NI and ETAS Collaborate to Advance Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Validation

AUSTIN, Texas – Nov. 14, 2019 – NI (Nasdaq: NATI), the provider of a software-defined platform that helps accelerate the development and performance of automated test and automated measurement systems, today announced the background and benefits of its joint venture with ETAS GmbH, ETAS NI Systems. 

Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are facing increasingly complex automotive systems as well as a long list of test scenarios to validate the operation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The list continues to expand with each new consumer-driven innovation, forcing automotive OEMs and their suppliers to determine how to perform repeatable, real-world testing. On top of this is the complexity introduced with the electrified powertrain, consisting of the motor, inverter and battery. With each component experiencing significant innovation to improve efficiency and the driving experience, the testing demands are constantly changing. 

By employing simulation techniques, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems provide an efficient, repeatable and viable method that engineers can apply to accomplish their exact test needs while minimizing costly and potentially dangerous road testing. Historically, these needs have been met with custom, closed test systems designed from the ground up for each unique set of customer requirements or put together by internal test teams that have to integrate components from several different test vendors. 

ETAS NI Systems is currently building pre-integrated HIL systems that aim to shorten design cycles, facilitate a reduced test time and help customers achieve faster time to market. By combining ETAS’s expertise in developing and integrating HIL solutions with NI’s software-defined platform and comprehensive I/O capabilities, test teams will be able to realize the benefit of both existing approaches. The pre-integrated systems will be able to be quickly configured from a common infrastructure to meet each customer’s specific needs, and being built on the NI platform means the added ability to economically change the tester over time to keep pace with technology changes. 

ETAS NI Systems will be fully operational by January 1, 2020. Learn more about this collaboration in more detail. 

Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor

This release contains "forward-looking statements," including statements that by combining ETAS’s expertise in developing and integrating HIL solutions with NI’s software-defined platform and comprehensive I/O capabilities, test teams will be able to realize the benefit of both existing approaches; the pre-integrated systems will be able to be quickly configured from a common infrastructure to meet each customer’s specific needs; being built on the NI platform means the added ability to economically change the tester over time to keep pace with technology changes; and ETAS NI Systems will be fully operational by January 1, 2020. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including NI’s ability to successfully collaborate with ETAS on the joint venture, the level of demand or market acceptance of the products and technology of the joint venture, changes or fluctuations in the global economy including those that impact the automotive industry, delays in the release of new products by the joint venture, competitive developments, and the ability of the joint venture to retain key employees, customers and other relationships. Actual results may differ materially from the expected results. NI directs readers to its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2018, its most recent Form 10-Q, filed Oct. 31, 2019, and other documents it files with the SEC for other risks associated with NI's future performance. Stockholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on NI’s forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. NI undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.