The variety of transmissions available for sale today is continuing to grow exponentially in the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The effect is usually that we are actually dealing with a varied quantity of transmission types including manual, standard automatic, automated manual, dual clutch, continually variable, split power and natural EV.
Until very recently, automotive vehicle producers largely had two types of transmitting to select from: planetary automated with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of choices available 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 Driveline gearboxes simply conventional vehicles, but also all electrical and hybrid automobiles, with each type needing different driveline architectures.
The traditional development 
process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and all of those other powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the restrictions and complications of this method becoming more more popular, and the constant drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at decreased weight and cost.
New powertrains feature close integration of components like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and in addition rely on highly sophisticated control systems. This is to guarantee that the best degree of efficiency and overall performance is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are completely new, different from and much better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more complex by the need to integrate brand elements, differentiate within the marketplace and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering groups are on deadline, and the advancement process must be better and fast-paced than previously.
Until now, the usage 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 proven component-level analysis tools. While they are highly advanced tools that allow users to extract very dependable and accurate data, they are still presenting data that’s collected without account of the complete system.
While this can produce components that all work very well individually, putting them with each other without prior concern of the entire program can create designs that don’t work, leading to issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to improve.