Digital design for Alma Automotive test benches

In this environment, Alma Automotive has successfully combined a passion for engines with the expertise gained from academic research and years of experience in developing application-specific solutions. The result is a high-end service portfolio that has enabled the company to build strong relationships with leading automotive and motorcycle manufacturers. These customers benefit from ready-to-use products as well as technical consulting services, supported by tailor-made hardware and software solutions.

With the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Borghi & Saveri in October 2019, Alma Automotive expanded its offering to include complete test cells equipped with active and passive dynamometers.

“We are a company strongly oriented towards new challenges. We provide innovative solutions, tools and equipment for testing, simulation, and product development,” says Manuel Valbonetti, Chief Technical Officer at Alma Automotive. “Our experience focuses on real-time control and measurement electronics, simulation and test systems for internal combustion engines as well as hybrid and fully electric powertrains.”

The test benches developed by Alma Automotive are used primarily in the research, development, and validation departments of many automotive companies. There, they enable hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) verification of mechatronic systems.

The key advantage of HIL testing is the ability to verify components already during the design and prototyping phase, without having to wait for the final product to be available. To achieve this, the test benches must faithfully reproduce – physically or virtually – the overall system into which the unit under test will ultimately be integrated.

Each system that Alma Automotive supplies is therefore designed and built to measure, according to the specific requirements of each customer, without compromise. For the implementation, Alma Automotive relies on solutions from Rittal. After a careful comparison of the available options on the market, the company chose Rittal VX25 enclosure systems.

For the design and implementation of the systems, Alma Automotive also chose a fully digital approach and implemented the 3D engineering software Eplan Pro Panel. “This integrated platform offers us a complete approach to designing the hardware-in-the-loop system, including its main components. With Eplan Pro Panel, we can create a detailed digital representation of the schematics and generate a digital twin for the design of the electrical enclosure,” Valbonetti explains.

The virtual project becomes a valuable source of information for both engineering and production. It contains all relevant data on components and machine specifications required to turn the digital twin into a physical system.

On this basis, Alma Automotive has established a close collaboration with the distributor General Com, aimed at fully automated customization of the VX25 enclosures. The project data from Eplan Pro Panel is transferred to General Com and used as the blueprint for machining.

The detailed instructions are processed by a Rittal Perforex BC 1007 HS machining center, which works the flat parts of the enclosure and implements all necessary cut-outs and openings for connections and ventilation systems according to specification.  

“For Alma Automotive, using Rittal products within our solutions is a clear indicator of quality, which characterizes all the systems we deliver,” concludes Valbonetti.

The combination of Rittal enclosure systems, digital 3D engineering with Eplan Pro Panel and automated machining creates a consistent, efficient process chain – from the initial concept through to a fully operational test bench.