To save time and increase efficiency in the development and testing of its products, Pirelli has invested in a virtual development center in Germany, located in Breiberg in Hesse. About 2,500 employees, including 250 development engineers, work on creating the tires of the future.

“In our Virtual Development Center, we can design tires for vehicles that do not yet exist in reality, but which are supplied to us by car manufacturers in the form of digital models”explains Thomas Michel, Pirelli Germany’s Chief Technology Officer: “Artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks play an important role in the development of innovative tires. Indeed, they greatly speed up the process of developing virtual tire models. What used to take hours or even days is now often accomplished in seconds. This is a kind of virtual tire factory. »

Pirelli: simulator for virtual tire testing

Thanks to this virtual development center, Pirelli can develop and test its products virtually, saving up to 30% of the time needed to create a new tire, for example, while reducing the number of physical prototypes required. Saving time and money, as well as CO2 savings, which will allow Pirelli to achieve carbon-neutral production by 2030.

In this virtual development center, Pirelli has just unveiled its driving simulator, which allows it to respond to manufacturers’ requests and increase the precision of the development process.

Virtual testing of future models

In practice, Pirelli engineers can use the simulator with virtual versions of vehicle models provided by car manufacturers, including future models that must remain confidential. This allows you to develop virtual tire models and conduct test drives completely virtually.

In this way, engineers can test the behavior of the virtual vehicle during acceleration, braking and changing direction, and adapt the development of the tire. Currently, this virtual development center can support all stages of a virtual project for German automakers.

With this state-of-the-art equipment at its plant in Germany, Pirelli is investing in innovation in the tire industry. Thanks to high-tech modeling, artificial intelligence and the experience of its engineers, Pirelli wants to become a leader in a new era of mobility.

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