Charged EVs | ZF releases cubiX tuner for chassis calibration

German automaker ZF has introduced its cubiX tuner to complement its cubiX software for the complex calibration of individual actuators during the development process.

Designed as a tool for OEMs, the cubiX Tuner automatically calculates the interdependencies between actuators. An electronic control unit (ECU) can now be configured with the manufacturer’s unique brand in just a few clicks. This saves time, costs and effort when developing new vehicle models, especially for platforms delivered with multiple drive configurations such as front-, rear- or all-wheel drive.

“Our customers can adjust chassis parameters at the vehicle dynamics level without having to dive all the way down to the algorithmic level,” said André Engelke, Head of the Vehicle Motion Control System House at ZF. This enables precise and perfectly tailored calibration of the driving experience. “Put simply: If our customers notice during a test drive that the maximum steering angle during cornering needs adjusting, they can do it with just a few clicks. The cubiX Tuner then automatically calculates which additional parameters it needs to adjust and how.”

This is done through an intuitive interface that automatically generates a “tuning map” for the vehicle based on the OEM’s inputs and writes it directly to the ECU. The tool can calibrate components from other manufacturers as well as ZF actuators. An Expert Mode enables fine-tuning of the chassis setup.

The cubiX Tuner will be available in two versions. One is a full version controlled via PC, and the other is a Lite version that allows parameter adjustments directly in the vehicle using a mobile app. The latter is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Both versions have cloud connectivity for data backup.

The cubiX Tuner also allows OEMs to first test their calibrations in a virtual simulation before the parameters are written to the ECU and applied to the chassis. This simplifies before-and-after comparisons, as the car no longer needs to be tested on the track for every single parameter change.

“Ensuring that a car behaves as requested by the OEM in all situations depends on several thousand parameters,” said Philippe Gasnier, Head of Research and Development of the ZF Chassis Solutions Division. “While the algorithms handle the identification of core parameters, engineers can fine-tune the vehicle’s dynamics with precision, allowing application maturity to be reached much earlier.”

Source: ZF