Its AI application, called FelGAN, was developed and implemented in an entirely in-house collaboration between Audi’s IT and design departments.
FelGAN is aimed at opening up new sources of inspiration for designers.
It helps Audi design new wheels in an exhaustive process.
One of two computer algorithms, called the “generator”, makes artificial images of a specific motif – in the case of FelGAN, a vehicle rim.
The discriminator – the competitor, so to speak – sees a selection of images, consisting of real wheel photos alongside images from the generator. Now the discriminator decides whether each image is a creation of the generator or a real photo. This process is repeated again and again until training is completed.
Both algorithms are designed to learn from their mistakes and improve continuously. After enough runs, the generator’s creations are so deceptively real that even the human eye cannot, or can only barely, distinguish them from real photos.
The application’s intuitive user interface, which is based on Streamlit technology, creates short development cycles and quick feedback between the design and IT team.
Designers do not have to rely on high-performance local hardware when using the software solution. The components of the AI application – which require a lot of processing power – are run in the cloud.
Another benefit of FelGAN is that the software assigns a mathematical value to each design that the AI makes. Referred to by developers as “DNA”, these values can be used at any time to reproduce designs.
Audi designers can also feed the program with their own designs and photos, adding them to the virtual experimental surface. This is based on special algorithms that determine the appropriate DNA values for the images that designers feed in.
Often, designers only go on to use individual elements from FelGAN’s creations, refining them into an overall design. In addition to mastery of the tools of the trade, a creative eye and professional experience play the decisive role here.
Finally, the experts at Audi make the virtual design a reality by producing a prototype of the wheel, either in plastic or aluminum, using a high-tech milling machine.
In the future, the technology behind FelGAN could be expanded into a comprehensive AI design platform that could also serve as a source of inspiration for designers from other Audi departments.
An AI rating system is currently being developed in which each rim generated by FelGAN will be assessed on its carbon balance.
The name “FelGAN” is a mash-up of the German word for “rim” (Felge) and “GAN”, the latter being an acronym for Generative Adversarial Networks. GANs are a special form of self-learning computer program in which two algorithms compete as opponents during the so-called training, becoming better and better in competition with each other.
