FARMINGTON HILLS—Officials at Humanetics Group, the Farmington Hills-based provider of crash test dummies, software, and sensors for the transportation industry, announced the acquisition of Kaiserslautern, Germany-based Human Solutions GmbH and Avalution GmbH, developers of virtual ergonomics design software.
Humanetics officials said the companies will continue to be led by the current management team from their headquarters in Kaiserslautern and satellite offices in Munich and Cary, North Carolina.
For nearly 20 years, Human Solutions has led the mobility sector as the market standard for virtual ergonomics design through its Ramsis software. Avalution is a specialist in 3D body scanning and has the largest international database of human body dimensions and shapes with more than 100,000 custom body scans. The combined tools are used by most major vehicle manufacturers, aerospace companies and defense groups.
By using the Avalution database, Ramsis users create virtual vehicle interiors and custom 3D CAD avatars that realistically simulate vehicle occupants to evaluate ergonomics and comfort parameters during the early stage of prototype development. Both are also used extensively throughout the fashion industry, as well as in the design of sports equipment, corporate uniforms, and industrial clothing.
Christopher O’Connor, president and CEO of Humanetics, noted that “there are natural complementary synergies with our solutions, customers and capabilities. Humanetics and Human Solutions share a unique purpose that puts humans at the center of design and innovation. Both companies create highly sophisticated models of human bodies that enable engineers to design vehicles that keep humans safe, in proper position and in full control of the vehicle at critical moments in the driving experience. Combining safety and ergonomic design and testing validation together is revolutionary. In the next 10 years, our customers have a huge challenge to launch fleets of electrified vehicles with more advanced levels of semi-autonomous driving capabilities. We will help them accelerate their speed to market with our simulation models and physical testing tools and ultimately through the integration safety and ergonomics together in a turn-key offering.”
Added the founder of Human Solutions and Avalution, Andreas Seidl: “For us, the integration into the Humanetics Group family of companies is the logical result of our ongoing corporate strategy. We have completed several joint projects in the past, so we are confident in the synergies of our expertise and cultures. By joining forces, we can maximize the value of our data and ergonomics expertise and make it available for other areas of vehicle development in the future, such as autonomous driving which entails entirely different vehicle occupant requirements.”
The acquisition does not include the sister companies of Human Solutions and Avalution—Assyst GmbH, AVM GmbH and Sistemi Assyst (Italy)—which will remain independent.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. More at https://humanetics.humaneticsgroup.com/.