Darmstadt (Germany), January 16th, 2020 – VI-grade today announced that American multinational tire manufacturing company Goodyear will enhance its product development capabilities with the purchase of new VI-grade driving simulators including a dynamic model, a first for tire manufacturers. In detail, Goodyear has selected a COMPACT Simulator, that has already been delivered to the Goodyear site in Luxembourg, and a dynamic driving simulator DiM250 (Driver-in-Motion) that will be installed in Akron, Ohio, USA in the coming months. The driving simulators will be used for virtual development and tuning of dynamic performances of tires aided by the ability to simulate a range of driving conditions. 

Tire companies are very much affected by the automotive industry trend towards virtualization of the development cycle. They are reacting to this trend by adopting new ways of developing tires, enabling OEMs to test new tires more effectively. Driving Simulators are the perfect solution for companies like Goodyear, because they allow to develop, test and validate tire models early in the development cycle, enabling to identify the best performing tires before building the first prototype. Driving Simulators give the possibility to cut development costs and to keep the pace with the automotive development process, providing tire models at the right time when requested by OEMs. By selecting VI-grade DiM250 and COMPACT Simulators, Goodyear gains the possibility of using the same tools used by most of its customers worldwide.

“This level of simulation sophistication will allow Goodyear to drive breakthroughs in future tire creation leading to an enhanced customer and driver experience,” said Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. “I’m proud to say that Goodyear is leading the industry with VI-grade and our simulation solutions and we look forward to sharing that benefit with our customers.” 

“We are delighted to report on the adoption of our driving simulators at Goodyear” said Guido Bairati, VP Global Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “Together with the driving simulators, Goodyear also ordered a dedicated training program aimed to coaching drivers and engineers in using our solutions prior to the delivery of the DiM250 simulator, in order to accelerate as much as possible the learning curve, ultimately increasing the ROI. As a part of this training program, a DESKTOP simulator will also be provided to Goodyear.”

To reproduce vehicle movements and accelerations, the DiM solution takes a different path to driving simulation and is based on a patented revolutionary design with nine actuators. The resulting configuration with its 9 degrees of freedom enables to go beyond the basic six-actuator design of a simple hexapod or similar, thus providing a larger workspace while maintaining a high stiffness. This leads to a system suitable for low as well as high frequencies, both of which occur in automotive chassis design. For this reason, DiM enables to investigate vehicle dynamics as well as ride and comfort on the same driving simulator.

Modena, December 18, 2019 - Hard work and brilliant ideas should be rewarded – therefore the two winning Virtual Formula teams, Dynamis PRC from Politecnico di Milano and Cal Poly Racing from California Polytechnic State University had the unique chance to visit the recently opened INNOVATION LAB at the Maserati site in Modena and to experience the cutting-edge VI-grade driving simulators live and in action.

Only recently, the Italian premium car manufacturer and long-time customer of VI-grade opened its doors to this usually off-limits location and granted an exclusive insight into the heart of the brand’s driving research technology and development work. Exploiting the full innovation potential, the state-of-the-art facility features the STATIC Simulator as well as the latest generation of the revolutionary DYNAMIC Driving Simulator DiM250, all provided by VI-grade. It’s a place that is bursting with innovation and progress – and that’s exactly what the winners of the 2019 edition of VI-grade’s Virtual Formula were able to experience for one day.

Maserati strongly believes in the collaboration with universities, in fact its environment is comprised of a very young and dynamic workforce of an average age of around 37 years, where almost half of the employees are under 35 and 20% are under 30, and attracts top graduates from the best Italian universities. The company's Innovation Lab is home to simulators capable of reproducing six months' worth of wear and tear in two weeks, thus saving time and money in the development process.

“We are honored to represent the North American territory participating to the private viewing of this very fascinating Innovation Lab that Maserati has founded: for us, having the opportunity to come to Italy and witness the real-world applications of this simulation, which is the next level of what we do with Virtual Formula and our Formula Student teams, is priceless. It’s amazing to perceive the relationship between VI-grade and Maserati and how close they work together to create the best cars” – said Noah Wheeler and Carl Stoye, Cal Poly Racing, winner of the 2019 edition of the Virtual Formula, Electric Drivetrain Category.

“We’d like to thank Maserati and VI-grade for giving us the chance of learning how a development team of first-class cars operates in its everyday activities. Particularly interesting for us was the opportunity of seeing how a company like Maserati uses for commercial purposes, in conjunction with a sophisticated machine like the DiM250 Dynamic Driving Simulator, the same software that we also utilize to develop our Formula Student car” added Marco Antognoli and Mattia Vicari, Dynamis PRC, winner of the 2019 edition of the Virtual Formula, Internal Combustion Category.

“Fortunately, the Maserati Innovation Lab will also collaborate with VI-grade for the upcoming 2020 Virtual Formula season and open its doors again, granting the students an exclusive insight behind the scenes” said Alessio Lombardi, South Europe & UK Sales Director, VI-grade. “Once more, the winners will have the unique opportunity to test the advanced driving simulators used by many OEMs, suppliers and motorsport teams to develop and fine tune their cars, but also to gain relevant experience and knowledge for further races carried out by FSAE. This initiative, jointly organized by us and Maserati, is further proof of how important it is to promote innovation at an early stage and to bridge the gap between universities and the automotive industry.”

About the Maserati Innovation Lab
The Maserati Innovation Lab is a state-of-the-art facility where the cars of today and tomorrow are developed. Here, the digital processes support the product development, applying the exclusive Maserati formula which, by means of an integrated approach, prioritizes the human factor right from the initial phases. Concern with customer needs has been scrupulously incorporated into the virtual simulation process thanks to an exclusive mix of hardware and software. The digital processes supporting product development take place in three major areas: the STATIC Simulator, the latest generation Dynamic Simulator featuring DiM (Driver-in-Motion) technology and the “User eXperience” development labs. By applying these advanced driving simulation solutions right from the starting point of the engineering process, it is possible to achieve a 50% reduction in time-to-market for new cars, to carry out 90% of all development on the simulator and to reduce 40 % the use of physical prototypes. At the same time Maserati is able to strengthen its driver centric strategy during virtual development by combining the Hardware in the Loop (HiL) methodology and the simulators.

About Virtual Formula
VI-grade organizes on a regular basis the Virtual Formula, a competition based upon the rules and regulations of the popular Formula SAE and Formula Student. Based on the usage of VI-Motorsport, VI-grade’s interactive simulation environment for motorsport vehicle modeling and dynamic analysis, Virtual Formula, now at its 11th edition with more than 1000 Formula Student participating teams since its foundation back in 2009, requests all registered teams to use our state-of-the-art racing simulation software to find the best set-up for their car. The participants will then have the chance not only to learn more about vehicle dynamics software, but also to join the VI-grade network of vehicle specialists and software developers. The two winning teams in the internal combustions and electric vehicle category will not only receive unlimited access to the vehicle dynamics software but also the invitation to the annual VI-grade International Conference and the opportunity to visit the Maserati Innovation Lab in Modena, Italy.

Darmstadt, December 5, 2019 – VI-grade today announced the 2020 edition of its International Conference.

The event, dedicated to executive managers and experienced engineers belonging to automotive and transportation companies, tier1 suppliers, motorsport teams, universities and research centers from all over the world, will be held on May 13th-14th, 2020 at the HOTEL ME SITGES TERRAMAR, located in the city of Sitges, Spain (in the outskirts of Barcelona).

The conference will give the VI-grade international community of users, partners and prospective customers the opportunity to learn more about how the main players of the worldwide automotive industry currently use simulation and driving simulators to accelerate the development of new vehicles. Once again, particular attention will be given to VI-grade’s current solutions and development plans for real-time simulation, HIL, SIL, traffic simulation and ADAS, autonomous driving, vehicle energy efficiency and tire modeling. The event will offer keynote and technical papers, panel discussions and workshops as well as an interesting technical showcase area in which VI-grade and its partners will present their solutions.

The 2020 International Conference will also feature an Ice Breaker social event in the afternoon of May 12th, when all registered attendees will be invited to an informal get-together at the Applus+ IDIADA premises in Santa Oliva to learn more about how the combined use of state-of-the-art driving simulator technology and fully equipped proving ground facilities can efficiently bridge the gap between testing and simulation, with particular reference to vehicle dynamics, ride and comfort, ADAS/AV, HMI and motorsport applications.

“Building on the success of the previous events, we are extremely happy to announce the 2020 edition of our International Conference, confirming our intent to organize one major event per year for our community of users,” said Guido Bairati, Vice President Global Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “We are looking forward to giving our international community an opportunity to share the latest projects and advancements realized using our simulation solutions with an experienced audience.”

Abstracts showcasing state-of-the-art applications of VI-grade products and solutions in the automotive and transportation industries can be submitted until January 31st, 2020.

Additional details on the conference program and the workshops will be progressively published under the link conference.vi-grade.com.

Silverstone, Nov 18th, 2019 - Following significant investment from Envision Group and team owner Lei Zhang, leading Formula E team Envision Virgin Racing has completed expansion works on its Silverstone headquarters – including a new fully operational race driving simulator – ahead of the opening rounds of the new season.

Designed to further develop and improve its already extensive race preparations, the UK-based team moved to its new state-of-the-art facilities – located just a stone’s throw from the home of British motor racing – in 2017 and has now put the finishing touches to the 12,000 sq ft premises.

Central to the expansion programme has been the installation of a cutting edge VI-grade race driving simulator, complete with monocoque and Halo, allowing the team and its drivers Sam Bird and Robin Frijns to prepare for the challenges of the championship’s temporary street circuits.



Speaking ahead of the new season, Envision Virgin Racing Managing Director Sylvain Filippi said: “As an independent team, to have finished third last season was a fantastic achievement, but we know the competition will be even tougher this time around, especially with the introduction of new teams and drivers. We know consistency and preparation is going to be crucial, make or break in fact, so we have put huge emphasis on this from our driver line-up through to our entire team personnel, and now of course with our simulator, which we expect to be very important tool for race strategy preparation and driver training.”

Guido Bairati, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing of VI-grade, who supplied the team’s racing simulator, added: “We are very pleased to announce another success in the motorsport’s industry by reporting the completed installation of our driving simulator at Envision Virgin Racing as a turnkey solution. The installation includes proprietary software from VI-grade and related hardware components, as well as a cockpit provided by Envision Virgin Racing equipped with proprietary active belts technology from VI-grade. The STATIC simulator, including a set of Formula E digitized tracks, provides the team with a complete solution that enables them to virtually test and optimise the performance of their race cars, therefore allowing them to agree on, and then deliver, the optimal race performance. We wish Envision Virgin Racing Team all the best for the new upcoming Formula E season.”

About Envision Virgin Racing
Backed by majority owner Envision Group, the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E Team is one of the founding and leading outfits in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship –the electric street racing series and the world’s first fully-electric international single-seater category. The team exists to energise the Race Against Climate Change, focusing on accelerating the transition to clean, secure and affordable renewable energy, together with the mass adoption of e-mobility.
 
Launching in 2014, the team was part of the series’ inaugural race held in Beijing and has competed in every race to date with British racer Sam Bird at the helm of the #2 car. Joining the team for a second season is Dutchman Robin Frijns, who successfully returned to Formula E in season five with the Envision Virgin Racing team, securing two wins that season in the new generation car. The team is one of only two to have won races in every season to date - including 10 wins and 25 podiums - and continues to be one of the highest scoring in the championship.
 
Overseeing the team’s operations at the team’s commercial headquarters in London is Managing Director Sylvain Filippi, who has been with the team since day one, together with Team and Sporting Director Leon Price and Technical Director Chris Gorne working out of the team’s operational arm at its new state-of-the-art facilities at Silverstone Park. Envision Group’s Franz Jung will continue to undertake the Chairman of the Board role in season six for Envision Virgin Racing.
 

Modena, November 12th, 2019 – In a surprise move, Maserati is opening the doors to an exclusive and usually off-limits location: the Maserati Innovation Lab.

The Brand’s engineering hub, inaugurated in September 2015 and located on via Emilia Ovest in Modena, is for the first time sharing with the outside world its fundamental role as the Brand’s beating pulse, driving research technology, development and planning.

The Maserati Innovation Lab is a state-of-the-art facility where the cars of today and tomorrow are developed. Here, the digital processes support the product development, applying the exclusive Maserati formula which, by means of an integrated approach, prioritizes the human factor right from the initial phases. Concern with customer needs has been scrupulously incorporated into the virtual simulation process thanks to an exclusive mix of hardware and software. The digital processes supporting product development take place in three major areas: the STATIC Simulator, the latest generation Dynamic Simulator featuring DiM (Driver-in-Motion) technology and the “User eXperience” development labs.

The Product Development hub (or Technical Department) employs more than 1,500 technicians (divided into the Modena offices in Via Emilia Ovest, in Viale Ciro Menotti, via delle Nazioni, in the headquarters of Grugliasco and Balocco). At its headquarters in Via Emilia Ovest covers a total area of 33,744 square meters (of which 14,000 square meters are covered and 19,744 square meters uncovered). More than 1,100 people carry out their activities, the majority of which are engineers, representing 17 different countries. The environment is comprised of a very young and dynamic workforce of an average age of around 37 years. Almost half of the employees are under 35 and 20% are under 30. The organization has grown considerably in recent years, attracting top graduates from the best Italian universities, including those that collaborate with Maserati.

STATIC Simulator 

The STATIC Simulator is the starting point for every experience in the Maserati realm of simulation.

The system is composed of a cockpit, three projectors and high computational power. It is a simple system that helps engineers, from the very initial phase of the development process, obtain immediate feedback from the driver, and makes a major contribution to new model validation.

In particular, Maserati engineering ensures a driver-centred strategy even during virtual development, by creating a link between the Hardware In the Loop (HiL) methodology and the simulator. Using this approach, real subsystems such as steering and braking, ABS and ESC can be added in, to create tests that connect physical and simulated components to provide a test-bed for developing all the characteristics of a new vehicle. Last but not least, driver assist systems can be developed, trialled and validated in a safe environment by reproducing the complex scenarios which may arise anywhere in the world.

DYNAMIC Simulator with latest generation DiM (Driver-in-Motion) technology

The Dynamic Simulator featuring latest generation DiM (Driver-in-Motion) technology, the most modern and advanced exemplar found in Europe, supports the Maserati engineers in the development of all the new models. The Dynamic Simulator incorporates state-of-the-art technology and enables full exploitation of systems' integration thanks to the evolution of proprietary control strategies, cutting development times and costs. It also helps to reduce the number of prototypes and ensures that the Virtual Sign-Off is very close to the final product.

With various directions of movement, this tool generates an effective driving experience, emulating in a virtual environment the driving dynamics of a car in the real world on a wide variety of road surfaces or contexts, including the world's top international racing circuits. The simulator makes it possible to test cars on various racetracks on the same day. Modifications to the vehicle can be made with a few simple clicks and this greatly simplifies the analysis of the data gathered.

The majority of simulators utilize six actuators in order to offer six “degrees of freedom”. The innovative dynamic simulator used at the Innovation Lab takes full advantage of nine actuators, thanks to which it can utilize 3 degrees of freedom with the lower platform and 6 with the upper one. In this way it can offer in total 9 degrees of freedom to accurately reproduce the driving characteristics of a car. All of this enables the engineers to precisely analyse the dynamics of the car, in addition to driving performance and comfort, all on the same moving platform. Another particularly interesting characteristic is a very thin cushion of air which makes the entire platform float over the pavement, enabling dynamic, silent and continuous movement thanks to the electric actuators.

The Dynamic Simulator featuring latest generation DiM (Driver-in-Motion) technology offers tried and tested technology that makes it possible to achieve a 50% reduction in time-to-market for new cars, to carry out 90% of all development on the simulator and to reduce by 40% the use of physical prototypes.

Using the simulator makes it possible to study and emulate the electrified vehicles included in Maserati's future plans even before physical tests become possible. Thus, the new opportunities offered by this different propulsion method can be analysed and explored in ways that keep the Maserati DNA absolutely intact. Weight distribution and the location of the centre of gravity have been effectively optimised thanks to the scope for testing hundreds of different configurations. A centralised logic that guarantees all the car's active contents and its electric traction has been developed, maximising dynamic performances since the entire car provides an integrated reaction to all inputs from the driver. Particular care has been focused on exploiting electric motors' vast potential in terms of power and rapid response.

The “User Experience” Development Labs

The “User eXperience” development labs are fundamental in the design of the human-machine interfaces, one of the major challenges of the latest Maserati development projects. 

The rapid evolution of connectivity and the use of driver assist systems, combined with electrification, generate a vast number of scenarios for multisensorial interaction with the vehicle, which are often completely new and require state-of-the-art tools for managing their extreme complexity, to take full advantage of all the opportunities and deliver a unique user experience, with competitive development times and costs. 

The Maserati driver simulator hub includes a lab dedicated to vehicle ergonomics, enabling accurate reproduction of driving posture, visibility and interactions with the on-board controls and displays, and where the vehicle under development can be driven in any scenario with the utmost realism. 

The integrated design of the user experience is aided by the effective, coherent visual, acoustic or haptic alerts in highly automated driving mode, from the level of distraction generated by the most frequent operations to the accessible layout of the controls, and full information in the different driving modes. 

The ergonomics lab is completed by a set of sophisticated, specialised instrumentation to analyse the various issues that contribute to the user experience. Two examples: the skylight simulator, designed to reproduce lighting conditions at all times of day, at any point in the year and at any latitude. Here there is an in-depth focus on reflection problems, to avoid disturbance at the wheel while still providing solutions with attractive shapes, materials, finishes and colours. 

The psycho-acoustics lab where the soundtrack of future Maseratis is developed: the acoustics of the controls, the audio alerts, the driver assist systems and.... much more! 

The "User eXperience” development labs support the integrated development of ergonomics, the human-machine interface and the vehicle's perceived quality for genuine "user-centred design" dedicated to delivering the distinctive Maserati user experience.
 

Darmstadt, Germany and San Francisco, California – November 7, 2019 – VI-grade and Rescale are pleased to announce the availability of VI-CarRealTime, VI-grade’s environment for modeling and simulating vehicles in real-time, to Rescale, a purpose-built SaaS platform for solving the automotive industry challenges with HPC in the cloud.
 
VI-CarRealTime provides a real-time vehicle simulation environment where the same vehicle model can be used by vehicle dynamics and controls engineers to optimize vehicle and control system performance.  The delivery of VI-CarRealTime simulation software on the Rescale platform provides organizations in the automotive industry with the ability to face every simulation challenge through hundreds of parallel simulations on the cloud and on-demand additional software licenses.
 
VI-CarRealTime can now be purchased directly through Rescale’s platform, providing an efficient, single-vendor procurement of on-demand access to cloud HPC and simulation software.
 
With Rescale, customers achieve the ultimate flexibility by being able to either run existing traditional licenses or purchase pay-per-use licensing on the platform. They can also access a variety of hardware architectures, including bare metal, virtual servers and the customers’ on-premises infrastructure.  In addition, the Rescale administration portal allows company administrators to monitor and control their company’s usage by setting budgets at the user, project, and company levels.
 
“We’re very excited for the role cloud plays in the future of software and hardware in the loop,” said Joris Poort, CEO of Rescale. “Integrating VI-grade into our platform on-demand will accelerate our joint customers’ development cycles and usher great products to market.”
 
“The need to maintain a competitive advantage requires access to state-of-the-art software and up-to-date hardware components, which in turn calls for continuous and significant investments” said Guido Bairati, VP Sales & Marketing VI-grade.  “Thanks to the Rescale technology, our existing customers will benefit from remote access to all the power of the VI-grade solution in the cloud, offering virtually unlimited computational capabilities to launch hundreds of vehicle simulations at the same time for fast parallel computing.”
 
VI-grade’s long-lasting customer and partner FEV is already taking advantage of the on-demand availability of VI-CarRealTime via the Rescale platform. “Nowadays, due to the increasing complexity of powertrain and engine, a fully Integrated Simulation-based Powertrain Development Methodology is required to support efficiently the product development and its process” said Michele Caggiano, Managing Director, FEV Italy. “A dedicated methodology for PHEV powertrain simulation and optimization has been developed by FEV via VI-CarRealTime – FEV MiL cosimulation. One part of the methodology is a cloud-based investigation using the RESCALE platform by co-simulating the vehicle model and the powertrain model. The co-simulation platform allows the investigation of the complete system, providing information in terms of emissions and consumption as well as prediction of the impact of powertrain parameters on vehicle performances.” (for more information, see the paper presented by FEV at the 2019 VI-grade International Conference)
 
Customers interested in purchasing on-demand VI-CarRealTime Licensing through Rescale can contact info@vi-grade.com or their Rescale account executive or visit our Software on Demand dedicated webpage for additional information.

About Rescale
Rescale is the global leader for high-performance computing simulations and deep learning in the cloud.  Trusted by the Global Fortune 500, Rescale empowers the world’s top scientists and engineers to develop the most innovative new products and perform groundbreaking research and development faster and at a lower cost. Rescale’s platform transforms traditional fixed IT resources into flexible hybrid, private, and public cloud resources—built on the largest and most powerful high-performance computing network in the world.  For more information on Rescale’s platform, visit www.rescale.com.
 

Bridging their respective expertise and experiences in simulation and test, VI-grade and Konrad Technologies will jointly demonstrate the new test method for verifying functional and performance of ADAS and Autonomous Driving features at the Automotive Testing Expo USA 2019 Conference and Exhibition

Novi, US – October 16, 2019 – VI-grade and Konrad Technologies today jointly announced they will demonstrate a new test method, Driver in the Loop (DIL) with Sensor Fusion Test, at the Automotive Testing Expo USA 2019 Conference and Exhibition, to be held from October 22nd to October 24th, 2019 in Novi, Michigan.

“4 years ago, Konrad Technologies and our partners pioneered Sensor Fusion HiL and demonstrated how sensor test combines with HiL tests to validate performance of multi sensor configurations with ADAS algorithms” said Michael Konrad, CEO of Konrad Technologies. “Radar, Camera, and Lidar sensors can be tested at sub-system and system level implementations to verify ADAS capability for automated braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and others. Today, together with the VI-grade team, we will show how the sensor test can be extended to DiL with Sensor Fusion Test so that ADAS functionality can be evaluated and optimized to a higher degree in the lab before beginning road tests.”

“Our Driving Simulators allow users to simulate real-world driving conditions including traffic,” said Guido Bairati, VP of Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “Adding real sensors into the driving simulation loop allows ADAS/AD functionalities to be tested quickly and safely in a lab environment and adds driver reactions to the test parameters, for a more comprehensive analysis that can then be compared with real drive data for optimization cycles. Through the collaboration with Konrad Technologies, we are able to deliver to the automotive industry a link between physical test and simulation-based testing for ADAS/AD algorithms. We keep bridging the gap between testing and simulation in order to help our customers deliver better products in a shorter time!”

For DIL with Sensor Fusion Test, the objects around the vehicle from the drive simulation software are simulated by Konrad Technologies sensor simulators in real-time. And the output of the sensors is then brought back into the software simulation to close the execution loop.
 
The collaboration will be presented on a COMPACT Simulator from VI-grade equipped with sensor technology from Konrad installed in the exhibition area at the Automotive Testing Expo USA 2019 Conference and Exhibition, to be held from October 22nd to October 24th, 2019 in Novi, Michigan.

About Konrad Technologies Worldwide
Konrad Technologies (KT) is a global company and NI Platinum Alliance Partner that offers customized turnkey test solutions in the areas of electronics manufacturing, high-frequency technology, optics and beyond.  Since 1993, Konrad Technologies has successfully developed, designed and integrated customer-specific test solutions providing customers with R&D, qualification, and manufacturing of electronic products with tools to fulfill their quality goals, accelerate engineering and development throughput. Customers in a wide range of industries from Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Wireless Communications, Consumer Electronics, Medical, Semiconductor, General Electronic Manufacturing to Industrial Automation use KT’s integrated hardware and software platform-based solutions to improve their performance worldwide. Konrad Technologies is a founding member of ADAS iiT, a consortium that provides a complete test solution for autonomous driving.

Konrad-Technologies, KT and Konrad GmbH are all representative of Konrad Technologies worldwide. Other products and company names listed are trademarks of their respective companies. For more information about Konrad Technologies Solutions and upcoming events, please visit www.konrad-technologies.com.

Windsor, Ontario, October 2, 2019 – The FCA Automotive Research and Development Centre (ARDC) inaugurated a new Vehicle Dynamics Simulator (VDS) lab recently, featuring the most advanced driving simulator technology available in North America: with nine degrees of freedom and specific driver calibration, the new DiM250 simulator by VI-grade closely duplicates the actual driving experience.

The new VDS is cutting-edge technology that emulates a vehicle’s driving dynamics in a real time, virtual environment. This technology offers the driver a customized virtual immersion that replicates the ride and handling of a specific vehicle on a multitude of simulated road surfaces and driving environments.

Most driving simulators make use of six actuators to deliver basic body motion. However, to accurately reproduce vehicle ride, handling and acceleration characteristics, the VDS system uses nine actuators to create the full range of motion of an actual vehicle.
 

A notable feature of the new VDS is a very thin cushion of air, which floats the entire motion platform above the floor like a hovercraft, allowing for a quiet and seamless motion via the electric actuators.

The new simulator has the ability to add subsystems such as brake and steering, ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) controllers to create a hardware in the loop test to better meet functional targets. This strategy helps reduce product development times and lower project validation costs.

“The ability to simulate a drive experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop is key to the engineering efforts of our customers and assists in identifying design changes much earlier in the development process,” said Guido Bairati, VP Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “By using our simulators, our customers can create a virtual testing environment to assess the ride and handling of a vehicle, perform tests and validation on sensor technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) applications, evaluate different Human Machine Interface (HMI) configurations, and test for driver distraction and distraction remedies.”

The simulator can be fitted with any vehicle body, road and environment. To create a visual experience on the five projector screens, data is collected by scanning the environment and roads, such as FCA’s proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan. The data is then integrated to create a real-time virtual environment that includes elevation changes, off-camber roads and potholes.
 
Initially, the VDS will be used to support Chassis Vehicle Dynamics, but in the future will be used to support development of ADAS and HMI systems.

Additional information and news from FCA US LLC is available at http://media.fcanorthamerica.com