Case Study: BMW accelerates low-voltage power system validation with National Instruments digital twin testing

BMW - Customer Case Study

BMW Group faced the challenge of ensuring the safety and reliability of its low-voltage vehicle power systems, which are critical for functions like steering and braking. As vehicles become more electrified and automated, interference in these systems can have serious consequences. BMW needed a way to identify these weaknesses early in the design phase through highly dynamic simulation and to validate these virtual models against real-world physical systems.

National Instruments provided the solution with its high-performance modular PXI hardware system, controlled by LabVIEW and VeriStand software. This system acted as the central test bench to create both a physical and a digital twin, allowing BMW to simulate, emulate, and stress-test the power system with automated validation processes. The results were significant, with some models running 95% faster and a 75% reduction in power system interference. This new validation approach is helping BMW reduce development time and costs, putting them on track to achieve 20% faster development cycles.

BMW

Martin Baumann

Simulation Electrical Power Supply