Searching for real-world responses

Prototype testing is constantly changing as electronic technologies help transform equipment; design processes adjust as digital development evolves.

Gathering data from physical prototypes is getting a bit easier because there is so much data available on networks, but there are fewer prototypes available since virtual prototyping is replacing the real thing.

Perhaps the biggest change of the decade has been the dramatic drop in the need for prototype machines that test technicians take to their proving grounds. “Simulation has made major changes in how we use our prototypes and gather data from them,” said Tom Dollmeyer, Director of Heavy Duty Engineering at Cummins Performance.