Southfield-based Lear Corp., a global Tier 1 automotive supplier, has enhanced its virtual proving grounds platform for verifying electrical systems and wire harness designs via new software from Mentor Graphics Corp.
Comprised of two layers that deliver electrical and mechanical design, the Lear Virtual Proving Grounds platform is a proprietary software suite that was created for the company’s automotive OEM customers. Lear Corp. used Mentor Graphics Corp.’s Capital software, which supports complex electrical systems, to update the platform.
“Automotive engineering is rapidly moving towards full virtual prototyping,” says Bill Presley, electrical engineering vice president at Lear Corp. “As we conceived LVPG, it became clear that Capital offered a choice for electrical design that could meet our needs.”
Within the electrical layer of the updated software, Lear used some of Mentor’s Capital tools to cover connectivity capture, platform level wiring synthesis, design optimization and verification, and electrical simulation.
Data is also continually exchanged with the mechanical layer, which helps eliminate synchronization errors.
“Not only does the Capital suite deliver flow coverage and automation, its data-centric philosophy and integration capabilities suit Lear’s virtual design philosophy of delivering robust designs rapidly to our OEM customers,” Presley says. “It is a further bonus that we can flow Capital harness design data directly into our worldwide production systems, delivering a seamless design-to-manufacture process.”