Renk AG, Augsburg.

Renk AG, Augsburg, a member of the MAN group, reported an increase in orders for its test rigs designed for end-of-line testing in automotive applications. Recently, a roller test rig for trucks and buses designed to test performance and power was delivered to MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG in Salzgitter,

Germany. One of the special features of the unit is the automatic adjustment of the rigs axle base to cope with the different vehicle dimensions. At Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, a transmission test rig was recently installed for the quality assurance within the assembly line having a capacity of approximately 90,000 units per year. This rig is designed for an automatic testing process with manual loading and unloading.

A robot is used to shift gears, which will also analyze the shift forces and noises.

Further, test rigs for transmissions produced in series at Steyr Antriebstechnik in Steyr, Austria, like the new electronically controlled powershift transmission S-Matic are in process. The whole testing procedure is carried out via CAN bus communication in cooperation with the gear control unit.