The variety of transmissions available in the market today is continuing to grow exponentially within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The effect is definitely that we are now dealing with a varied number of transmitting types including manual, regular automatic, automatic manual, dual clutch, consistently adjustable, split power and natural EV.
Until extremely recently, automotive vehicle manufacturers largely had two types of tranny to pick from: planetary automated with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of options avaiable demonstrates the changes seen across the industry.

That is also illustrated by the countless different types of vehicles now being produced for the marketplace. And not merely conventional vehicles, but also all electric and hybrid automobiles, with each type needing different driveline architectures.

The traditional advancement process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and the rest of the powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the restrictions and complications of this method becoming more widely recognized, and the constant drive among manufacturers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at reduced weight and cost.

New powertrains feature close integration of components like the prime mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and also rely on highly sophisticated control systems. This is to assure that the very best degree of efficiency and performance is delivered at all times. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are brand new, different from and better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more complex by the necessity to integrate brand elements, differentiate within the market and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering teams are on deadline, and the development process must be better and fast-paced than previously.
Until now, the use of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most typical way to build up drivelines. This technique involves components and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the business that lean toward verified component-level analysis equipment. While they are highly advanced equipment that allow users to extract very dependable and accurate data, they are still presenting data that is collected without consideration of the complete system.

While this can produce components that work nicely individually, putting them together without prior account of the entire Driveline gearboxes program can create designs that don’t work, leading to issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to improve.