The Università degli Studi di Firenze (UNIFI), Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), is an institution active in the higher education and research sector. The staff consists of about 250 scientists and 25 technical and administrative staff. The Department includes various research groups which cover all main competencies related to industrial engineering; therefore, various research groups are operating within the same Institution, being focused on mechanics, mechatronics and energy engineering as main fields. The UNIFI has a long lasting research activity in the field of surface transports with a specific focus on the automotive, Powered Two Wheeler (PTW), unmanned drones, railway vehicles sectors.
Research activities carried out comprise NVH, numerical and experimental modeling of dynamic systems, design of safety devices – including HMI devices -, virtual testing of PTWs and cars both for crash and for simulation of handling maneuvers, virtual testing of personal protective equipment (included airbag systems), accident analysis, urban mobility, powertrain design and simulation, simulation of dynamical system and mechatronics, prototyping of autonomous vehicles and on board mechatronics system including testing and development of Hardware In the Loop systems, product Life Cycle Analysis (both for environmental and economic point of view) and vehicle electrification (e.g. development of specific driving cycles, optimization of charging infrastructure, 1-D and 3_D EV simulation).
Main related expertise: UNIFI has a special commitment on various topics concerning short range and medium range road transport in particular on the transport arrangement and management: vehicles involved in urban transport – the way they respond to service requests and environmental impact; vehicle interaction with urban and interurban context – infrastructures requirements; performance simulation; impact analysis (both environmental and economic) evaluation trough LCA (Life Cycle assessment) methodology; system reliability/availability assessment (e.g. through FMEA analysis). Vehicle safety is studied both as active and passive vehicle devices and as accident analysis and reconstruction.
Main related expertise directly related to simulation:
– Simulation of dynamical system including not only multibody system but also complex multi-physic systems
– Simulation of complex servo-systems including servo-hydraulic or other mechatronics actuation systems
– Development of efficient RT models for HIL testing and rapid prototyping of code for control applications related to vehicle dynamics, mechatronics and robotics.
Website: www.unifi.it
Country: Italy
Agreement no. 769506