SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION (Head Office: Hamamatsu, Shizuoka; Representative Director and President: Toshihiro Suzuki; hereinafter “Suzuki”) is advancing the validation of RICOS Lightning, the AI-CAE solution provided by RICOS Co. Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yu Ihara; hereinafter “RICOS”). By leveraging RICOS’s proprietary AI-CAE algorithms, Suzuki aims to significantly accelerate aerodynamic simulations in vehicle development and establish a more efficient design process.

Aerodynamic performance is an important factor in improving vehicle fuel efficiency and is heavily influenced by vehicle geometry. For this reason, it is essential to refine vehicle shapes precisely during the digital development stage before physical prototypes are produced. Fluid simulation is widely used for this purpose, but conventional methods can require substantial computation time for each design variation. To address this challenge, Suzuki focused on rapid prediction using AI. However, conventional AI models can struggle to make reliable predictions for previously unseen data. Suzuki therefore turned to RICOS Lightning, which is designed to combine high-speed prediction with improved applicability to new geometries. Using a RICOS Lightning license, Suzuki is conducting training and prediction across a variety of vehicle shapes as part of its validation for potential implementation.

■ About IsoGCN, RICOS’s Proprietary Algorithm Used in RICOS Lightning
RICOS Lightning incorporates IsoGCN, an AI algorithm developed by RICOS that enables rapid and highly accurate prediction of simulation results. Designed specifically for simulation data, IsoGCN offers the following four key features:

① High-speed computation: By reducing the computational workload compared with conventional simulations, IsoGCN enables significant acceleration of simulation processes.
② Detailed understanding of 3D data: IsoGCN can capture three-dimensional geometries in detail, making it well suited to predicting the complex shapes commonly encountered in product design.
③ Potential for geometric extrapolation: By incorporating methodologies used in fluid, thermal, and structural analysis, the algorithm can provide reliable predictions even for previously unseen product geometries, similar to conventional simulation approaches.
④ Ease of use: RICOS Lightning can reduce the need for the rigorous meshing processes traditionally required for CAE simulations. This helps users become productive more quickly and enables broader use by designers, product engineers, and other professionals who are not dedicated simulation specialists.

RICOS Lightning has demonstrated the ability to reduce simulation times from several days to just a few minutes while maintaining sufficient accuracy. Rapid access to simulation results also brings real-time product design closer to reality. Previous applications include automotive aerodynamic analysis, thermal analysis of electronic components, and thermo-fluid analysis of gases.

Through its products, RICOS aims to make scientific computing more accessible and effective across all areas of manufacturing and, ultimately, to create a world in which optimal product performance can be designed almost instantaneously.

■ Company Information
SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
Address: 300 Takatsuka-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Representative: Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President
Website: https://www.suzuki.co.jp/

RICOS Co. Ltd.
Address: 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Representative: Yu Ihara, Representative Director
Website: https://www.ricos.co.jp/
Careers: https://www.ricos.co.jp/recruit/