This Christmas, Rudy Robot is hard at work in Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) state-of-the-art testing facility at the Gaydon Engineering Centre, enduring temperatures as low as -40°C to ensure the durability and quality of vehicle doors for the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar brands.
Housed in a £2.1 million climate chamber, Rudy is part of JLR’s rigorous testing program designed to replicate a vehicle’s lifetime of use. Over a 12-week period, Rudy opens and closes a vehicle door 84,000 times, simulating years of wear and tear. This Christmas alone, Rudy will open a Range Rover door over 14,000 times.
The testing process mirrors extreme conditions, from the Arctic North Pole’s icy chill to Death Valley’s searing 82°C heat. Rudy not only assesses the door’s functionality but also analyses sound, vibrations, panel alignment, hinge rigidity, and locking mechanisms. Even in freezing temperatures, Rudy ensures that features like flush deployable door handles perform flawlessly.
“Quality across the whole client ownership experience is a top priority at JLR,” said Thomas Mueller, JLR’s Executive Director of Product Engineering. “Rudy represents our commitment to rigorous testing, ensuring our vehicles meet the highest standards of durability and luxury.”
Thomas Love, JLR’s Component & System Test Manager, added, “A door is the first point of interaction for a client, so every element—from handle deployment to the sound of closure—must meet our modern luxury standards.”
The testing facility at Gaydon is a cornerstone of JLR’s £18 billion Reimagine strategy, which includes cutting-edge virtual and physical testing environments. The centre boasts advanced simulators, climate chambers, battery testing facilities, a semi-anechoic chamber, and 32 miles of tarmacked test tracks mimicking real-world driving conditions.
With Rudy’s help, JLR is setting the bar high for vehicle reliability and luxury, ensuring every component is refined to meet the expectations of its discerning clientele.
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