No Christmas for JLR’s ‘Rudy the Robot’ at -40°C’

Mistletoe, jingle bells, good food, and drinks… but unfortunately, for some of us, duty calls. That is the sad fate of Rudy the Robot, JanguarLandRover’s automated colleague who must work hard this Christmas.

Rudy was tasked with subjecting vehicle doors to intensive tests in extreme weather conditions. Before a vehicle is approved, Rudy carries out a lifetime of door usage checks in 12 weeks.

Death Valley

He will open and close a test vehicle door 84,000 times, replicating a lifetime of use on a car. He will do so in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius, mirroring average temperatures in the Arctic North Pole, and 82 degrees Celsius heat, or the equivalent to daytime conditions in Death Valley, California.

Rudy is responsible for testing the way a vehicle door opens and closes, analyzing the closure’s sound and vibrations, panel alignment, and hinges and locking mechanisms’ rigidity. The entire test cycle of 12 weeks is the equivalent of a human lifting weights in the gym three times per week for more than 17 years.

Virtual and physical testing environment

Based at JLR’s Gaydon Engineering Center, the £2.1 million chamber housing Rudy is just one virtual and physical testing environment dedicated to delivering the next generation of safe, reliable, luxury vehicles from the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar brands.

Thomas Love, Component & System Test Manager at JLR: “A door is the first attribute of a vehicle which a client engages with, so we must ensure that this experience reflects our modern luxury standards. From the way the door handle deploys in cold and hot temperatures to the sound of the door closing, every element of our vehicle’s doors must remain refined and dependable throughout a lifetime of usage.”

Apart from the vehicle simulators and climate chambers, JLR’s Gaydon head office features 32 miles of tarmacked test track, off‑roading courses, speed bumps, and manhole covers. These allow engineers to put each JLR vehicle through various physical testing regimes that mimic real-world conditions.