doc. Ing. Petr Bouchner, Ph.D.
The Automotive R&D 4.0 Laboratory operates as a joint workplace of the CTU (CIIRC and Faculty of Transportation Sciences) and Technical Development of ŠKODA AUTO a.s. The laboratory focuses on research and pre-development of systems and functions for the automotive field, using mainly advanced vehicle simulators. The joint activities of CTU and ŠKODA AUTO a.s. also aim to develop cooperation with other departments and university faculties.
Within the framework of joint projects, the laboratory carries out work for ŠKODA AUTO a.s. on concept development, HMI testing and assessment, user interface, interior design and a number of other research topics. The output of the projects is, for instance, the assessment of user acceptance of innovative elements potentially applicable in new vehicles, or the quality of control of various HMI elements through testing in a vehicle simulator. The research also includes the design of completely new user interface elements of vehicle systems (involving complex development from design, prototype implementation to user testing in a simulator) or their suitable form for new vehicles. A further research area is the development of functionalities and quality enhancement of interactive vehicle simulators, not only as part of the development of the laboratory's own systems, but also as a technology transfer.