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Sadiq Ali Basha G, Deputy Manager for Comfort and Driving Assistance systems at Valeo India — the R&D center of automotive supplier Valeo — set out to control the performance of systems normally considered unaffected by variation, using advanced GD&T and tolerance analysis techniques. The Top Column Module (TCM), the steering-column section behind the wheel, packs directional switches, levers, ring rotators and rocker switches into very little space.
With so many controls condensed into one device, variation becomes a decisive factor in final builds — every switch, lever and ring must land safely on the correct contact pad for its function to occur.
The same discipline had to reach the Head-Up Display (HUD), where an imager projects onto a reflector and then onto the windshield. Slight angular changes to the projector or the reflector shift or distort the image, so the optical team needed the projection to stay inside the best-fit zone at optimal resolution — without any pixel loss.
3DCS Variation Analyst let Valeo run up-front assembly build analyses, simulate every probable configuration and identify conditions where safety specifications were not satisfied — then optimize contact-pad design to meet the Design Rule for all configurations.
Levers, ring rotations and rocker switches were simulated in each position and for combinations of activations, so that iterative control of variation guaranteed proper function of every control across its full range of motion.
A repeatable method was defined to simulate contact safety of TCMs despite their complex mechanical architecture.
Every probable configuration was assessed to identify the conditions under which safety specifications were not satisfied.
Simulation results drove optimization of the contact pads, helping meet the Design Rule across all configurations.
3DCS results fed the optical team's design of the projection chamber, guaranteeing beam projection and preventing pixel loss from optical-cone variation.
The approach was applied beyond the steering column to the HUD, which requires composite spatial tolerance analysis.
Guidelines were prepared for modeling complex junctions such as plunger-to-3D-ramp contacts and deformable contact wipers.
Valeo first established a robust approach for contact-safety simulation of TCMs with their complex mechanical architecture, then extended it to other products such as the Head-Up Display, which requires composite spatial tolerance analysis. 3DCS simulation results were handed to the optical team as inputs to design the critical parts of the projection chamber, including maximum translations and tilts.
Because Valeo must test products at extreme temperatures (-40°C to +80°C), the team’s next objective is to bring thermal effects into variation analysis — a natural extension of their digital twin and simulation practice with 3DCS.
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