A £10-million (around Rs 87.53 crore) five-year collaboration between Jaguar Land Rover and UK's leading academics has been initiated to develop the capability of the virtual simulation industry in the UK.

This will give manufacturers like Jaguar Land Rover access to new, world-class simulation tools and processes.

This is the first phase of a 20-year strategic project that could put the UK at the leading edge of virtual simulation globally, Jaguar Land Rover has said. The research will improve the quality and capabilities of simulation, using sights, sounds and even smells to make virtual simulation more realistic.

Giving engineers a more realistic perception of what a design might achieve, as well as giving them access to more powerful computers, it will help manufacturers like JLR deliver more complex new vehicle programmes more quickly. It will also help save costs in product development by reducing the reliance on physical prototypes and have environmental benefits by limiting the number of prototypes that need to be driven and tested in the real world, the company has said.

The projects form part of the Programme for Simulation Innovation (PSI), which is a partnership between JLR and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Loughborough University, University of Leeds, University of Cambridge and the Warwick Manufacturing Group.

The PSI project is funded by Jaguar Land Rover (around Rs 35 crore), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Rs 35 crore) and the partner Universities (Rs 1.75 crore) and is split into two phases that will run over the next five years.

amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in

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