All of the transmissions available for sale today has grown exponentially within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The result is that we are now coping with a varied number of tranny types including manual, conventional automatic, automatic manual, dual clutch, continually Driveline gearboxes adjustable, split power and real EV.
Until extremely recently, automotive vehicle producers largely had two types of tranny to pick from: planetary automatic with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of options avaiable demonstrates the adjustments seen over the industry.
This is also illustrated by the many different types of vehicles now being produced for the marketplace. And not just conventional vehicles, but also all electric and hybrid vehicles, with each type requiring different driveline architectures.
The traditional advancement process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and the rest of the powertrain and vehicle. However, this is changing, with the limitations and complications of the method becoming more more popular, and the constant drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at reduced weight and cost.
New powertrains feature close integration of components like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and also rely on highly sophisticated control systems. This is to make certain that the best degree of efficiency and overall performance is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are brand new, different from and much better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more complex by the need to integrate brand components, differentiate within the marketplace and do it all on a shorter timescale. Engineering groups are on deadline, and the advancement process needs to be better and fast-paced than previously.
Until now, the use of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most typical way to develop 
drivelines. This process involves parts and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the organization that lean toward confirmed component-level analysis equipment. While these are highly advanced equipment that enable users to extract very dependable and accurate data, they remain presenting data that’s collected without thought of the complete system.
While this can produce components that all work very well individually, putting them together without prior thought of the entire system can create designs that don’t work, leading to issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to improve.