evenly along the entire length of the part. As soon as weak points or cracks occur, the tension concentrates at those OUR APPROACH TODAY IS points.” In extreme cases this causes the ma FUNDAMENTALLY THE SAME. terial to fracture. In the Lightweight De WE USE THE RIGHT sign Center and in bow design this calls for MATERIAL IN THE RIGHT ↓ Audi Space Frame – The bodyshell of the a great deal of experience and research. AMOUNT AT THE RIGHT new R8 Spyder is made However, in nature, it all happens on its PLACE TO BEST FULFILL THE from a multi-material own. “We are experimenting here with a FUNCTION. mix of CFRP and alumi- diverse range of materials, fibers and layers num components. Martin Kruse and how we can best bond them with one The results of the scans surprised the lightweight another. In wood, this all happens natu- design specialists. rally. A tree arranges the material in a way 45° that best distributes tension,” explains Haffner. “We strive to seek inspiration from On the side wall of the center nature in many areas.” tunnel, the carbon fibers are mostly arranged at an angle of 45° to one another. This is the best configuration * Audi R8 Spyder V10: for absorbing shearing force. Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.7 (20.1 US mpg); Combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 277 (445.8 g/mi)

88 Encounter Technology 89 Encounter Technology Roaming Like Magic Even more convenience for Audi customers. With the new Audi connect SIM, they can use Audi connect services with a data flat rate for up to three years at no cost – even when abroad. Online Media Streaming with AUPEO!, Car finder Napster and Audi music stream

myAudi – special Text destinations Johannes Köbler

Travel

Audi smartphone interface

Calendar

Country information SIM PLE Access to smartphone voice control

Twitter Point-of-Interest search with voice control Destination entry Map update via myAudi or Google Maps online

e-mail Parking During the development, the joint Audi and information myAudi – special Cubic Telecom project team had to address a wide range Seamless data transfer – destinations Emergency of issues, as outlined by Project Leader Lothar Even The new Audi connect SIM is available call in 13 countries (colored yellow). kamp from Audi: How to deal with the regulatory, It also functions in further countries (grey). access and security specifications in the individual coun- Online roadside tries; how to solve the existing legal problem of inter- assistance ference liability in the operation of a wifi hotspot; and how to structure pricing and tariffs. Bus and train information Flight The offering with which the Audi connect information SIM has now come to market is clearly structured. The Fuel prices Audi connect services are already activated and the data Travel volume unlimited when a new car is purchased. If the information car is equipped with MMI Navigation plus, the activa- tion lasts for up to three years (depending on the model), Traffic information after which the Audi service partner can extend it for a online fee is the customer so wishes. Independent of the Audi Audi service Messages request connect services, Audi customers can also book addi- Picturebook The starting shot was fired in spring 2016, which is tional data packages for the navigation device’s wifi navigation when customers could start ordering the current A3, hotspot, enabling all passengers to surf the internet A4, A5, Q2 and Q7 model ranges in 13 European coun- with up to eight mobile devices at attractive tariffs. If tries with the optional Audi connect SIM – an embed- the customer chooses a corresponding Europe data City events ded SIM card (e-SIM) in the LTE/UMTS module of the package, data transfer likewise continues automati- Navigation with Google Earth and Google Street-View second-generation modular infotainment system cally at a fixed price when the car crosses an interna- (MIB 2), which comes with the Audi connect option. tional border, i.e. changes supplier. Wi-Fi hotsport The Audi connect SIM brings connect ser- To purchase the data packages, the cus- Online news vices into the car in 33 European countries, with a down- tomer can visit Cubic Telecom’s online shop either di- load speed of up to 100 MBit/s – accommodating every rectly or via his myAudi account. If he activates a con- thing from navigation with Google Earth and Google nection, he can also book future packages quickly and Street View to e-mail inbox and smartphone calendar. conveniently via the MMI system in the car. There is a The new card includes an unrestricted data volume for choice of three variants – a package for the home coun- the use of these services. Customers can say goodbye try only, a small Europe package with nine countries to country-specific roaming charges and inconvenient and the large Europe package with all 33 countries. roaming confirmations. Having now launched the Audi connect SIM, The new e-SIM is the first result of the coop- the next step is to roll out new offerings for the other eration between Audi and Cubic Telecom from Dublin, Volkswagen Group brands. The step after that will be to a leading provider of worldwide, seamless connectivity integrate the car into the Internet of Things via an em- solutions. Audi subsidiary Audi Electronics Venture bedded data connection. And with that in mind, Audi is GmbH (AEV) acquired a minority shareholding in the already working hard on new connectivity solutions. Irish company in spring 2015.

90 Encounter Technology 91 Encounter Technology Text Claudia Maria Rülke

Illustration Barbara Stehle

92 TECH B

NEWS 2/2016

Encounter Technology Car Seats Made from Pineapple Navigation by Sneaker Demand for leather means death for many animals. At → the Royal College of Art in London, Spanish designer Now that city maps have been replaced by map Carmen Hijosa has now developed a new substitute material that is similarly robust, but less expensive and apps, researchers at airline easyJet are devel- more sustainable – Piñatex. Made from pineapple leaf oping the next step – navigating sneakers. Sneak fibers, it is a by-product of pineapple harvesting. The fibers are extremely hard-wearing with very low flam - airs is the name of the smart shoes equipped mability. The innovative material is not only an alterna- 3 Leather substitute – 3 with map data from Google Maps. They receive tive to leather, but also to crude-oil-based textiles used Due to its favorable material properties, in the fashion industry and for upholstery, making it Piñatex is also interest- the information from a smartphone via Blue- interesting for vehicle interiors. 100 percent vegan! ing for use in automotive interiors. tooth and direct the wearer through vibrations.

Further information: 2 Innovative – One or other shoe will direct the user to turn www.rca.ac.uk 2 Made from pineapple left or right, while both shoes vibrate on arrival Photo: © Cartier leaf fibers, Piñatex serves as an alternative at the destination. To ensure the vibration to leather. motors powered by button-cell batteries remain 1 By-product – A by-product of protected from sweat while jogging or on long pineapple harvesting is fibers that are walks, they are encapsulated in a protective plas 1 hard-wearing with very low flammability. tic coating. The shoes withstood practical 10 0 % testing in Barcelona, guiding the testers to the city’s sights. The technology is not the first of its kind – two years ago an Indian manufacturer offered vibrating insoles for navigation.

Further information: www.barcelonastreetproject.com, www.trendsderzukunft.de

93 Searching for a Parking Space by App Right or left? The tiresome search for a parking space could The Sneakairs developed by easyJet

Encounter Technology well become a thing of the past. Students researchers use vibrations to direct wearers. at the Technische Universität München have founded a start-up that provides information on the nearest available spot to those searching for a parking space. This not only saves → time, but also fuel, thus protecting the environment. The system is based on two sensors set into the ground in each parking space. As soon as a car drives over them, a piezo-electric effect generates an electric pulse that is reg- Smart shoes – istered by a scanner. This sends a radio signal to The Sneakairs receive map information the central database to register that the space from Google Maps via is occupied. A second pulse means that the smartphone. parking spot is free again. Those searching for a space can look up the information on the website of the parking lot operator. The start-up has already installed sensors in parking spaces in → major European cities like Milan, Madrid, Hamburg and Berlin. The costs are less than one euro per space. Parking violations by drivers searching via app drop by 80 percent. And traffic generated by the hunt for parking spaces is reputedly reduced by 42 percent.

Further information: www.tum.de L R

94 Machine Communication 4.0 → One sign of Industry 4.0 is the networking of production processes, which involves enormous amounts of data. Most data is currently transmitted by cable. However, in industrial pro- 1 Alternative to surgery – cesses, this is often obstructive and wear is sub- A mini-robot you can swallow helps to stantial. Transfer via wifi would be too slow remove objects from the stomach. and therefore does not present an alternative.

2 Capsule – Engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic The mini-robot is en- Microsystems in Dresden have developed a cased in biodegradable layers that are dis- module that enables fast, secure data transfer solved inside the body by stomach acids. via infrared light. Transfer rates of up to 12.5 1 3 Origami structure – gigabits per second are possible over small Thanks to its folded structure, the distances, with a maximum of 1 gigabit per sec- robot is able to move 2 around the stom- ond at up to 30 meters. Compared with expen- ach after the capsule has dissolved. Robots you can swallow sive specialist cables that are liable to wear, Until now, anyone who accidentally swallowed a small the benefits lie in price, the high level of reliabil- object would have to undergo costly surgery. Scientists as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the ity and security. University of Sheffield and the Tokyo Institute of Tech 3 nology have now developed an alternative – a mini- Further information: robot you can swallow. The hardware is encased in www.fraunhofer.de a capsule made of dried pig intestines comparable with sausage skin, and a further biodegradable layer. Stomach acids dissolve the casings and the robot within unfolds. It cleans up inside the esophagus or stom - ach, using its fold structure to propel itself. The re - searchers have been steering the origami robots using a magnetic field. In future, however, it should be able to orientate itself via sensors. Having removed the object, both exit the body by the natural route. Because it is in the body for such a short time, the mini-robot itself has no adverse health effects.

Further information: www.mit.edu Photo: Melanie Gonick/MIT 4.0 95

Floating balcony – A parked magnetic-levitation car becomes

Encounter Technology 2050 part of the apartment in the living concept Living on Air created by Chinese de- Because space in major cities is limited, there is signer Yuhan Zang. a need for new living concepts for the future. One current vision from Chinese designer Yuhan Zang is based on the proven model of vertical → urban living. Her idea presents the life of an average Shanghai inhabitant in the year 2050 and shows a magnetic-levitation car that drives autonomously and can be parked right in front of the user’s apartment – even if they live in a high-rise. The car itself is also equipped to be a part of the apartment – with fold-down tables, up to four seats and enough space to serve as Vertical urban living – a bedroom. And anyone wanting to enjoy good Lack of space is causing big cities to grow weather outside can, vertigo notwithstanding, upward – complete with parking spaces for also use it as a balcony by simply opening its magnetic-levitation roof – like a convertible. The user receives infor- cars. mation via a holo-display, which they can, of course, also use for work.

Further information: → www.yuhan-zang.com, www.trendsderzukunft.de Photo: Yuhan Zang 96 Light Instead of Wifi In future, people will be able to surf the internet with light instead of wifi. This is made possible by Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology. Scientists at Encounter Technology 12 H the Fraunhofer Institute have been researching this Self-illuminating Roads technology for years. Standard commercial LEDs can be Streetlamps could possibly be a thing of the past. used in place of a wireless network when radio connec- tions are undesirable. VLC is particularly good for places José Carlos Rubio, a researcher at Michoacan where radio transmissions can cause interference, such as airplanes or hospitals. The technology can achieve University in the Mexican city of San Nicolás data transfer rates of up to 1.25 gigabits per second. Hidalgo, has developed a type of cement that can Up to three gigabits per second are achievable with white LEDs, some of which have three light colors/fre- absorb solar energy and then emit it as light. quencies. This is sufficient to transmit several HD video To give the cement this property, the researcher streams simultaneously. In contrast to conventional wifi, the transfer speed via VLC remains stable, as white had to alter the material’s microstructure light offers more wavelengths. The only prerequisite for receiving the light signals is direct “eye contact” be - to prevent the formation of crystalline flakes tween the LED and the receiving device. This also has on contact with water during the production the benefit that opaque surfaces such as walls can be process. This enables the cement to absorb more used to protect data, as they screen off the data stream.

solar energy. The luminosity of Rubio’s devel- Further information: opment lasts for up to twelve hours after www.fraunhofer.de sunset, and the cement can be used for up to 100 years – plastic materials last for just three years. So far, the possible colors are blue and green, and the strength of the light can be regulated, too. The potential market for Rubio’s 3 GB/S fluorescent cement is huge – last year, four billion metric tons were produced.

Further information: www.umich.mx Photo: Investigación y Desarrollo

97 In-car Data Security These days, the car handles many tasks via IT systems. Data protection – Sensors and internal computers communicate with Based on a TPM 2.0, the Fraunhofer SIT has one another or are connected directly to the internet.

Encounter Technology conceived a software However, the more new application options there are, platform that can

the more important data security becomes. Scientists be used to develop more

at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information secure control units. Technology (SIT) in Darmstadt have now developed a software platform that makes the control units → more secure. The solution relies on a hardware module called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. It stores cryptographic keys and only releases them when the communicating devices are in sound condi - tion. The solution created by the Fraunhofer SIT is currently in prototype form and is being offered for licens- ing. The institute also offers corresponding hardware and software simulators. Manufacturers can thus recre- ate various usage scenarios during development.

Further information: www.sit.fraunhofer.de Light signals – Thanks to VLC technology, we will soon be able to surf the internet via light instead of wifi. → 2.0 98 PASSION Mission Needle in Hands

Encounter Technology to the Moon the Red On Passion is the key driver at Audi. The first Audi will land on the moon Visit to the holy grail – this is DIY engine building – Passion means love, in 2017 – we talk to Frank Schätzing where Ducati works on the successful sometimes lust and always and take a look behind the scenes. its superfast racing machines. V12 TDI for Le Mans. complete dedication. Page 100 Page 116 Page 128

Flight Club Both insist on everything from their pilots – the Audi R18 e-tron and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Page 134 99 Encounter Technology Moon Landing

The Moon has fascinated mankind for millennia. It is our nearest neighbor in the solar system and the only celestial body apart from Earth to have been walked upon by man. As the ruler of the tides, orientation point for early sailors and a deity in many cultures, it has always influenced life on Earth. The Moon gives flight to our fantasies, piques our curiosity and ignites our pioneering spirit. The first secrets of the Moon were uncovered in the 17th century with the invention of the telescope. But it wasn’t until modern- day space travel that one of mankind’s most ancient dreams came true – when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon on July 21, 1969, 500 million people worldwide sat in front of their television screens and radios and listened to his iconic words: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 1 969 THE FIRST MAN ON THE MOON “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Neil Armstrong Astronaut and Commander of Apollo 11 Image source: Shutterstock

100 Encounter Technology 101 Encounter Technology Moon Fleet

There are six vehicles parked on the Moon. Three American rovers, two Soviet and one Chinese enjoy a unique view of Earth from a distance of around 384,000 kilometers. It began November 17, 1970 with the Soviet Lunokhod 1, which resembled a bathtub on eight wheels. The remote-control rover covered 10.5 kilometers. A little less than nine months later, the Lunar Roving Vehicle from the American Apollo 15 mission left its tracks in the moon dust. David Scott and James Irwin experienced a truly off- road ride at the wheel of the “moon buggy” with its folding chassis. As the moon rover hopped along, at times with only one wheel on the surface, Scott radioed back to Houston: “This is a rock ’n’ roll ride. I’m getting seasick.” The rover pioneers were followed by the Lunokhod 2, the Apollo 16 and 17 rovers and, in 2013, the Chinese “Jade Rabbit” Yutu. The moon museum is now scheduled to receive visitors in 2017 – two Audi lunar quattros will swell the ranks of the international rover fleet on Earth’s satellite. 1 971 FIRST MANNED MOON ROVER “This is a rock ’n’ roll ride. I’m getting seasick.”

David Scott Apollo 15 astronaut and “moon buggy” driver NASA/Science Source NASA/Science / Image source: Gettyimages

102 Encounter Technology 103 Encounter Technology The First Audi on the Moon

As the result of a car accident in August 2009, caused through no fault of his own, 22 year-old IT specialist Robert Böhme received an insurance payout of 10,000 euros and promptly invested it in register- ing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. Since then, he has been working with his team, the Part-Time Scientists, in Berlin on winning the prize for private space travel worth a total of 30 million dollars. The mission requires the privately financed teams to safely land a rover on the Moon by 2017, drive it for 500 meters and transmit HD images back to Earth. It is a challenge also relished by the “Audianers”. 16 engineers and experts from various departments are working to make the Part-Time Scientists’ rover fit for the Moon. Since 2015, they have been optimizing the Audi lunar quattro with e-tron power and lightweight engineering expertise, intelligent thermal management and quattro drive and, obviously, with a functional yet aesthetic Audi design. Together, the Part-Time Scientists and Audi want to prove that private entities can now achieve what was previously the domain of entire nations. 2 017 AUDI LUNAR QUATTRO “With the ‘Mission to the Moon’ we have the chance to be the first vehicle manufacturer with a presence on the Moon.”

Michael Schöffmann Head of Transmission Development and Coordinator of the Technical Cooperation with the Part-Time Scientists

104 Encounter Technology 105 Encounter Technology Frank Schätzing – Mr. Schätzing, why do The Part-Time Scientists are planning the The Moon is the focus of Mission to the Moon in their spare time, science-fiction thriller Limit we need projects like the if you will. You wrote a bestseller along- by the Cologne author. Mission to the Moon? side your main job as an advertiser …

Schätzing: You need an enormous amount of enthusiasm to take on something like that. In my research for The Swarm, I real- ized that almost all of the most capable scientists are romantics at heart. On the one hand, they move at the very edges of what is currently feasible. On the other, Schätzing: Because space research is im- many of them can rattle off entire science- So will the Moon be the fuel station portant for mankind, also for solving prob- fiction movies like Star Trek word-for-word on the highway to Mars? lems on Earth. Everything that contributes with their eyes sparkling. to pushing forward space research is in the Schätzing: I think that’s realistic. Nobody interests of mankind, and that includes the What about you – Star Trek or Star Wars? seriously wants to live on the Moon. But we shared mission of Audi with the Part-Time could store the fuel we extract there in space Scientists and Google. Schätzing: Both. But the one I still like best fuel stations. Spacecraft that start off from is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Earth would only have to take with them the So is it then justified, given the many What he showed there remains visionary, fuel they need to overcome Earth’s gravity problems on Earth, to spend billions on even today. If I could travel to a space sta- then refuel once they’re in space. This alone space travel without knowing what tion, it would be the one from 2001. could make long-term missions consider- will come out of it? ably less expensive. The head of the European Space Agency Schätzing: If we asked first what would ESA recently announced the Moon Or why not a space elevator, like in your come out of it before embarking on any pio- Village – a settlement for fundamental book? neering work, we would still be sitting in research, raw materials extraction and trees. The greatest discoveries are not made tourists. That sounds like something Schätzing: There’s no way round that in the because we set out to make them, but be- from your 2009 book Limit. Is it confir- long term, because space travel with con- cause visionaries try to break through bar- mation of your vision of the future? ventional means is simply too inefficient. riers. For instance, space research can help We have to find a way into geostationary us immensely in the analysis of our environ- Schätzing: It’s always nice to be right some orbit where Earth’s gravity has less pull. In mental problems. Without continual im- times (laughs). But I didn’t make it up; I weightlessness, it would be no problem to provements to satellites, we would never only brought the ideas back into the spot- build giant space ships for interstellar mis- have been able to forecast climate change light. They were developed back in the 1970s sions. The necessary materials could be car- or the melting of the polar ice caps as pre- and 1980s, but ended up on the back burner. ried up there efficiently using a space eleva- cisely as we can today. Another terrestrial It’s great to see some movement on this, tor. problem is overpopulation. The Earth is though. cramped, it’s being increasingly plundered Is this elevator even feasible or simply and eventually it will be empty. We need The greatest discoveries a pipe dream? space research for this, too, because we’ll be dependent in the long term on the re- are not made because Schätzing: It’s feasible from a physical sources and living space of other planets. standpoint. However, it would be a mam- Text we set out to make them, Lisa Först Added to that is the risk of meteorite strikes but because visionaries moth task to build the thing. The rope that – the biggest threat of all to humanity. The the elevator cab climbs up would have to be Photos question is not whether, but when a giant try to break through made from an absolutely tearproof ma- Ulrike Myrzik meteorite will strike. We should at least be terial, thirty times stronger than Kevlar. Manfred Jarisch barriers. in the position to divert the thing. Experiments ongoing with so-called carbon nanotubes have so far managed to weave a What are the parallels between you Frank Schätzing 100-meter strand. It’s an encouraging start; and the Part-Time Scientists? Bestselling author we just need another 36,000 kilometers ELEVATOR TO (laughs). Whatever. What matters is that it Schätzing: We are all chronically curious What vision from Limit are we likely to see works in principle. and driven by the belief that it will work come to fruition in the years to come? eventually (laughs). THE MOON Schätzing: I wouldn’t like to be pinned down to a specific number of years, but I am ut- Frank Schätzing has mastered the art of transforming dry scientific terly convinced that we will use the resources facts into gripping stories. The former advertising agency manager achieved of our solar system within this century. And his breakthrough in 2004 with science-fiction bestseller The Swarm. obviously the Moon is closest to us. We already know that there is plenty of interest Five years later, he conquered the Moon with his novel Limit. We interview there – helium-3 is an extremely promising Schätzing about the fascination with space, multiplex cinemas on energy source. But there are also deposits of ore, gases and ice that could be used to Mars and the Mission to the Moon supported by Audi. make fuel. The Moon is primarily an outpost for the further research and utilization of our solar system.

106 Encounter Technology 107 Encounter Technology I know you have a fear of flying. Would Another ambitious space project you dare to travel in a space elevator? was recently unveiled by entrepreneur Yuri Milner and physicist Stephen Schätzing: Of course. I have more of a prob- Hawking. They want to use laser beams ROVERTURE lem with airplanes because they take off at to shoot thousands of nano spacecraft an angle. I always think the back end is the size of credit cards into space. Audi lunar quattro going to tip over. I get into elevators every The mini probes will then travel at one day without a thought. Being shot verti- fifth the speed of light to the star cally into the air is simply more appealing system Alpha Centauri 4.3 light years 2017 should see the first Audi drive on the Moon. Together with the to me. Obviously what I’m saying is total away. physical nonsense. Part-Time Scientists, Ingolstadt engineers are preparing the moon rover Schätzing: It’s an interesting approach. In for the very toughest conditions ever faced by an Audi. But the tasks You say the Moon is too inhospitable, but the space of just a few decades we could set by the Google Lunar XPRIZE merely mark the beginning of the real what about a vacation home on Mars? learn an enormous amount about this region – for instance, whether there are any mission for the Audi lunar quattro … Schätzing: Not as long as it doesn’t have a inhabitable planets there. decent multiplex cinema and a couple of good restaurants (laughs). But Mars is in- Will the mini probes discover intelligent teresting, because terraforming could be life forms along the way? possible there one day. That means we could attempt to change the atmosphere of the Schätzing: I’m certain that our galaxy alone planet in such a way as to create liquid water is teeming with life. Although I’m less cer- instead become a collector’s item. Like in in the form of streams and lakes as well as tain that there are many intelligent civiliza- the movie Minority Report, which featured the associated vegetation. As far as cosmic tions right in our neighborhood. If that the kind of mobility concepts that fulfill all research is concerned, we’re still in the were the case, we would have been visited possible desires. And for private fun, you Stone Age. There’s still a lot to come that we by now. Throughout the entire universe – could treat yourself to a chic little sports can only dream of today. We’ll definitely and by that I mean the entirety of the meta- car. Record players and vinyl records are a make industrial use of space. And one day, universe – we must assume, however, that classic example. Presumed dead for years, I’m certain we’ll also travel to and inhabit there are an infinite number of intelligent they are currently experiencing something other planets. civilizations. of a renaissance – as a fine little niche market. The fact is that only those car compa- Dutch reality TV show Mars One already Missions like this often lead to spin-offs nies thinking in terms of all-embracing plans to fly people to Mars by 2027 for our everyday lives … mobility concepts and disruptive innova- for them to settle there without the tions will be able to make the leap into the option of returning. What do you Schätzing: Yes, the sales markets for Audi future. This includes the understanding think of that? will explode (laughs). that the car as a piece of hardware will play the tiniest of roles in the added value of the Schätzing: Someone from Cologne would Coming back down to earth, in a future future. The gold is in the on-board software say: “Each to his own.” I personally would report written in 2007 you describe – in the data. Whoever masters artificial insist on a return ticket. Others may well be piloted cars as a vision for 2057. intelligence will master the market. prepared to die on mars. Why not? Because They are, however, set to become reality they’re not hurting anyone other than them far sooner than that. Audi is already But for now, the plan for Audi is the selves, why shouldn’t we welcome their com pretty far advanced. Will you buy one? Moon. Would a success for the Part-Time mitment? They’re pioneers. Research would Scientists actually be a collective derive all sorts of findings from the experi- Schätzing: I’d be happy to get into one ten triumph for Germany and German engi- ment. I see it as legitimate to make it a com years from now. By then, piloted driving will neering? mercial venture in order to finance it. As probably be safer than if I were to drive my- long as science remains factually reputable, self. Schätzing: Because the Google Lunar XPRIZE it’s a good thing to capture the public imag- is an international project, a moon landing ination at the same time. Entertainment and What would you do with the time you would first and foremost be a collective tri- research are not mutually exclusive. If I save? umph for mankind. Then, of course, there’s send people into space and settle them the question: Who actually played a role in there under special conditions then it’s a Schätzing: Read, work on my laptop, take this? And that would make it a triumph for research project – purely and simply by the my guitar with me and write songs, chat, Audi as a far-sighted automotive company fact that they’re up there. have fun – I can think of a thousand things. as well as for Germany as a center of technological innovation. What do you imagine individual mobility on Earth will be like in 2050?

Schätzing: I believe the importance of the car as a status symbol will fall, particularly in the advanced industrial nations. In the long term, we need intelligent concepts that provide us with the greatest possible degree of freedom in our mobility without having to own a car at all. The fact of not owning a car could even become the new status symbol! If everyone had the option of calling self-driving cabs to chauffeur them and their family around, the private vehicle would not necessarily disappear, but

108 Encounter Technology 109 How do you build a car It’s a mammoth task for Böhme and his colleagues, who are working side-by-side with Audi on optimizing the rover. Pioneer The Moon intended to drive where nobody ing work under extreme conditions fascinates more than just the can live? Part-Time Scientists. It also holds major appeal for Audi engineers like Michael Schöffmann: “Audianers have always loved projects like this, because it takes us into new technological territory. Just the topic of camera technology alone is essential for operating the rover and is also becoming increasingly important for our vehicles Robert Böhme, founder and head of the Part-Time Scientists, and – from the parking assistant to automated driving. Audi can also his colleagues have already put seven years into the development learn a huge amount from this project.” As well as being Head of of their moon rover – to send it next year to a terrain that, according Transmission Development, Schöffmann is also coordinating the to Böhme, “wants to kill you every chance it gets.” And the Moon technical cooperation with the Part-Time Scientists alongside his certainly has what it takes: “Just because people have been there regular job. “With the Mission to the Moon, we have the chance to doesn’t make it easy. There’s no magnetic field on the Moon and no be the first car manufacturer with a presence on the Moon.” Physical Properties Properties of its Orbit atmosphere to provide protection from radiation. The conditions But before it gets to that stage, the Audi lunar quattro there are actually tougher than on Mars.” Up there, the Sun burns and its twin brother have to make it safely to the Moon in the first Albedo: 0.12 Semi-major axis: 384,400 km mercilessly at 120 degrees Celsius onto the rover measuring just place – two rovers are permitted to travel simultaneously to the Apparent brightness: Periapsis: 363,300 km one meter long by 75 centimeters wide. Crunching beneath its Earth’s satellite for the mission. It would all have been unthinkable −12.7 (full moon) mag Apoapsis: 405,500 km wheels is lunar regolith: 1,000 times finer than dust on Earth and a few years ago, but is possible today thanks to private rockets. The Average diameter: 3,476 km Eccentricity: 0.0549 therefore representing a significant danger. “Moon dust is like the Part-Time Scientists are renting space for their moon vehicles in an Mass: 7.349 · 10²² kg Orbital inclination: (to the ecliptic) finest power made from lots of tiny, sharp-edged shards of glass,” American or Indian rocket for launching satellites, with the rovers Surface area: 37,932,330 km² 5.145° explains Jürgen Brandner, who is responsible for technology with and their landing units inserted into the front end. The hi-tech pay- Average density: 3.341 g/cm³ Orbital period: 27.3217 d the Part-Time Scientists. “You could say that moon dust is the per- load is released after 300 kilometers, when the rocket reaches Sidereal rotation: 27.322 days Average orbital velocity: fect abrasive – if it gets into the transmission, it’s all over.” Earth’s orbit. In ever-increasing ellipses, it gains sufficient momen- Axial tilt: 6.68° 1.023 km/s tum to catapult it towards the Moon. Because the rover will be Gravitational acceleration on subject to colossal shaking when the rocket takes off, the next few the surface: 1.62 m/s² months at Audi will be spent working on a program of shock and Escape velocity: 2,380 m/s load testing designed to simulate the vibrations in the rocket and the impact of the landing unit on the Moon. But how will the rovers land in exactly the planned location? This is Jack Crenshaw’s job. The legendary NASA man, now 81 years old, calculated the flight paths for several Apollo missions and will also guide the two Audi lunar quattros to the Moon. Once it reaches the orbit of the Earth’s satellite, the landing unit will enter the most critical part of its journey. It will circle the Moon at a speed of 1.7 kilometers per second, ultimately landing in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, where it will set the rovers down.

Moon yearning – Robert Böhme and his colleagues Jürgen Brandner and Karsten Becker are the brains behind a group now consisting of 35 engineers working on making the dream of a moon landing come true.

110 Encounter Technology 111 Encounter Technology After landing, the moon vehicles have to cover 500 me- The two rovers should also come across the Lunar ters and send high-resolution images back to Earth. The team that Roving Vehicle from Apollo 17 in Taurus-Littrow Valley. It’s what is first to achieve these tasks set by Google will receive 20 million you might call the “big brother” of the Audi lunar quattro. It has 3,600 360 U.S. dollars. It sounds easy – but it isn’t. Once on the Moon, each already been waiting on the Earth’s satellite for 43 years in tem- rover orientates itself using just four cameras. It can also use these perature gradients of 300 degrees Celsius and without a protective Solar panel – quattro drive – to investigate objects and to take 3D images, panorama pictures atmosphere. According to the latest satellite images from NASA, The rover derives its energy from a The torque sent to each of the wheels, and 360-degree shots. These images then have to travel almost the Apollo rover, once used by Eugene Cernan to hobble over the swiveling solar panel roughly which can rotate 360 degrees around 400,000 kilometers back to Earth. Due to the distance involved, Moon, has not yet fallen apart. “Even its antenna is still pointing 3,600 square centimeters in size. their vertical axes, is just enough all the signals sent by the rovers arrive back at their controllers towards Earth. Just think about that for a minute – the seats are but no more, in order to prevent spin. around 2.5 seconds later. “It’s like driving a car fall-down drunk,” simply plastic garden chairs from the local hardware store; the laughs Böhme. “Our drivers have to be incredibly well trained to be straps are made from leather.” According to Böhme, analysis of able to steer the Audi lunar quattro from Earth!” these materials could provide information on what materials are But is that enough to maneuver the moon vehicle over particularly suitable for long-term projects on the Moon. Or, of the bumpy terrain without damaging it? Fortunately for the rover course, “What an Audi has to be made of to be able to drive for a drivers, quattro technology is very much at home here. The height long time on the Moon.” This is a topic also of interest to Michael and speed of each wheel can be individually adjusted, making it, Schöffmann. “A lot of Audi people would definitely be fascinated according to Böhme, ideal for “the toughest terrain you can ever by a project like this. For the foreseeable future, however, there will move on”. The Moon – the new “land of quattro”. Michael Schöff be a distinct lack of drivers on the Moon.” mann is equally convinced: “Our quattro drive is the best kind of drive for the demanding lunar surface. We’re working with new algorithms to further optimize the quattro characteristics. This means that each wheel receives just enough torque to ensure none of them spin.” However, only once the rover has fulfilled the tasks set Our quattro drive is the best type by the Google Lunar XPRIZE does its real mission truly begin. The Moon is just the springboard for pushing further into space. of drive for the demanding 3D Eventually, says Böhme, the ultimate aim is to reach Mars – and the Audi lunar quattro could smooth the path. This can be achieved surface of the Moon. We’re working Cameras – thanks in part to the scientific devices transported to the Moon with new algorithms to On the Moon, the rover orientates inside the rovers – such as a microwave device, the basis of a 3D itself using just four cameras. printer. “We want to point microwaves of a very specific frequency further optimize the quattro It can also use these to investigate at the surface of the Moon in order to melt it and thereby create a objects and take 3D images, characteristics. panorama pictures and 360-degree surface suitable for driving on,” explains Brandner. “This way, we shots. could build the first road on the Moon.” The first moon road could mark the start of a series of Michael Schöffmann building plans. “In future, we will have to manufacture parts on the Head of Transmission Development Moon’s surface,” says Böhme. “Shooting materials up there from Earth in a spacecraft won’t work. It takes too much energy to overcome gravity.” But this is just the start. Böhme and his colleagues want to send the rovers in search of resources on the Moon. “We have known for several years that there are vast quantities of water stored on the Moon in various states. When we find these deposits, we could use solar energy to separate off hydrogen and make rocket fuel. It would be our fuel station on the highway to Mars.”

1 Passionate support – Audi experts from various different departments are providing the Part-Time Scientists with committed support to make the Audi lunar quattro fit for its journey to the Moon.

112 Encounter Technology 113 Encounter Technology Audianers have always loved How much of It sounds like science fiction – but it involves a lot of hard work. Responsible by day for the IT security of the German projects like this, because it takes us Audi is in government, IT expert Böhme has been working nights on the moon mission with his colleagues for years – “Batman style” as he into new technological territory. the lunar quattro? calls it himself. After five years filled with tests, setbacks and begin- Just the topic of camera ning again from scratch, they finally achieved their first major successes. In 2014, the Part-Time Scientists won two Google Milestone technology alone is essential for Prizes for the development of their rover and its optical systems. operating the rover and Audi experts have been will derive its energy from They were able to use this money to rent a 150 square-meter office assisting the Part-Time Scien a swiveling solar panel around space with its own workshop in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. The core team is is also becoming increasingly tists since 2015 with quattro 3,600 square centimeters in now working there full-time on shooting the rover to the Moon by expertise, lightweight engi- size. During particularly tricky the deadline of December 31, 2017. A total of 15 competitors important for our vehicles – from the neering know-how, e-tron maneuvers, the Audi lunar worldwide are snapping at their heels. parking assistant to automated experience and design optimi- quattro can draw on additional But there is something more important to the Part- zation to prepare the Audi e-tron power. A highly effi- Time Scientists than victory. They want to use their mission to driving. lunar quattro for the moon cient ultra battery serves as a gather as many findings as possible to push forward technology mission. What changes have buffer for the motors’ con- development and scientific progress. For Böhme it’s a question of been implemented? Designers sumption spikes and drives the fairness: “We have voluntarily decided to make all our mission data Michael Schöffmann Coordinator of the Cooperation and engineers increased the rover when the panel is not completely public – for free. Mankind can only advance if it has ac- with the Part-Time Scientists size of the rover and its wheels, perfectly set. Four hub motors cess to information.” This also applies to a project after the Google which can turn 360 degrees turn the moon vehicle into Lunar XPRIZE that Böhme’s team is already eyeing up. “The General around their vertical axes, an e-quattro with a maximum Director of ESA recently announced plans to build a Moon Village. to achieve greater stability and speed of 3.6 km/h. The opti- Knowledge of material degradation and resources on the Moon contact surface. At the same mized rover has already gathered by the Audi lunar quattro could be hugely important to time, its weight was reduced proven itself in test drives the establishment of a permanent, manned moon base.” through an optimum material on Tenerife, where the lava rock mix. “Audi has enormous has similar properties to the expertise in the field of 3D alu- surface of the Moon. A very minum printing,” explains special kind of endurance test Jürgen Brandner. “We were came in the Audi sun simula- able to use this to reduce the tion chamber. To test the rover’s weight from 38 to lunar quattro under moon-like 30 kilograms.” For every kilo conditions, the engineers saved, one kilo more of fuel or generated a ground heat 4 Lightweight design – experiments can fly to the of 120 degrees Celsius paired The rover’s weight was significantly Moon. Once there, the rover with a room temperature reduced by an optimum material of minus 20 degrees and simu- mix and Audi’s expertise in the field lated solar radiation of of 3D aluminum printing. 1,100 watts per square meter. No Audi has ever been sub- 4 jected to such extreme conditions. The results show that the heat did not travel through the wheels into the rover, meaning the batteries and elec tronics will remain protected during the drive over the moon rock.

2 Audi moon expert – 2 Besides his regular job as Head of 3 Transmission Development, Michael Schöffmann also coordinates the technical cooperation with the Part-Time Scientists.

3 Highly efficient – An ultra battery serves as the buffer for the motors’ consumption spikes and drives the rover when the panel isn’t perfectly set.

114 Encounter Technology 115 Encounter Technology NEEDLE IN THE RED

Ducati in the Superbike World Championship and the MotoGP Hardly any other motorcycle brand is as inextricably linked with racing as Ducati. After a period of drought, the red racers are now very much on a winning streak – the result of a brand-new team and innovative technology. We take a look behind the scenes of Ducati Corse, where absolute secrecy is the norm.

116 Encounter Technology 117 Encounter Technology The same is also bestowed upon him by Luigi Dall’Igna. As General Manager of Ducati Corse, the qualified engineer and accomplished motorcycle racing professional is responsible for all the brand’s racing activities. When “Gigi” arrived at Ducati at the end of 2013, he embarked upon a clear action plan: “I spent the first six months getting to know the people at Ducati Corse. What did they do up ‘til now? What is their potential? You have to know the people if you are to run a functioning organization.” He then set about his re- structuring. Dall’Igna reassigned responsibilities, optimized processes, implemented improvements in the flow of information and established closer cooperation between the race team and the engineers. It was on this basis that development of a brand new racing machine T for the 2015 season began mid-2014. 1

Text Things are getting tight at Ducati Guido Stalmann headquarters. The Bologna factory, Photos built in 1935, is not only the birth- Bernhard Huber place of motorcycles that hold cult status among two-wheeler fans worldwide, it is also the home of Ducati Corse, the brand’s racing department. Every square centimeter of 1 the factory in the city’s Borgo Panigale district has to be Precision work – used efficiently, which is also why Ducati Corse occupies After each race, checks are carried out to two separate areas. On the east side are the team man- ensure the carbon-fiber agement offices and the engineers, who design the rac- brake discs are still ing machines part-by-part with their state-of-the-art sufficiently powerful. CAD computers. In the west wing is the workshop space with its test rigs. This is where the motorcycles are built and maintained for competition in the MotoGP and Superbike World Championship. The Ducati Corse workspaces are about 200 1 2 meters apart. Anyone who walks the route straight 1 Craftsmanship – The fact that motor- through the factory passes by freight boxes with hun- A mechanic adjusts the clutch lever on the dreds of painted frames, the production line for the V2 racing bike belonging sport belongs to Superquadro engines that power the 1299 Panigale to works rider Andrea road bike, newly assembled motorcycles awaiting trans- Dovizioso. the DNA of the Italian portation to dealerships and the so-called supermar- 2 Italian job – cult brand it patently ket, where subassemblies are prepared for final assem- Work on the highly bly on the line. The close quarters reflect the intimate complex MotoGP bikes obvious at the plant connection between production and racing develop- is practically never in Bologna. The Ducati ment that is so important at Ducati. Racing motorcycles complete. After races, the motorcycles are are also built elsewhere under one roof, but nowhere is disassembled, all parts Corse racing depart- this connection as close as it is in Borgo Panigale. checked for wear and A few weeks ago, Casey Stoner walked pre- new development parts ment is embedded cisely these 200 meters through the factory. The Aus fitted. within the 71,657 m² tralian won the MotoGP World Championship with Ducati in 2007. He then moved to rival Honda in 2011, factory in the Borgo where he won the title again, before surprisingly ending Panigale district. Road his career at the end of the 2012 season at the age of just 27. Then came the sensation – last winter, he signed and racing bikes are a contract as a test rider and brand ambassador for Ducati Corse. When Stoner appeared at the factory on built here side by side. this particular day, even the production line ground to a halt. One employee spontaneously pulled a photo of the 2007 title winner from his toolbox and asked him for an autograph. Stoner was impressed to experience such a level of appreciation at Ducati six years on. Successful Ducati riders enjoy hero worship in Borgo Panigale.

118 Encounter Technology 119 Encounter Technology I spent the first six months 1 getting to know the people Ducati gives you wings – at Ducati Corse. What did Forceful aerodynamic additions to the they do up ’til now? What is cladding at the front their potential? You have end are a distinctive feature of the MotoGP to know the people if you Ducati. They generate downforce and are to run a functioning keep the front wheel on organization. the ground.

Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna has been the General Manager of Ducati Corse since the end of 2013 and has steered the racing department back on course.

120 Encounter Technology 121 Encounter Technology 1 2 Calm, rational, process-oriented and modest – Dall’Igna is something of an exception on the MotoGP Lab worker – Fine tuning – Some of the test and The track-specific scene. He is a stranger to vanity, which he sees purely The only MotoGP development work is car- tuning of engine con- as a hindrance to successful work. Dall’Igna: “Some ried out on a modern trol, electronic engineers find it difficult to admit that other engineers title won so far by test rig. The racing bike is assistance and gear did something well in the past. We can’t allow that.” fastened down behind ratios is tested on Ducati was achieved by bulletproof glass, while the the rig. Dall’Igna demonstrates this philosophy mechanic works the with the example of the so-called winglets. In 2009 and Australian Casey throttle and gearshift from 2010, Ducati was the only manufacturer to experiment Stoner in 2007. Next the control console. with the add-on winglets in the front of the fairing, before subsequently discarding them. “The whole world year will see three- believed it must have been a bad idea,” recalls Dall’Igna. He saw things differently and ordered further research time world champion into the technology. Since the 2015 season, Ducati Jorge Lorenzo bikes have sported massive wings once again. The reason is that the MotoGP now stipulates standardized join the Italians. 2 electronics. This means the anti-wheelie control, which uses careful gas metering to prevent the front wheel from lifting up, can no longer be further developed and fine-tuned. The wings help to keep the front wheel of the almost 280 hp MotoGP bike on the ground. The additional downforce at the front also helps load distribution and this reduces tire wear. “The competition is now copying our winglets,” says Dall’Igna with pride, quickly adding, “It wasn’t my idea. It’s a Ducati idea.”

Ducati also has an advantage in its engine. The V4 is considered the best in its class in the MotoGP. Thanks to Ducati’s own desmodromic valve control, the engine reputedly reaches more than 18,000 rpm – Dall’Igna won’t provide exact figures. He is also fully aware that victory takes more than sheer power alone. The engine has to be controllable, has to have a broad power range and has to be kept in check with clever electronics. And despite the enormous power delivery, the rear tire mustn’t be overloaded. A powerful engine obviously also needs robust transmission components. Extensive expertise in working with carbon-fiber reinforced polymers is a 3 4 huge advantage for Ducati in this regard. It is the only 3 Protective cover – Paolo Ciabatti All the cladding is the MotoGP Sporting manufacturer in MotoGP to make its mighty swingarm on the Desmosedici GP Director, which puts from ultra-light and ultra-stiff carbon. “We are working is made from carbon him in charge of Ducati hard to put all the puzzle pieces together right,” says Corse’s activities the racing boss, describing his concept. 4 In the swing – in the top-flight race Ducati is the only man series. Things have been on the up for Ducati Corse ufacturer in the ever since Dall’Igna came on board. The racing ma- MotoGP to also make chines from Borgo Panigale returned to the winners’ the mighty rear podium in the Superbike World Championship in May swingarm from carbon. at Imola, and it could be in the running for the title this season. It should be noted that, with 14 Riders’ and 17 Manufacturers’ titles, Ducati is the most successful brand in the Superbike World Championship. And MotoGP? It is technically more demanding and the competition greater. But Ducati has added another important piece of the puzzle here, too. The whole team has just Jorge Lorenzo will join the Italians for the coming season. Alongside Valentino Rossi and fellow countryman one aim – to put Ducati Marc Márquez, the three-time world champion from back on top in the MotoGP Spain is one of the stars of the scene. The battle plan World Championship. for the top flight has been drawn up – Ducati wants to start winning races again this season. It’s been close Paolo Ciabatti one or two times since 2015. And in 2017, the team wants to do battle for the title with Lorenzo on board. Nevertheless, Dall’Igna is cautious: “It’s hard to say whether we’ll be ready by then.”

122 Encounter Technology 123 Encounter Technology Scan the QR code to see a video of World Ducati Week 2016.

157 kg dry weight, 280 hp and 350 km/h are the fearsome figures that sum up the Desmosedici GP – although thank- fully not for Ducati works riders Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone.

124 Encounter Technology 125 Encounter Technology 5 Dealing with high expectations within the company, in Italy and among fans worldwide is an art Davide Tardozzi 5 Marco Palmerini, is a long-standing fix- that Dall’Igna has mastered. “Pressure is not a problem talking here to two ture at Ducati Corse. for me; it’s part of my job,” he says with the calm com- mechanics, is Manager The Team Manager was posure of a Tibetan monk. This is something his team Vehicle Development a successful super- appreciates. Paolo Ciabatti is MotoGP Sporting Director MotoGP and, as such, bike racing rider in the the interface between 1980s. at Ducati Corse and has been in the business for years. Ducati Corse techni- He praises his boss, commenting: “If things aren’t cians at the factory and going well, he stands in front of the team and takes the racing team. responsibility.” As was the case at the second race of the season in Argentina, when factory rider Andrea Iannone was embroiled in a battle for second place in the last corner of the race and launched a highly over-motivated attack against none other than his Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso, causing both to tumble. A double podium for Ducati at an early stage in the season was thrown away. In the Ducati pit, the facial expressions of We’re a family. You can the men in charge froze. And Dall’Igna? No rant. No berating of the riders in front of running TV cameras. really sense the passion for What had to be said to the riders was then said calmly racing here at Ducati. behind closed doors. What we do here is not a Another important part of the puzzle is also team manager Davide Tardozzi. The former superbike job. We’re pursuing our racer has been with Ducati for many years – with one passion. brief interruption. In the 1990s, he managed the team in the Superbike World Championship. The 57 year-old Davide Tardozzi puts more heart and soul into this business than just about anyone else. “We’re a family. You can really sense the passion for racing here at Ducati. It’s not something you study. You don’t learn it either. Nor can you classify or organize it. It’s just there.” He continues: “What we do here is not a job. We are pursuing our passion and we have a mission.” If the mission is successful, Tardozzi may well personally lay the 200 meters separating the two departments of Ducati Corse with marble, in complete confidence that the years ahead will see plenty of new stars grace the factory’s very own Walk of Fame.

6 Tailor made – To ensure the motor The Desmosedici cycle fits the driver like a made-to-measure GP is continually devel suit, the position of the seat, footrests and oped throughout handlebars is adapted to his stature with the season. What mat- millimeter precision.

ters here is the 7 Red cloth – The racing bikes are co- dialogue between the vered up after work. development engineers at the factory and the team that travels from race to race.

126 Encounter Technology 127 Encounter Technology DO IT YOURSELF IT WAS A REVOLUTION TEN YEARS AGO, GOING ON TO ACHIEVE VICTORY IN LE MANS EIGHT TIMES. AUDI BROUGHT THE TDI INTO ENDURANCE RACING. IT’S TIME TO TRY MY HAND AT ENGINE MECHANICS.

Text Hermann Reil Alexander von Wegner

Photos Daniel Wollstein

HANDS ON

High-tech puzzle – Pistons, injection nozzles, common rail, fuel lines, cylinder head gaskets –

Scan the QR code to see a video of Audi’s just a small selection of the great big construction Le Mans race car with TDI hybrid technology. kit for a TDI racing engine.

128 Encounter Technology 2007 Distance: An indication of how difficult the funda- 5,029.101 km mental technical decisions were comes from a meeting AUDI R10 TDI (369 laps) between Ulrich Baretzky and Richard Bauder, Audi’s 1 5.5 V12 TURBO Drivers: Head of Diesel Engine Development at the time. “You’ll Well oiled – Frank Biela, Emanuele have to make the engine out of cast iron,” said the It’s important to Pirro, Marco Werner series-production engineer. “There’s no way I’m build- coat the pistons with (Audi Sport Team Joest) T ing a racing engine out of iron. It has to be aluminum,” a fine film of oil This exercise isn’t actually that difficult. If you want to before assembly. insisted the motorsport man. Baretzky countered the insert one of the twelve pistons into the engine block, objection that such a design would never hold up with, there’s a special cone to help. It preloads the oil scraper “Then we’ll make it hold up.” rings so that they slip easily into the cylinder barrel. Up until that point, Baretzky and his col- Okay, you still have to give it a couple of knocks with the leagues had only ever dealt with gasoline-powered rubber mallet. At the same time, though, you have to racing engines. “All we knew was that the pistons move maneuver the conrod precisely past the sensitive injec- up and down and it runs on diesel instead of gasoline,” tion nozzle for cooling the piston crown and, obviously, says the chief engineer, describing his knowledge of arrange it so that it falls cleanly onto the crankpin. Then compression-ignition engines at the time. It quickly you can put on the lower bearing shell and screw it became clear to his team that the pistons would have in place. The specification calls for 30 newton meters to be well cooled, the injection and ignition pressures of tightening torque then another turn through 30 would have to be extremely high and it would take at degrees. It fits, next piston please – after all, there are 2 least 13 to 14 months to get it to the initial test rig another eleven waiting. stage. “So we started with a production-standard V8 This is a unique, mega-hi-tech puzzle. Not Fully tensed – TDI with similar figures for bore and stroke just to start strewn around randomly in the box, of course, like the A conical funnel gathering some basic knowledge. We learnt a whole lot presses the game we all know, but meticulously sorted. Many items about forced induction and injectors in the process,” oil scraper rings into come in packs of twelve, others in twin-packs for the the pistons. says Baretzky. It wasn’t until May 2005 that the first V-engine’s two cylinder heads, plus 48 valves, four racing TDI saw the light of day. camshafts and countless individual parts. Basically, Audi made full use of the maximum figures it’s everything you need to make a high-performance set by the rules, employing twelve cylinders and 5.5 engine ready for action. A power unit, no less, that has liters of displacement to keep the load per cylinder as made history – Audi’s first Le Mans TDI engine. It low as possible. The first generation of the V12 already entered the fray ten years ago and was immediately V12 produced more than 650 hp. Its torque of 1,100 newton victorious – unleashing a small revolution in motorsport. ALL WE KNEW AT THE START meters would easily have pulled an 18-wheeler. But what’s happening here is extremely WAS THAT THE PISTONS unusual. The inner workings of an engine are among the most intimate secrets in motorsport. Now, however, MOVE UP AND DOWN AND IT ten years later and after four engine generations of RUNS ON DIESEL INSTEAD development, Audi Sport is giving us not only an in- 3 OF GASOLINE. depth insight, but is even inviting us to get our hands ULRICH BARETZKY dirty. And we have the “blessing” of Ulrich Baretzky – A light tap – the man who, as engine boss at Audi Sport for many With a little help from a rubber mallet, years, might fairly be described as the father of the Le the piston slides Mans TDI. through the barrel. The origins sound just as exciting today as they did then. Audi began selling its first road-going model with TDI drive in 1989, but as far as racing was concerned, the efficient and thoroughly sporty compression-ignition engine was excluded. It barely fitted into any race rules. Experience with diesel drives in professional motorsport was non-existent. After the Volkswagen Group took initial steps with touring cars and rally models, the idea of developing a diesel race car for Le Mans began to take shape at Audi in 2001. “Audi invented the TDI. If another manufacturer had been the first to bring a diesel to Le Mans, I would have 4 regretted it for the rest of my life,” recalls Ulrich Baretzky. But the initial advances made by the engine Correctly fastened – boss of Audi Sport in Neckarsulm weren’t greeted with The bearing shells fit perfectly. Every open arms on all fronts. Some of his superiors asked if screw has a defined this wasn’t perhaps a little too daring. However, the tightening torque. Bavarian didn’t let go and began to attract increasing support, at the same time managing to persuade Le Mans organizers, the ACO, to expand its regulations. As of 2004, the rules permitted compression-ignition engines, too. The then chairman of the Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board Ferdinand Piëch finally gave his personal okay – at Le Mans 2004. Father of the racing TDI – Ulrich Baretzky heads up racing engine development at Audi Sport.

130 Encounter Technology 131 For the time being, our unit is still a work- 2010 Distance: As if the circumstances weren’t intense in-progress. At the moment, we’re putting together the 5,410.713 km enough, lingering tire damage called for clever tactics. AUDI R15 TDI PLUS (397 laps) two cylinder heads, and now the valve timing has to be If Audi had gone in for a pit stop right away, André 5 5.5 V10 TURBO set. This is a task of extreme precision, with amateurs Drivers: Lotterer would have had to make another fuel stop in demoted to the role of onlooker. But Audi Sport engine Absolutely precise – Timo Bernhard, the last hour of the race. Instead, the German received mechanics Herbert Baumann and Stefan Link are, of When it comes Romain Dumas, Mike the instruction to drive a little slower. In the end, it was to setting the valve Rockenfeller course, absolute professionals when it comes to build- enough and he and his teammates won with a 13.5 sec- timing, every (Audi Sport Team Joest) ing racing engines. Engineer Achim Schuch is also here single degree matters. ond lead. The Audi engineers were perplexed to see today. He designed the cylinder head for the V12 back the pursuing car begin to drive more slowly, too. “Our in the day. It very quickly becomes evident just how opponent would also have been unable to finish the thoroughly they and their colleagues work. Not once has race without a fuel stop, as I heard later from one of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or any other endurance race their engineers,” says Baretzky. for that matter, ended on account of engine failure. The extent of the progress at this point The first race run by the V12 TDI – at the 12 is evident in the numbers. The diameter of the air- Hours of Sebring – was a memorable day indeed. After flow limiter was cut during this period by 34 percent. one car retired, all hopes rested on the Audi R10 driven Charge pressure fell by 4.7 percent and displacement by Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish. During by almost 33 percent. But absolute power dropped the race, the engineers registered rising pressure in the from around 650 to 490 hp, i.e. just 24 percent. This crankcase. A supplier error in a wiring loom was result- saw an improvement in specific output from 118 hp ing in the wrong mixture formation. Three pistons burnt 6 in the first year to 146 hp in 2011, marking a plus of out. “Tom and his teammates were running on only nine almost 24 percent. cylinders,” says Baretzky. But it was still enough for a Extremely stable – The age of the hybrid, which began in 2012, historic win. The baseplate showed what progress could still be made. Audi won makes the engine On the way back to Miami Airport, the engine The racing diesel was a revolution that began three times in a row with the R18 e-tron quattro, taking extremely stiff. designer sat in the passenger seat studying the news- Ultimately, it is one of very quietly. Engineered from scratch, the Audi R10 TDI the number of TDI victories at Le Mans to eight. When paper articles hailing the success, while chauffeur Tom the car’s load- ran its laps with barely a sound. “At high speed, even an efficiency rule came into effect in 2014, the amount Kristensen played fast and loose with the speed limit. bearing elements. the wind noise is louder than the engine,” recalls Le of fuel available dropped by around 22 percent com- A sheriff brought it all to a halt. “Sitting next to me is Mans legend Tom Kristensen. With nine victories at Le pared with the previous year. Audi developed a four- the first guy to win Sebring with a diesel engine,” pleaded Mans, the Dane is the most successful driver of all time. liter V6 TDI engine. In its current format, the unit uses Baretsky by way of excuse, producing one of the news- Proportions, weight distribution, airflow 67.6 percent of the fuel consumed by the original V6 papers. The man in uniform hesitated, read the piece and the need for around 30 percent more cooling called TDI – i.e. around one third less than at the start. In all and then asked the winner to autograph the article. He for a race car designed to match. Following the exten- the TDI years from 2006 to 2016, consumption has then let the engineer and his driver continue on their sive design phase and the build of the first prototypes, dropped by as much as 46.4 percent. Yet the Le Mans way with the words: “But watch your speed until you exactly 200 more days pass between the first roll-out prototypes are faster today than they were then. All of reach Miami. There are still lots of traffic cops ahead – on November 29, 2005 and victory at Le Mans in 2006. that is the result of enormous progress in aerodynam- and there’s no way you got enough newspapers there.” The two German drivers Frank Biela and Marco Werner ics, lightweight design, hybrid technology – and, of 7 joined with Italian Emanuele Pirro to celebrate the first course, ten years of successful TDI development. diesel success in Le Mans. The TDI drive prevailed in The twelve diesel injectors are now con- Thermally fit – 2007 and 2008, too, both times against tough diesel nected, the fuel lines attached, the two carbon-fiber Complex oil and competition. intake housings adjusted. Herbert Baumann and Stefan water channels run The next big step came in 2010 when Audi Link have taken a little over eight hours to complete through the cylinder head and have broke the distance record. Set in 1971, when there were the assembly – although rather hindered than helped to be sealed. still no chicanes to slow down progress along the by the hands of the amateur. Admittedly, Neckarsulm’s Hunaudières Straight, it was a figure that seemed set engine assembly department usually takes a whole V6 to last forever. But Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/ week to build an entire competition engine – with con- Compact power – Mike Rockenfeller managed to cover 5,410.713 kilo- stant measuring, checking and double-checking. Once it After the V12 and the meters in 24 hours – 75 kilometers further than Dr. gets to the race track, all that matters is performance. V10, Audi turned Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep 39 years before. to the V6. The current four-liter TDI has its Their Audi R15 TDI was powered by a new V10 engine. turbocharger between It was 100 millimeters shorter than the twelve-cylinder Distance: 2014 the banks. and ten percent lighter. Its two turbochargers were 5,165.391 km (379 laps) AUDI R18 E-TRON QUATTRO equipped for the first time with variable turbine geom- TDI 4.0 V6 TURBO etry (VTG) for better responsiveness. Drivers: 2011 marked the start of a new era. Ten cyl- Marcel Fässler, HYBRID inders were replaced by a V6, displacement sank to 3.7 André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer liters and the cylinder banks had an included angle of (Audi Sport Team Joest) 120 degrees. The inside was and still is conceived as the exhaust side, a twin-scroll turbocharger was fed with exhaust gases from both banks. Its compression side was dual-flow, too, sending the compressed fresh air through two coolers into the intake manifolds on the outside of the engine. Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer drove it to victory in 2011 in a dra- matic 24-hour race in Le Mans. The two sister cars driven by their teammates were forced to retire due to accidents, and challenger Peugeot was hunting Audi down with four cars. “When it comes to team spirit, that was the most impressive race for me,” says Baretsky. “Nobody left the pit. Everybody helped. As morning approached, we began to feel that we could make it.”

132 Encounter Technology 133 Encounter Technology FLIGHT Text Armin Götz

Photos Bernhard Huber CLUB

Audi R18 e-tron quattro vs. Eurofighter Typhoon High-speed turns with enormous g forces, maximum acceleration and full concentration – that’s what characterizes everyday life for Audi racing driver André Lotterer and Eurofighter chief test pilot Geri Krähenbühl. We talk to two men who live their lives at the limits.

139 Encounter Technology 134 Encounter Technology The HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) and DVI (Direct Voice Input) are the main interfaces for communication with the air- Audi R18 e-tron quattro Eurofighter Typhoon craft and for providing input. HOTAS is a multifunctional control stick and throttle Technical Data Technical Data where I also have the main functions bun- Production period: since 2015 Type: multipurpose fighter aircraft dled together – at high g forces it’s hard to Class: race car Crew: 1 pilot reach your arm out to a switch. Even at 2 g, Body type: coupé Length: 15.96 m your arm is twice as heavy, and the plane Diesel engine: 4.0 V6 TDI, 410 kW/557 hp Wingspan: 10.95 m can pull up to 9 g. Important switches are Electric motor: 200 kW/272 hp Wing area: 50.00 m² therefore positioned redundantly on the Length: 4,650 mm Height: 5.28 m HOTAS, which I can play with my fingers like Width: 1,900 mm Dry weight: 11,000 kg a piano, if you will. I can also use the throt- Height: 1,050 mm Normal take-off weight: 15,500 kg tle to activate voice control, which is an- Curb weight: 870 kg Maximum take-off weight: 24,400 kg other way for me to execute the most im- g-limits: −3/+9 portant functions. I just speak directly into Top speed my oxygen mask. And then I have the Night at optimum altitude: Mach 2.00* Vision Goggle (NVGs). close to ground level: Mach 1.2* Cruising speed (supercruise, w/o afterburner) Does voice control work at high speeds, with 6 guided missiles: Mach 1.25* too? The Eurofighter flies at up to 2,500 Thrust-to-weight ratio: ca. 1.18** km/h (Mach 2) … Maximum flight altitude: 55,000 ft (16,764 m)

Further information: Krähenbühl: The problem is not so much André Lotterer Geri Krähenbühl www.eurofighter.com the wind noise as the pilot’s breathing in the Le Mans racing driver Chief test pilot oxygen mask. That’s why each pilot has a template that electronically filters out the André Lotterer was born November 19, 1981 in Born August 15 1963, Geri began his flight train- * Speed of sound (Mach) individual sound of his breathing. After Duisburg and grew up in Belgium. He has lived in ing and career in 1984 with the Swiss Air Force in a Dependent on air temperature: that, it works perfectly. Tokyo since 2003, where he is extremely successful Hawker Hunter. On completing his engineering as a racing driver. 2003 through 2015, he drove studies at ETH Zurich, he joined the Swiss Public Temperature Speed of sound Interview with in the Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon), Procurement Agency (emergency services group) −50 °C 1,080 km/h ≈ 300 m/s What does it feel like to break through winning the championship in 2011. 2003 through as a test pilot, flying planes such as the Hawker −25 °C 1,134 km/h ≈ 315 m/s the sound barrier (1,226 km/h)? Geri Krähenbühl 2011, he was also active in the Super GT, securing Hunter, Northrop F-5E and various Pilatus types. 00 °C 1,193 km/h ≈ 331 m/s the championship title in 2006 and 2009. He went to the United States Naval Test Pilot 20 °C 1,235 km/h ≈ 343 m/s Krähenbühl: In a modern aircraft like the Since 2012, he and his teammates have School in Maryland, USA as a test pilot in 1993. 25 °C 1,245 km/h ≈ 346 m/s scored ten victories and one world championship for Two years later, he learnt to fly the F/A-18 Hornet Eurofighter it’s quite unspectacular. There’s Audi. In the same period, he drove ten fastest fighter aircraft in Cecil Field Florida and went just a warning in the airspeed gauge at Mach Geri, as a test pilot, you have to process race laps, including the legendary 3:17.475 min- on to lead the F/A-18 guided weapons and soft- ** The thrust-to-weight ratio 0.97. When I was with the Swiss Air Force utes in Le Mans last year. It marks the fastest lap ware integration campaign in China Lake, USA. is the ratio between the thrust of a flying body and a huge amount of information and in the 1980s and still flying the Hawker ever driven on La Sarthe, with an average speed Following further posts in the Swiss Air its weight. A thrust-to-weight ratio of more than sensory input at extremely high speeds of 248 km/h. Almost nothing seems to ruffle this Force, Krähenbühl joined Airbus Defence & Space one enables vertically upward flight, i.e. without Hunter (first flown in 1951) it was far more and sometimes phenomenal g forces. likeable driver. His facial expression when he in Manching, Germany as a test pilot in 2005. As aerodynamic lift. Rockets, vertical take-off aircraft spectacular. First you had to climb to an al- How do you keep it all under control in climbs into the cockpit is a youthful smile and Chief Test Pilot, he is currently flying military jets and helicopters thus require a thrust-to-weight titude of 13 kilometers and then drop verti- restrained pleasure. like the Eurofighter and Tornado as well as the ratio of more than one. Since the 1970s, fighter the cockpit? cally downwards. Close to the sound barrier, A400M transport plane. He is also one of the few jets and interceptors – like the Eurofighter – have pilots permitted to fly a replica of the Messersch- had thrust-to-weight ratios of just over one, even the plane began to vibrate and move side- Krähenbühl: The aircraft helps me do my mitt 262 – the world’s first production fighter when loaded, and are able to accelerate vertically to-side. The whole thing was accompanied job with five central systems that give me jet – at air shows. skywards after take-off. by a “brrr, brrr”. That was the sign – now an overview of all the key information at all you’re through it. You could really feel it. In times. The cockpit Head Up Display (HUD) the Eurofighter, there’s an acoustic signal and the Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD) just before reaching the sound barrier provide me with all the important flight “transonic, transonic” – then the pilot knows data like altitude, velocity and rate of climb. he has to pull back on the throttle if he’s These two systems also show me the critical flying in an area or at an altitude where su- info for navigation and weaponry. personic flight isn’t permitted.

You mentioned a total of five systems. What are the other ones?

Krähenbühl: On the right, left and center of the cockpit are three large-format displays known as Multifunction Head Down Dis plays (MHDD) that can be configured as re- quired. In a typical mission, the one on the left shows me a radar image and functions as the jet’s long-distance vision, albeit only in 2D. The display on the right gives me the third dimension, i.e. height, distance or azi muth. I use the center display for an overall view.

135 Encounter Technology What happens on a test flight? 1 Is all the data displayed on-board or transmitted via telemetry to a control station on the ground?

Krähenbühl: The aircraft sends all the im- Expert talk – portant data to my colleagues at ground Because of the high g forces during turns, control. It’s similar to a Le Mans race for chief test pilot Krähenbuhl wears so-called Audi, where the guys in the pits continu- anti-g pants. ously monitor the data and provide brief- 1 Unequal pairing – ings to the driver. In my case, it can happen The Eurofighter Typhoon is one of the world’s that I receive the instruction “abort, abort” most modern fighter jets, the R18 e-tron quattro over the headset from the technicians on one of the world’s best endurance racers. the ground, without me having to know the 2 High-speed workplaces – full details. The guys on the ground can The Eurofighter can travel at more than identify an unsatisfactory system behavior 2,400 km/h, the R18 at more than 300 km/h. far earlier than I can. Depending on the situation, I don’t find out what was wrong until I’m on the ground. Everyone on the team is completely equal – be it the systems engineer for the weapons, for the radar, the flight test engineer or me, the test pilot. It’s just that I have the good fortune of being able to see the sun. Compared with earlier aircraft configura- 2 tions such as the Tornado, which had Do you have a special ritual for each test two people on-board, the Eurofighter is flight, or a mascot perhaps? designed as a single-pilot aircraft. Isn’t that too much workload for pilots? Krähenbühl: I have a kind of a ritual before

air shows – in that I take a step back from Krähenbühl: It always depends on the con- everything for a few minutes and try to wind cept. In a single-pilot aircraft like the Euro myself down. When I climb into the aircraft, fighter, the computer is a good replacement I’m completely inside my own head – I don’t for the second person, the weapon systems register the spectators at all at that point. officer. The Eurofighter was developed as But when I open the throttle on the runway, a “swing-role” aircraft. This means that the everything wakes up again and I’m fully pilot can slip into one role or another de- concentrated on the air show. My girlfriend pending on the situation. That’s no longer gave be a rock that I wear around my neck a problem these days with modern, GPS- as a kind of talisman. based weapons. Before, with the older weap on systems, you needed two men. What dangerous situations have you been through in your long career as How difficult is it to fly a Eurofighter? a pilot? How much training does it take? Krähenbühl: I have to go back to my early Krähenbühl: The flying side of things is no years for that. There was a situation with a big deal. I got my type rating for this air- British “de Havilland Vampire” training aircraft after three flights. What’s far more de- craft bearing Swiss markings. I suddenly manding is operating the avionics. It takes Due to the high g forces, jet pilots noticed a black shadow above me, turned a while to get used to, because every new like you wear these so-called anti-g pants. around and saw a red comrade directly piece of software also comes with new func- How do they work? above me, which I hadn’t noticed, flying in tions. So I train for situations in the simula- the opposite direction. That was a close call. tor and regularly study the flight handbook. Krähenbühl: It’s pretty simple. The pants The second time was in a formation flight. And in contrast to me, an operational fight- are connected to the pressurized air from I rolled out too early and my wingman was er pilot has to practice almost every day to the on-board system and air is pumped in as still in the way, but was still able to pull cover the entire spectrum and be ready for of 2 g turning acceleration. The air presses away thank goodness. Then there was the an emergency. What that means is that the the fabric together, although it’s not pain- time I burnt an F18, although that was ac- flying is handled largely by the computer ful. This ensures that blood stays in the tually controlled (laughs). A fire started to and the fighter pilot concentrates on the head and doesn’t sink into the legs, which, smolder during the flight, and when I was mission and weapons operation. in an extreme case, can cause the pilot to back on the ground the Americans cut open lose consciousness. the plane, stuck a fire hose inside and just How fast does the plane climb? flushed it out. It was a write-off – it was an old F18, but the Americans wanted to sell it Krähenbühl: It moves like a bat outa hell to the Spanish and were pretty annoyed (laughs). From brake release up to flight that it didn’t work out. level 360 (editor’s note: 36,000 feet = 11,000 meters) at Mach 1.3 to 1.4 takes just 90 seconds.

Scan the QR code to see an animation of the current Audi R18.

140 Encounter Technology 141 Encounter Technology Unfamiliar workstation – Lotterer finds little he recognizes in the Eurofighter cockpit.

Stemming the flood of information – The task of flying the plane is largely handled by the computer, allowing the pilot to concentrate on the navigation and weapon systems.

3 Mixed doubles – Canard (duck) wings is the name given to the distinctive, movable stub wings on the nose of the jet. They optimize maneuverability and lift. 3

In an emergency, you can save yourself The same goes for the Eurofighter. The ejec- from the Eurofighter with an ejector tor seat is rarely used these days, as most seat. Do you train for that as a pilot, and fighter jets now have two engines and the how often does a forced evacuation probability of both failing at the same time like that occur? is pretty low.

Krähenbühl: You can’t really train properly You just had the chance to get into our for it. In the past, explosive charges were Le Mans race car. What parallels used in jets to force the seat out. The whole do you see with your workstation in charge went off in one go, sometimes with the airplane cockpit? a high risk of injury to the pilot’s neck. These days we use modern, computer-guided Krähenbühl: It was a bit shocked by how rocket seats. The rocket starts off gently, little you can see out of it – there’s just a tiny activating its full power gradually, and also slot to look out of, like in a tank. I reckon seeks out the correct direction. that must be really demanding in the rain, with the wiper on, reflections and driving at So, intelligent ejector seats are high speed. I also found all the buttons being used these days. How exactly do pretty confusing. The clutch and a few other they work? switches are intuitive, even for me, but the rest of the operating logic is extremely un- Krähenbühl: The seat thinks, so to speak, familiar to me. The confirm button for the about what to do next. One key factor, for various settings would be too far down for instance, is when the main chute deploys. me. Okay, you don’t have to take your hand To begin with, only the stabilizing chute is off the steering wheel, but you still have to out. If the main chute deploys too early, say reach quite far down. For me as a test pilot, if you have to eject at an altitude of ten kilo- the different colors of the switches and but- The aircraft helps me meters, you’ll have frozen to death by the tons would take some getting used to. In an time you land. The seat’s Pitot Static aircraft, these things are purely tactile and do my job with five central System identifies the altitude and the rate kinesthetic – you can operate everything systems – one of those of descent and activates the main chute at with just one hand position. In a race car, is the helmet-mounted an altitude that isn’t dangerous for the however, you have to change your hand po- pilot. sition. The main difference as far as I can display. It provides see is that the aerodynamics of a race car me with all the important How does the stabilizing parachute are entirely focused on ensuring it doesn’t flight data like work? take off, while, in flying, we want to get off the ground as quickly as possible. altitude, velocity and rate Krähenbühl: It prevents you from starting of climb. to spin as you fall, and it’s small enough to allow you to reach a high rate of descent. Geri Krähenbühl You have to start off by falling fast, because Chef Test Pilot Airbus Defence the temperature at high altitudes is minus 40, minus 50 degrees Celsius and there is only limited oxygen for breathing (there’s a small oxygen bottle in the seat). You also have to bear in mind that this kind of chute is a rescue device, not a piece of sports equipment. This means the descent rates

Image source: Airbus Defence are far higher than with a sports parachute.

142 Encounter Technology 143 Encounter Technology What kind of directions come 4 through your headset from the pit? Your colleagues in the pit have 4 Narrow view – all the figures from the engine and Test pilot Krähenbühl is amazed by The steering wheel the car in front of them in far the poor visibility from the more detail than you do. cockpit of the R18 e-tron quattro. Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Lotterer: Precisely – which is why the feedback is so valuable. What matters to us are, for example, temperature warnings, but also the results of the performance analysis. They help us optimize the car lap after lap, as tire wear increases and the fuel tank empties. Then there are important remind- You’ve just had the chance to sit in the ers, because every time we approach the pit Eurofighter cockpit. What caught and then leave it again, special functions your attention the most and what is less have to be activated and specific rules ob- familiar to you? Would you be able served. We also receive tips on saving fuel, to work with its operating logic? because the rules oblige us to drive efficiently. The pit team also helps us to read Lotterer: Obviously the sheer extent of the the way the race is progressing, and to see instruments and possibilities are fascinat- where we are in relation to our opponents ing. To be honest, a lot of it is unfamiliar to and how their pace is developing. But this me, because you can hardly compare a car, Interview with communication is not just one way. We also which moves in two dimensions, with an What are the most important switches provide feedback on the car’s status. And aircraft that moves in three dimensions. André Lotterer and operating elements in your we warn each other in the event of danger Perhaps people who already have a pilot’s cockpit? Can you feel your way around – for example, to alert our teammates if I license would be able to grasp the operating the main switches “blind”, without see debris on the track, or when the pit logic faster. I don’t have one, so a jet cockpit looking at them? team informs us about oil on the track or an is something entirely new to me. The ele- André, how is the cockpit in your accident around the next corner. ments that we operate with our hands and Le Mans race car structured? What’s the Lotterer: The most important switches are feet in the race car are not comparable with logic behind it? the ones we use most often – and they are What is your role as driver in the the pedals, controls and switches in an air- on the steering wheel. Some of them we re- development of the car’s operating logic plane. Lotterer: The cockpit is split into the follow- ally do operate blind, such as the paddles on – do you have a major influence ing areas: central functions that we use di- the back of the steering wheel for the or do you have to live with what the Geri, the Eurofighter test pilot, was rectly and often are accessible on the steer- clutch, gearshift and headlight flasher. The engineers give you? also able take a seat in the R18. ing wheel – that ranges from the clutch and four rotary switches in the middle of the What irritated him most was the car’s gearshift to radio intercom, windshield steering wheel are also arranged to prevent Lotterer: An excellent team approach has “tiny slot to look out of”. How do washer, adjustments of brake balance etc. confusion. We can use them to control the developed over the years. We work very you do it – do you know the track like the The labeling means In the center of the steering wheel, a dis- wiper, engine mapping, the hybrid system closely together and Audi takes our wishes back of your hand and therefore (from left to right and top to bottom): play also shows us key vehicle data like lap and the settings for the anti-slip control into account. The engineers don’t develop know “blind” where you have to brake, times, pressures, temperatures and so on. (ASR). For driving at night, we have reflec- anything just for the sake of it, but for we six steer and accelerate? Functions that we use less often are grouped tive labeling to make sure we can clearly drivers, so that we can race the R18 to the KFS and HMF: Hybrid system functions elsewhere in the cockpit. These include re identify all the functions. So, we don’t have very best of our ability. It’s really amazing. Lotterer: The visibility from a closed cockpit BB-R and BB-F: Brake balance rear and front set functions for fuses, the radio volume to work them blind. I don’t know whether a jet pilot has such an is indeed more restricted than in an open control, fog lamps and such like. There are individual cockpit. cockpit, as was standard for Audi up to and ASR- and ASR +: ASR settings also two displays in the roof. Our AMOLED What are the biggest challenges in including 2010. And obviously, rain and a MUL: Multi-function thumbwheel screen is a digital rear-view mirror, which operating the car during a race? Isn’t it What are your expectations of an reflective track surface don’t do anything to FCY: Drive program for yellow phase gives us a perfect view of traffic behind us. sometimes distracting to adjust ideal cockpit – are there things that you improve matters. As drivers, we certainly DISP: Menu switching in display The second display shows us the flag signals the suspension or the electric booster? would optimize if you could? know the tracks really well. We even walk KERS CLEAR: Hybrid function BAL: Balance settings from the marshals. This means we can see them or ride around them on a bicycle RADI: Radio MIX: Engine mapping V6 TDI in a dangerous situation – such as yellow Lotterer: You obviously don’t allow yourself Lotterer: I don’t have any fundamental ahead of each race weekend to take note of flags around an accident – that we have to to be distracted. The fundamental rule is wishes, because the cockpit has been opti- specific details on and next to the track. This PIT: Speed limit for pit lane react. that during demanding situations such as mized over several years of collaboration. is also how we note the braking points, DRI: Drink system WIP: Windshield wiper cornering or dueling we receive as few in- Year-by-year, we present our requests, learn which is an important factor on the day and MODE: Hybrid system structions from the pit as possible requiring with each race and improve as we go along. at night, too. We therefore have to know LAT: ASR setting OK: Confirm pit radio STA: Starter us to change the car’s settings. Things like For me, the cockpit of the Audi R18 fulfils “blind” where to brake and where to turn in. IN: Pit function that can be best executed with full concen- the requirements of an ideal LMP sports car But when it comes to the race itself, every- BEAM: High beam with laser high beam tration when driving on a straight, prefer- cockpit. thing changes again, because somebody HEAT: Windshield heating ably alone without opposition. It would be alongside, in front or behind you can move unforgivable to allow yourself to be dis- into your way when you’re trying to follow FOG: Fog light tracted and risk an accident as a result. And your ideal line. We’re reacting to the situa- incidentally, our hybrid system functions tion all the time and can’t afford to lose our fully automatically. Although we can concentration in any way. Because the Le change settings, the procedures for recu- Mans grid has four classes of racing car with peration and boost are fully automated. different speeds, it makes this particular task incredibly demanding.

144 Encounter Technology 145 Encounter Technology were no fewer than four cars run by our op- 5 ponent Peugeot. Once again, it was a really tight finish. Tire damage close to the end obviously didn’t improve our situation. Winning after 24 hours of racing with a lead of just 13.854 seconds was incredibly close and stressful. Altitude differential – Krähenbühl’s pilot seat is around five meters off the ground, while race Have there been moments in a race driver Lotterer sits more or less directly when you have felt something akin to above the asphalt. fear or have been particularly tense? 5 Helping hand – André Lotterer explains to Krähenbühl how Lotterer: There’s a big difference between to climb into the race car’s tight cockpit. fear and tension. You should never be afraid. It’s therefore very rare among us professional racing drivers, even in extreme situations. Tension, on the other hand, is something you feel in various different phases. Every driver deals differently with the time leading up to the start of a race. Once the race is underway, we mostly find a good rhythm. Tension tends to arise as the result of unforeseen events or setbacks. If a setback is so great that you can no longer In a fighter jet like the Eurofighter, win a race, the tension shifts more to disap- That then influences how long we stay in turning can lead to incredibly high accel- pointment. But we are professional enough the cockpit. If we want to something to eration figures of up to 9 g (= nine to then keep ourselves motivated through drink, we press a button on the steering times body weight). Your race car reaches to the finish. wheel. This activates a pump that feeds an up to 5 g in fast corners. Jet pilots have isotonic drink directly into your mouth anti-g pants to be able to cope with Do you have anything like a mascot through a tube in the helmet. The drinks this. What kind of training do you do to that you have with you when you race, bottle in the car is changed at each pit stop, prepare for races? or a ritual before a race? i.e. every 40 minutes. Depending on what’s needed, we race drivers also stay in the Lotterer: We have targeted and intense Lotterer: There are drivers who have mas- cockpit for longer. training sessions to strengthen those parts cots or rituals, but I don’t have anything like of the body subject to the highest loads. that. Our preparations are characterized What makes a good race driver? There’s special training for hands, arms and more by habits. Our fitness training before What characteristics must he have? the upper body that simulate the steering a race can’t last so long that it exhausts us, forces. The same goes for the neck muscles so we make sure we are relaxed as we head Lotterer: In professional racing we talk steadying your head, including the helmet. into the weekend. And our diet is optimized about a whole range of requirements. Being Then there are coordination exercises that for the race. There’s no point in wanting to able to drive a car fast and being fit are nat- tune the core and extremities to one an- head into a race with a heavy steak in your urally not enough. Top-flight motorsport other by simulating the work with pedals stomach. drivers stand out for being able to adapt and steering wheel – and obviously many quickly to circumstances like different more training units besides. Each driver What do you register when you’re in the tracks, changing weather, strategically de- sets their own personal focal points, but our cockpit during a race? How loud is it; manding situations etc. and for delivering performance tests are carried out to com- do you feel things like heat or cold, or are extremely consistent performance lap after mon standards under medical supervision. you so concentrated that you don’t lap. And since the efficiency rules came into notice things like that? What do you do force in 2014, we also have to be very fuel Could you describe briefly the function when you want something to drink – efficient. We must be dependable and can’t and material of your race suit? do you have to wait for a pit stop or do you simply give up just because the car sud- have something on-board? denly doesn’t feel perfect, because a dual is Lotterer: It’s made from a fire-retardant extremely exhausting or because a possible material, as is our underwear. It’s also very Lotterer: When the door closes and the race penalty perhaps initially seems unjustified. lightweight and gives us plenty freedom of begins, we live in our own microcosm. We have to work with the team to keep movement. The aim is for it to restrict us as There’s hardly any noise because the TDI pushing the project onward. Training ses- little as possible, while providing the best drive is really quiet. You basically never feel sion for training session, race for race, year possible protection in the unlikely event of cold and we’re trained to deal with heat, for year it’s all about self-optimization – for a fire breaking out. although we obviously notice extreme heat. us as race drivers, for the pit team, the race engineers, for every single team member. What has been your toughest race so far? And we have to give the entire team good feedback at the events and in between to Lotterer: I’ve had a lot of tough races in my make sure the engineers of Audi Sport are career. I’ve been driving for Audi since always able to develop an even better car 2010, but I’ll certainly never forget Le Mans for the next season. 2011. After two of our teammates had already retired early, responsibility for the most important race of the year fell to Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and me. The three of us took turns in the cockpit of the last remaining Audi R18 TDI. On our tail

146 Encounter Technology Imprint Photography Management: Bernd Eberle AUDI AG Roland Lustig 85045 Ingolstadt Photography: Responsible for Content: Bernhard Huber Toni Melfi, Manfred Jarisch Head of Communication, Ulrike Myrzik I/GP Tobias Sagmeister Robin Wink Project Management: Daniel Wollstein Armin Götz Illustrations: Concept und Realization: Lightshape reilmedia Steven Pope Hermann Reil Bernd Schifferdecker Barbara Stehle Graphic Concept and Layout: stapelberg&fritz Post Production: Davide Durante Wagnerchic – Digital Artwork Daniel Fritz Helen Hauert Printing: Roman Heinrich HEIDENREICH PRINT Maik Stapelberg Barbara Stehle Subscription: You can subscribe for free to the Copy Editing: Encounter magazine series. Winfried Stürzl Simply send a brief e-mail with your mailing address to: Translation from German: [email protected] Elaine Catton

Authors: Lisa Marie Feldmann Lisa Först Armin Götz Johannes Köbler Timo Pape Hermann Reil Claudia Maria Rülke Guido Stalmann Benedikt Still Verena Väth Alexander von Wegner

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