PROJECT CONFORT, enhanced features for high-end vans

The overall objective of the CONFORT Project is the conceptualization and development of new customized features for comfort in the interiors of PREMIUM-LUXURY vehicle platforms with VISION 2021, using advanced materials and surfaces.

From this general objective, a series of specific objectives are derived, broken down into technological, strategic, economic, and environmental aspects:

Technological objectives:

• Manufacture components for car interiors using different plastic and metal materials with innovative comfort features, using design and virtual reality tools, digitalization, connectivity, and surface treatments.
• Integrate the products into a car demonstration platform (SCP 4.0), combining the comfort requirements of the PREMIUM-LUXURY car interior demanded by the market with advanced manufacturing technologies, ICT, and adaptable, versatile, non-toxic component-free surfaces that are easy to industrialize.
• Develop procedures for capturing user perceptions, desires, and needs, and consumer-oriented product development, for application to the definition of the SCP 4.0 platform prototype and its manufacturing.
• Develop design and virtual reality tools, CAD modeling, and PLM/PDM applied to the development and industrialization of vehicle interiors.
• Develop modeling and simulation tools for the mechanical, acoustic, and thermal properties of the new car interior components.
• Incorporate multipanel technology into the SCP 4.0 platform’s interior that allows content sharing, interaction, and personalized experiences.
• Incorporate intelligent methodology that allows controlled, reproducible processes adapted to the continuous changes in requirements from automotive manufacturers and vehicle users.
• Develop new formulations for highly mechanically resistant omniphobic coatings and ensure the durability of their finish and resistance.
• Improve the adhesion of coatings to polymeric substrates through the development of surface pretreatments.
• Develop surface modification processes on plastic and metal components that are robust, repetitive, and industrializable, offering new aesthetic comfort features.
• Establish a characterization method for evaluating modified surfaces that allows control of the process and the final product.

The Consortium that will develop the project is composed of the following companies: ALEGRIA ACTIVITY as the project leader and SEGULA, MAIER, IRURENA GROUP, HETTICH, ROTOBASQUE, OPTIMUS 3D, and EKIDE as participants.