TOYOTA SOUTH AFRICA MOTORS - Bitfoundry Industry 4.0

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) is the largest automaker in South Africa, manufacturing no fewer than five individual models (Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla, Corolla Quest and Quantum) as well as selected Hino and Dyna models. In 2016, Toyota invested over R6,1 billion to facilitate production of the all-new Hilux and Fortuner at its Prospecton plant.

We were tasked by Toyota to assist them with their cooling tests on the Corolla and Hilux with a trailer that is able to simulate a specific load on the vehicle. The vehicle is fitted with multiple temperature sensors in the engine bay at strategic points to measure how hot individual components get and whether they are over-heating. The test is usually conducted on very hot days to simulate extreme conditions at the high-speed test track near Eston. The system can operate in three modes: constant load, constant speed and van Reenen’s pass which simulates the load a car experiences driving up the pass. Our controller in the trailer connects to a laptop inside the car and controls the load and logs data such as speed, load and temperature during the test. At the Eston test track, the sound levels (in decibels) emitted by various vehicles is measured under certain conditions in second and third gears at full throttle. In order for the vehicle to pass the test, the sound levels must be below a certain threshold. Our system measures sound levels with high-sensitivity microphones as well as vehicle speed and RPM.

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