Off Topic > Way Off Topic
A Three Hour Tour...Bosch
mdsalemi:
I had the pleasure of a three hour tour today of [part of] Bosch's US engineering labs here in Michigan. Wow.
My first stop was the NVH (Noise, vibration and handling) test cell, where a hybrid truck was going through some NVH testing. No, not electric hybrid, but hydraulic accumulator hybrid. They have to ferret out all the little bits of N and V to quiet things down.
Then, onto other test cells where various fuel rail assemblies and fuel injectors were being tested. All with either this stuff called "Indolene" or n-butanol which are standarized gas or substitutes. Then, onto the diesel test cells--where some interesting American economy cars were present with diesel engines--you can't get them yet, but soon will. There were both eddy current and hydraulic dynos in use.
Most interesting was the prototype lab--they had both a "3D digital printer" as well as the coolest thing, the SLS (selective laser sintering machine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering). The latter allows them to fabricate extremely complex parts that they can actually use. The digital printer is for low-cost non-functioning prototypes.
Then onto the cold cell. Then the hot cell. I was having trouble keeping track of it all. I saw many cars from many manufacturers there all being tested. Pretty cool stuff. Some very cool hybrid vehicles from some interesting manufacturers.
My good fortune had to do with answering a call one day--Bosch was looking for some printed information on the old mechanical fuel injection pumps and had none. The call got to a friend of mine, who thought of me and my Pagoda, and I put them in touch with people like Pacific, Black Forest, etc and gave them what I had and what I knew. They thanked me with a free lunch, a copy of Bosch's 125th anniversary book, and yes, the 3-hour tour. :)
jacovdw:
--- Quote from: mdsalemi on November 09, 2011, 23:34:30 ---...They have to ferret out all the little bits of N and V to quiet things down...
--- End quote ---
I'm sorry to derail your topic a little bit Michael, but I couldn't help the silly grin on my face when I read the quoted sentence...
I my line of work, N and V = nausea and vomiting... :D
I suppose at the end of the day, you have to sort the issues of N and V with the particular prototype to avoid the other N and V of the occupants later.
Would have loved to see the Bosch labs myself though.
mdsalemi:
Well, DOCTOR JACO, at least we know what you do for a living now!
Around these parts, NVH is a common term. Except perhaps, in a hospital where the doctor might not get the H part?
Anyway, the NVH stuff is sometimes so subtle that it can only be measured, not heard. The kinds of testing and measurement they do is quite impressive. One program underway was measuring NVH of fuel injectors and comparing it to "needle mass". That kind of nitty-gritty detail work is pretty cool.
Iconic asked me about the hydraulic hybrid. It was an unnamed, unmarked large white box van; Americans would recognize it as a large bread truck. It was in for NVH development, not powertrain development. Clearly it already had the powertrain.
mclewis:
It sounds like a fascinating tour.
Did Bosch let on why they wanted the information on the old pumps?
mdsalemi:
--- Quote from: mclewis on November 11, 2011, 19:07:30 ---Did Bosch let on why they wanted the information on the old pumps?
--- End quote ---
Not specifically; there was a suggestion that it might have to do with exploring the possibility of more involvement with older parts for older cars, or just filling in the blanks of missing inventory at their archives.
There is precedent for both: Bosch has an extensive archives (though it appeared to be missing some information on mechancial fuel pumps) and they also made a new starter motor for the 190 SL a few years ago. http://www.190slgroup.com/club/video/190SL_Starter_Article2.pdf
They also have a group called "Bosch Automotive Tradition". http://www.automotive-tradition.de/en/start/index.htm
So, who knows? I got the tour, a book, lunch, and continued my local relationships here.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version