Join Multimatic and VI-grade for the Virtual Grand Opening of SimCenter Detroit
Novi (Michigan), Jun 17, 2020 – Multimatic and VI-grade are pleased to announce the Virtual Grand Opening of SimCenter Detroit, an advanced vehicle development and driving simulation center in the greater Detroit area. The virtual world of driver-in-the-loop simulation helps greatly reduce the duration and cost of vehicle development.
The event will go live on Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 at 9am EDT, providing media, customers and partners the opportunity to take an early, virtual tour of this world-class facility, gain unique understanding of its capabilities, and participate in a Q&A session hosted by staff from both VI-grade and Multimatic.
SimCenter Detroit features the highly acclaimed DiM250 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator characterized by a novel, 9-degrees-of-freedom motion platform. Its ability to accurately reproduce both high frequency and large motion in longitudinal, lateral and yaw directions makes VI-grade’s DiM250 a unique engineering tool, suitable for evaluating vehicle ride and handling dynamics in the virtual world as never before.
Also onsite is VI-grade’s COMPACT Simulator, specifically utilized for verifying model integrity before being implemented on the DiM250.
SimCenter Detroit is optimized to meet customer demand for rapid, cost-effective development of next-generation vehicles that incorporate features such as driver assistance and autonomous operation. Multimatic, a global leader in vehicle dynamics engineering, will operate the facility as an extension of its current driving simulators in Canada and England.
“Multimatic’s operating philosophy, ‘Strength Through Technology,’ is what drives us towards innovation and product excellence every day. SimCenter Detroit is the next evolutionary step in the development of our company and its products. The technology that VI-grade has been able to develop with their Driver-in-Motion system is extraordinary and Multimatic couldn’t be more excited to bring DiM250 to the United States. Multimatic is looking forward to the continued technical partnership with VI-grade as we leverage their technology for future innovation in a highly competitive market” said Michael Guttilla, Vice President of Engineering, Multimatic.
“The adoption of our driving simulation technology at Multimatic is a direct consequence of our long-lasting partnership and will for sure bring mutual advantages to our companies”, said Bob Ryan, President, VI-grade. “We are extremely excited about having the chance of giving North American automotive and motorsport customers the possibility of directly experiencing the advantages of this technology through the establishment of this new SimCenter.”
To register free-of-charge for the Virtual Grand Opening event, follow this link.
The event will go live on Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 at 9am EDT, providing media, customers and partners the opportunity to take an early, virtual tour of this world-class facility, gain unique understanding of its capabilities, and participate in a Q&A session hosted by staff from both VI-grade and Multimatic.
SimCenter Detroit features the highly acclaimed DiM250 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator characterized by a novel, 9-degrees-of-freedom motion platform. Its ability to accurately reproduce both high frequency and large motion in longitudinal, lateral and yaw directions makes VI-grade’s DiM250 a unique engineering tool, suitable for evaluating vehicle ride and handling dynamics in the virtual world as never before.
Also onsite is VI-grade’s COMPACT Simulator, specifically utilized for verifying model integrity before being implemented on the DiM250.
SimCenter Detroit is optimized to meet customer demand for rapid, cost-effective development of next-generation vehicles that incorporate features such as driver assistance and autonomous operation. Multimatic, a global leader in vehicle dynamics engineering, will operate the facility as an extension of its current driving simulators in Canada and England.
“Multimatic’s operating philosophy, ‘Strength Through Technology,’ is what drives us towards innovation and product excellence every day. SimCenter Detroit is the next evolutionary step in the development of our company and its products. The technology that VI-grade has been able to develop with their Driver-in-Motion system is extraordinary and Multimatic couldn’t be more excited to bring DiM250 to the United States. Multimatic is looking forward to the continued technical partnership with VI-grade as we leverage their technology for future innovation in a highly competitive market” said Michael Guttilla, Vice President of Engineering, Multimatic.
“The adoption of our driving simulation technology at Multimatic is a direct consequence of our long-lasting partnership and will for sure bring mutual advantages to our companies”, said Bob Ryan, President, VI-grade. “We are extremely excited about having the chance of giving North American automotive and motorsport customers the possibility of directly experiencing the advantages of this technology through the establishment of this new SimCenter.”
To register free-of-charge for the Virtual Grand Opening event, follow this link.
About Multimatic Inc.
Multimatic is a privately held, global enterprise supplying engineered components, systems and services to the automotive industry. Multimatic’s core competencies include the engineering and manufacturing of complex mechanisms, body hardware, suspension systems and body structures, as well as the design and development of lightweight composite automotive systems. In addition, Multimatic delivers niche vehicle design, development and production for road and race applications. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Multimatic has manufacturing divisions and engineering facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, and alliance relationships with partners around the world. Multimatic is comprised of five operating groups: Multimatic Mechanisms, Multimatic Structures & Suspension, Multimatic Engineering, Multimatic Niche Vehicles, and Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations.
University of Brescia adopts COMPACT Driving Simulator from VI-grade
Darmstadt (Germany), June 10th, 2020 – VI-grade today announced that the Automotive Engineering and Design center of University of Brescia, Italy adopted the COMPACT Simulator designed by VI-grade. The new simulator, fully equipped with VI-grade dedicated software as well as with shaker active components for an enhanced driver feeling, has been installed at the university premises in Brescia, Italy.
The COMPACT Simulator is the entry-level solution in the range of driving simulators provided by VI-grade. It features a driver’s seat, a fully adjustable steering wheel, dashboard, pedals, gear stick and screens and it can be placed directly in an engineering office. It is the perfect solution for those companies that want to start using a Driving Simulator to boost simulation activities and to test models in real-time, whilst getting a subjective feeling on the results.
“We have completed the installation of the COMPACT Simulator from VI-grade, in the frame of our industrial research activities within the automotive field here at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering” said Prof. Marco Gadola, head of the Automotive Group at the University of Brescia. “We are very proud to be the very first Italian University to feature such an advanced R&D tool and to offer specific education focused on professional driving simulation to Automotive Engineering students. The cooperation we established with VI-grade is fostering our research on vehicle dynamics, system integration for innovative powertrains, driver-vehicle interaction, and sustainable mobility in general”.
“We are delighted to report the installation of our COMPACT Simulator at University of Brescia”, said Alessio Lombardi, Sales Director, South Europe and UK, VI-grade. “We are happy of having the chance to leverage our professional driving simulator solutions at this important Automotive Engineering and Design Center in Brescia, which is situated right between Milan and Verona in northern Italy and is the second automotive district in the country in terms of industrial output, also known for the world-famous Mille Miglia event dedicated to vintage cars. We are looking forward to witnessing and facilitating all applications of our COMPACT Simulator as important tool for research and development activities for the industry and as precious device for educational purposes.”
The COMPACT Simulator is the entry-level solution in the range of driving simulators provided by VI-grade. It features a driver’s seat, a fully adjustable steering wheel, dashboard, pedals, gear stick and screens and it can be placed directly in an engineering office. It is the perfect solution for those companies that want to start using a Driving Simulator to boost simulation activities and to test models in real-time, whilst getting a subjective feeling on the results.
“We have completed the installation of the COMPACT Simulator from VI-grade, in the frame of our industrial research activities within the automotive field here at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering” said Prof. Marco Gadola, head of the Automotive Group at the University of Brescia. “We are very proud to be the very first Italian University to feature such an advanced R&D tool and to offer specific education focused on professional driving simulation to Automotive Engineering students. The cooperation we established with VI-grade is fostering our research on vehicle dynamics, system integration for innovative powertrains, driver-vehicle interaction, and sustainable mobility in general”.
“We are delighted to report the installation of our COMPACT Simulator at University of Brescia”, said Alessio Lombardi, Sales Director, South Europe and UK, VI-grade. “We are happy of having the chance to leverage our professional driving simulator solutions at this important Automotive Engineering and Design Center in Brescia, which is situated right between Milan and Verona in northern Italy and is the second automotive district in the country in terms of industrial output, also known for the world-famous Mille Miglia event dedicated to vintage cars. We are looking forward to witnessing and facilitating all applications of our COMPACT Simulator as important tool for research and development activities for the industry and as precious device for educational purposes.”
About VI-grade’s COMPACT Simulator
The COMPACT Simulator from VI-grade is the ideal tool for automotive OEMs that wish to use a desktop technology to prepare models to be used for a more advanced simulator (both STATIC and DYNAMIC) and that need to quickly test specific components. The COMPACT Simulator is also an ideal solution for Tier 1 suppliers who need to make sure that their components will work well when included into a more complex vehicle model. This kind of simulator can also be used by universities and research centers, for example to develop and test dedicated control algorithms, as well to expose their students to driving simulator technologies. The COMPACT Simulator is equipped with the exact same software installed on STATIC and DiM simulators from VI-grade: this makes it very easy to upgrade from a COMPACT Simulator to a more advanced simulator, leveraging previous investments and experiences. Accessory technologies like VI-BioTelemetry, VI-ActiveSeat and VI-ActiveBelts are also fully compatible with the COMPACT Simulator from VI-grade.VI-grade International Conference 2020 goes Virtual with 1300 registered participants
Darmstadt (Germany), May 19th, 2020 – VI-grade, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced the official review of its first Virtual International Conference.
With a total number of over 1300 registered participants from 42 countries and over 400 different companies and an average of 600 participants connected at the same time, VI-grade reaches its personal record of number of attendees at this year’s Virtual International Conference. Never before have so many simulation experts, managers and engineers from all over the world gathered virtually to discuss the latest trends in driving simulation and to exchange their experience with other partners and users of the VI-grade technology. The virtual live event took place on May 13th from 13:00 to 18:00 CEST, with the exhibition area open for 24 hours. In addition, the event including recorded presentations, webinars and interactive booths will be accessible for everyone until June 12th at https://vi-grade.vfairs.com.
Besides the well-known motto among the VI-grade community “Bridging the gap between Testing and Simulation”, this year’s event was also characterized by the topics “Innovation and Collaboration” which were represented by the 6 customer presentations from Goodyear, Applus+ IDIADA, Volvo Car Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Maserati in collaboration with MegaRide and Automobili Pininfarina in collaboration with Danisi Engineering.
Thus, Volvo Cars reported that, year after year, they are getting closer to virtual sign-off that will allow to significantly decrease physical prototypes while facing and solving engineering challenges earlier in the design cycle. Ford Motor Company on the other hand, is on the forefront in the usage of NVH Simulators to predict and optimize sound and vibrations on its vehicles.
But also, Applus+ IDIADA is in no way inferior and completely understood that simulation and driving simulators are the only way towards a successful implementation of Connected Vehicles.
Just as important as innovation is collaboration, as the joint presentation of Maserati and MegaRide proved, who are currently working together to better integrate chassis components and tires. The need for collaboration does not go unnoticed by The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company either, as they are currently implementing a Driving Simulator strategy to better serve the automotive OEMs and to follow their path towards virtual sign-off. Finally, the virtual conference was concluded by the joint presentation of Automobili Pininfarina and Danisi Engineering that developed a beautiful and innovative car, sharing their respective strengths and skills.
Furthermore, Robert Ryan, President at VI-grade, also revealed a novel innovative addition to the VI-grade product family. The DiM400 is part of a new category of cable driven simulators that allow going beyond the limitations of longitudinal actuators used on DiM150 and DiM250 and boast the largest performance envelope in the industry. The first model of DiM400 has been built and will soon be installed at the VI-grade SimCenter in Udine, Italy. Another DiM400 has already been sold to the first customer and is expected to be installed in the third quarter of 2020.
Although this year’s show could only be held virtually and the popular Networking Sessions like the traditional Ice-Breaker-Event could not take place as usual, the 2020 Virtual International Conference was greatly appreciated by the VI-grade community, with an overall NPS value of 44. “It was great and for the first time nearly perfect”, “Very well organized, it was almost like attending in person”, “Perfect organization of a virtual conference with some important inputs for current work”, “Felt like a conference but digital. Impressed to offer this for free …” are just some of the comments left by selected attendees.
Nonetheless the 2020 Virtual International Conference also offered a fully functional virtual exhibition area, where all sponsors and partners had the chance of presenting their solutions to all participants featuring virtual booths of Applus+ IDIADA (Platinum Sponsors), Danisi Engineering, Rebel Dynamics, SAGInoMIYA (Platinum Sponsors), Barco, Concurrent Real-Time, cosin scientific software, IMTEC engineering, MegaRide, MSC Software, Multimatic, SimCoVR (Golden Sponsors), 3D Mapping Solutions, Altair, Heeds, Konrad Technologies, Horiba Mira, Screenline and Smarteye (Silver Sponsors).
Finally, VI-grade was also pleased to announce the confirmed dates of the 2021 International Conference, which will take place on April 12-13-14th, 2021 in Sitges, Spain.
For additional information about the 2020 Virtual International Conference, please visit https://conference.vi-grade.com. Everyone is invited to access free-of-charge the virtual event venue including recorded presentations and webinars, 20 interactive booths and a series of live follow-up webinars which will be hosted every Friday between May 29th and June 12th, 2020.
With a total number of over 1300 registered participants from 42 countries and over 400 different companies and an average of 600 participants connected at the same time, VI-grade reaches its personal record of number of attendees at this year’s Virtual International Conference. Never before have so many simulation experts, managers and engineers from all over the world gathered virtually to discuss the latest trends in driving simulation and to exchange their experience with other partners and users of the VI-grade technology. The virtual live event took place on May 13th from 13:00 to 18:00 CEST, with the exhibition area open for 24 hours. In addition, the event including recorded presentations, webinars and interactive booths will be accessible for everyone until June 12th at https://vi-grade.vfairs.com.
Besides the well-known motto among the VI-grade community “Bridging the gap between Testing and Simulation”, this year’s event was also characterized by the topics “Innovation and Collaboration” which were represented by the 6 customer presentations from Goodyear, Applus+ IDIADA, Volvo Car Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Maserati in collaboration with MegaRide and Automobili Pininfarina in collaboration with Danisi Engineering.
Thus, Volvo Cars reported that, year after year, they are getting closer to virtual sign-off that will allow to significantly decrease physical prototypes while facing and solving engineering challenges earlier in the design cycle. Ford Motor Company on the other hand, is on the forefront in the usage of NVH Simulators to predict and optimize sound and vibrations on its vehicles.
But also, Applus+ IDIADA is in no way inferior and completely understood that simulation and driving simulators are the only way towards a successful implementation of Connected Vehicles.
Just as important as innovation is collaboration, as the joint presentation of Maserati and MegaRide proved, who are currently working together to better integrate chassis components and tires. The need for collaboration does not go unnoticed by The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company either, as they are currently implementing a Driving Simulator strategy to better serve the automotive OEMs and to follow their path towards virtual sign-off. Finally, the virtual conference was concluded by the joint presentation of Automobili Pininfarina and Danisi Engineering that developed a beautiful and innovative car, sharing their respective strengths and skills.
Furthermore, Robert Ryan, President at VI-grade, also revealed a novel innovative addition to the VI-grade product family. The DiM400 is part of a new category of cable driven simulators that allow going beyond the limitations of longitudinal actuators used on DiM150 and DiM250 and boast the largest performance envelope in the industry. The first model of DiM400 has been built and will soon be installed at the VI-grade SimCenter in Udine, Italy. Another DiM400 has already been sold to the first customer and is expected to be installed in the third quarter of 2020.
Although this year’s show could only be held virtually and the popular Networking Sessions like the traditional Ice-Breaker-Event could not take place as usual, the 2020 Virtual International Conference was greatly appreciated by the VI-grade community, with an overall NPS value of 44. “It was great and for the first time nearly perfect”, “Very well organized, it was almost like attending in person”, “Perfect organization of a virtual conference with some important inputs for current work”, “Felt like a conference but digital. Impressed to offer this for free …” are just some of the comments left by selected attendees.
Nonetheless the 2020 Virtual International Conference also offered a fully functional virtual exhibition area, where all sponsors and partners had the chance of presenting their solutions to all participants featuring virtual booths of Applus+ IDIADA (Platinum Sponsors), Danisi Engineering, Rebel Dynamics, SAGInoMIYA (Platinum Sponsors), Barco, Concurrent Real-Time, cosin scientific software, IMTEC engineering, MegaRide, MSC Software, Multimatic, SimCoVR (Golden Sponsors), 3D Mapping Solutions, Altair, Heeds, Konrad Technologies, Horiba Mira, Screenline and Smarteye (Silver Sponsors).
Finally, VI-grade was also pleased to announce the confirmed dates of the 2021 International Conference, which will take place on April 12-13-14th, 2021 in Sitges, Spain.
For additional information about the 2020 Virtual International Conference, please visit https://conference.vi-grade.com. Everyone is invited to access free-of-charge the virtual event venue including recorded presentations and webinars, 20 interactive booths and a series of live follow-up webinars which will be hosted every Friday between May 29th and June 12th, 2020.
CEVT adopts VI-grade DiM250 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator
Darmstadt (Germany), May 7th, 2020 – Sweden-based innovation center for the future cars of the Geely Holding Group CEVT (China Euro Vehicle Technology AB) announced today the purchase of a DYNAMIC Driving Simulator from VI-grade to enhance its research and development capabilities.
In detail, CEVT has selected a DiM250 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator (Driver-in-Motion) equipped with the whole VI-DriveSim software suite and with active technology (belts, seat, brake and shakers) that will be installed in the to-be-built second part of Geely’s campus at Lindholmen, UNI3 by Geely, which will be inaugurated around midsummer 2021.
The driving simulator, which is expected to be up and running a bit earlier than that, will be used for Vehicle Dynamics, Ride & Comfort as well as ADAS applications in the development of new vehicles, with particular reference to the Lynk & Co. brand.
CEVT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and covers vital aspects of passenger car development – from architecture to powertrain and driveline components, to top hat engineering, i.e. the upper body structure as well as the vehicles' exterior design. The company represents an innovation centre for the future cars of the Geely Holding Group with the purpose of being at the forefront of new developments in the automotive industry.
“For CEVT this investment is a crucial part of our toolbox to develop the mobility solutions for a different tomorrow. It shows the importance of CEVT as a company within the Geely Auto Group as well as a company in the automotive capital of the Nordics”, said Mats Fägerhag CEO at CEVT. “Our ambition with the simulator is to replicate the real world in as many aspects as possible to provide our engineers with an alternative to real world tests. In many cases we see that we can do the same tests as in the real world and still get a high level of representation of reality. This means that the simulator can be an option to any test that can be done on a prototype vehicle or a test vehicle in general. Examples of such studies can be vehicle dynamics, ride and handling but also research on autonomous cars as well as future transportation and mobility. Anything that can be modelled on a computer in an accurate manner can be tested”, added Fägerhag.
“Imagine that you have a new idea for some function that you want to test in the car. In the past you had to design the function, build a prototype of it and put it in a test car, go to the test track, try it and in the end perhaps go on with it or do modifications. These steps can often take months and cost a lot of money for each and every part of the process. With the simulator you can do a simple model of the function, take it downstairs to the simulator and try it out directly. You also get direct access to all the data and better control of the test. Think about all the innovation that can take place! We can probably test our vehicles half a year before we get the prototypes for them. A design change can take a week instead of until the next prototype series, which can be due in a year”, said Albin Gröndahl, CAE Engineer and Project Manager for the Driving Simulator at CEVT.
“Once again, we are very happy to report on the adoption of our DYNAMIC Driving Simulator at another automotive company such as CEVT” said Guido Bairati, VP Global Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “This marks the 20th installation of our flagship DYNAMIC Driving Simulators (DiM150 and DiM250) on a worldwide basis and the second exemplar installed in the city of Gothenburg, where also Volvo’s DiM150 is operational since 2014”.
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.
In detail, CEVT has selected a DiM250 DYNAMIC Driving Simulator (Driver-in-Motion) equipped with the whole VI-DriveSim software suite and with active technology (belts, seat, brake and shakers) that will be installed in the to-be-built second part of Geely’s campus at Lindholmen, UNI3 by Geely, which will be inaugurated around midsummer 2021.
The driving simulator, which is expected to be up and running a bit earlier than that, will be used for Vehicle Dynamics, Ride & Comfort as well as ADAS applications in the development of new vehicles, with particular reference to the Lynk & Co. brand.
CEVT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and covers vital aspects of passenger car development – from architecture to powertrain and driveline components, to top hat engineering, i.e. the upper body structure as well as the vehicles' exterior design. The company represents an innovation centre for the future cars of the Geely Holding Group with the purpose of being at the forefront of new developments in the automotive industry.
“For CEVT this investment is a crucial part of our toolbox to develop the mobility solutions for a different tomorrow. It shows the importance of CEVT as a company within the Geely Auto Group as well as a company in the automotive capital of the Nordics”, said Mats Fägerhag CEO at CEVT. “Our ambition with the simulator is to replicate the real world in as many aspects as possible to provide our engineers with an alternative to real world tests. In many cases we see that we can do the same tests as in the real world and still get a high level of representation of reality. This means that the simulator can be an option to any test that can be done on a prototype vehicle or a test vehicle in general. Examples of such studies can be vehicle dynamics, ride and handling but also research on autonomous cars as well as future transportation and mobility. Anything that can be modelled on a computer in an accurate manner can be tested”, added Fägerhag.
“Imagine that you have a new idea for some function that you want to test in the car. In the past you had to design the function, build a prototype of it and put it in a test car, go to the test track, try it and in the end perhaps go on with it or do modifications. These steps can often take months and cost a lot of money for each and every part of the process. With the simulator you can do a simple model of the function, take it downstairs to the simulator and try it out directly. You also get direct access to all the data and better control of the test. Think about all the innovation that can take place! We can probably test our vehicles half a year before we get the prototypes for them. A design change can take a week instead of until the next prototype series, which can be due in a year”, said Albin Gröndahl, CAE Engineer and Project Manager for the Driving Simulator at CEVT.
“Once again, we are very happy to report on the adoption of our DYNAMIC Driving Simulator at another automotive company such as CEVT” said Guido Bairati, VP Global Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. “This marks the 20th installation of our flagship DYNAMIC Driving Simulators (DiM150 and DiM250) on a worldwide basis and the second exemplar installed in the city of Gothenburg, where also Volvo’s DiM150 is operational since 2014”.
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.
Attend the 2020 International VI-grade Virtual Conference for free!
Darmstadt (Germany), April 23rd, 2020 – VI-grade today announced the 2020 International VI-grade Virtual Conference to be held on May 13th, 2020 at 1:00pm CEST.
Just one year ago, more than 240 engineers, managers and simulation experts from all over the world gathered in the city of Hanau near Frankfurt, Germany, to attend the 11th edition of the VI-grade International Conference and to discuss the latest trends in driving simulation. Despite the exceptional situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic, VI-grade continues bridging the gap and once again gives its international community the opportunity to discover more about the company’s current strategies and directions and to exchange experience with other partners and users of the VI-grade technology in a Virtual Conference.
The free-of-charge event, dedicated to executive managers and experienced engineers from the main automotive and transportation companies, tier1 suppliers, motorsport teams, universities and research centers from all over the world, will be hosted on May 13th, 2020 at 1:00pm CEST | 7:00am EDT | 8:00pm JST and will take advantage of the most sophisticated web conferencing techniques now available on the market.
The web conference will give the VI-grade international community of users, partners and prospective customers the possibility 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, featuring confirmed (keynote and technical) online presentations so far from Applus + IDIADA, Goodyear, Maserati, Pininfarina, Volvo.
Additionally, the event will feature a fully functional virtual exhibition area open during the whole day of May 13th, in which all sponsors and partners will have the chance of presenting their solutions during dedicated sessions open to all participants. Confirmed sponsors of the Virtual Conference so far are: Applus+ IDIADA, Danisi Engineering, Rebel Dynamics, Saginomiya, Barco, Concurrent Real-Time, Cosin, Heeds, IMTEC Engineering, MegaRide, MSC Software, Multimatic, SimCoVR, 3D Mapping, Altair, Horiba Mira, Konrad Technologies, Screenline, Smart Eye.
“Particularly due to the great success of our previous conferences, we are very pleased to have found a way to produce the 12th edition of our International Conference despite the current emergency situation,” said Guido Bairati, Vice President Global Sales & Marketing, VI-grade. “Therefore, we are especially looking forward to giving our international community the opportunity to share their latest projects and advancements realized using our simulation solutions with an experienced audience.”
Everyone is invited to join the 2020 International VI-grade Virtual Conference by registering free-of-charge at the link https://conference.vi-grade.com.
Just one year ago, more than 240 engineers, managers and simulation experts from all over the world gathered in the city of Hanau near Frankfurt, Germany, to attend the 11th edition of the VI-grade International Conference and to discuss the latest trends in driving simulation. Despite the exceptional situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic, VI-grade continues bridging the gap and once again gives its international community the opportunity to discover more about the company’s current strategies and directions and to exchange experience with other partners and users of the VI-grade technology in a Virtual Conference.
The free-of-charge event, dedicated to executive managers and experienced engineers from the main automotive and transportation companies, tier1 suppliers, motorsport teams, universities and research centers from all over the world, will be hosted on May 13th, 2020 at 1:00pm CEST | 7:00am EDT | 8:00pm JST and will take advantage of the most sophisticated web conferencing techniques now available on the market.
The web conference will give the VI-grade international community of users, partners and prospective customers the possibility 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, featuring confirmed (keynote and technical) online presentations so far from Applus + IDIADA, Goodyear, Maserati, Pininfarina, Volvo.
Additionally, the event will feature a fully functional virtual exhibition area open during the whole day of May 13th, in which all sponsors and partners will have the chance of presenting their solutions during dedicated sessions open to all participants. Confirmed sponsors of the Virtual Conference so far are: Applus+ IDIADA, Danisi Engineering, Rebel Dynamics, Saginomiya, Barco, Concurrent Real-Time, Cosin, Heeds, IMTEC Engineering, MegaRide, MSC Software, Multimatic, SimCoVR, 3D Mapping, Altair, Horiba Mira, Konrad Technologies, Screenline, Smart Eye.
“Particularly due to the great success of our previous conferences, we are very pleased to have found a way to produce the 12th edition of our International Conference despite the current emergency situation,” said Guido Bairati, Vice President Global Sales & Marketing, VI-grade. “Therefore, we are especially looking forward to giving our international community the opportunity to share their latest projects and advancements realized using our simulation solutions with an experienced audience.”
Everyone is invited to join the 2020 International VI-grade Virtual Conference by registering free-of-charge at the link https://conference.vi-grade.com.
VI-grade boosts product line with NVH Software and Simulators
Darmstadt (Germany), April 9th, 2020 – VI-grade today announced that it has expanded its product line with all NVH Simulation Software and NVH Driving Simulators from sister company Brüel & Kjær. Both companies belong to the same business platform – HBK "Hottinger, Brüel & Kjaer" – so are in an ideal position for this alliance. The move opens many opportunities to combine technologies from Brüel & Kjaer and VI-grade, in order to deliver unique, high-value solutions to the automotive market.
As a consequence of this, Brüel & Kjær’s DESKTOP NVH Simulator and FULL VEHICLE NVH Simulator today join VI-grade’s existing Driving Simulator product line, which already boasts the DESKTOP, COMPACT, STATIC and DYNAMIC Simulators (DiM series).
NVH simulator solutions are vital tools that help vehicle manufacturers to design and deliver exceptional sound and vibration experience for their customers. The NVH Simulator software enables designers to create and evaluate virtual NVH prototypes, saving them millions on every vehicle program and reducing development time.
“The NVH Simulator technology is a perfect fit with the VI-grade technology platform, since the purpose and use of the NVH Simulator parallels that of the other VI-grade technologies and simulators” said Dave Bogema, Product Manager - NVH Refinement, VI-grade. “Incorporating the NVH Simulator capabilities into the VI-grade portfolio will enable our customers to engineer multiple vehicle attributes with an integrated set of simulation tools and simulators. The use and experience of virtual prototypes encompassing NVH, vehicle dynamics, ride and comfort, ADAS, AV and HMI can now be realized in concert, greatly increasing development efficiency across all these attributes.”
“The addition of NVH Simulators into the VI-grade Driving Simulator product family allows us to provide customers with driving simulators for all different applications, ranging from Ride & Handling to NVH without neglecting the needs of people developing ADAS and AV and performing HMI studies” said Guido Bairati, VP of Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. ”Today we can proudly say that VI-grade provides reliable Driving Simulator solutions for the entire frequency range, helping customers bridge the gap between testing and simulation in an even more consistent way for all different disciplines -- all this in an integrated product line!"
NVH simulation enables managers and customers alike to 'drive' competing vehicles and previous models in highly realistic scenarios so engineers can quantify their hypotheses. When working with NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) in the development of a ground vehicle, it’s all about tuning the components of the vehicle to ensure it will have the desired sound (internally and externally) and vibration. The more accurate and early in the design phase these properties can be evaluated, the more value the tool will have, since it is more expensive to make modifications when the car is about to leave the assembly line.
About the NVH Simulator
NVH Simulator creates an interactive driving experience of a vehicle’s interior noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), bringing your sound and vibration data into the real world, so it can be experienced by real people. Highly accurate vehicle sound is played through headphones or speakers, allowing the driver to experience the sound quality of a vehicle throughout all of the dynamic aspects of driving, like changing gears and accelerating, on a smooth road or even bouncing across a field. This software is commonly paired with a steering wheel and pedals so that drivers can interact with NVH in driving scenarios. This immersive context for sound evaluations helps people understand NVH data, understand the effects of design changes on sound and vibration, select appropriate sounds and compare alternative designs – whether they are engineers or non-experts. NVH Simulation increases confidence in the decision-making process, whether evaluating virtual or physical prototype updates.
As a consequence of this, Brüel & Kjær’s DESKTOP NVH Simulator and FULL VEHICLE NVH Simulator today join VI-grade’s existing Driving Simulator product line, which already boasts the DESKTOP, COMPACT, STATIC and DYNAMIC Simulators (DiM series).
NVH simulator solutions are vital tools that help vehicle manufacturers to design and deliver exceptional sound and vibration experience for their customers. The NVH Simulator software enables designers to create and evaluate virtual NVH prototypes, saving them millions on every vehicle program and reducing development time.
“The NVH Simulator technology is a perfect fit with the VI-grade technology platform, since the purpose and use of the NVH Simulator parallels that of the other VI-grade technologies and simulators” said Dave Bogema, Product Manager - NVH Refinement, VI-grade. “Incorporating the NVH Simulator capabilities into the VI-grade portfolio will enable our customers to engineer multiple vehicle attributes with an integrated set of simulation tools and simulators. The use and experience of virtual prototypes encompassing NVH, vehicle dynamics, ride and comfort, ADAS, AV and HMI can now be realized in concert, greatly increasing development efficiency across all these attributes.”
“The addition of NVH Simulators into the VI-grade Driving Simulator product family allows us to provide customers with driving simulators for all different applications, ranging from Ride & Handling to NVH without neglecting the needs of people developing ADAS and AV and performing HMI studies” said Guido Bairati, VP of Sales and Marketing, VI-grade. ”Today we can proudly say that VI-grade provides reliable Driving Simulator solutions for the entire frequency range, helping customers bridge the gap between testing and simulation in an even more consistent way for all different disciplines -- all this in an integrated product line!"
NVH simulation enables managers and customers alike to 'drive' competing vehicles and previous models in highly realistic scenarios so engineers can quantify their hypotheses. When working with NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) in the development of a ground vehicle, it’s all about tuning the components of the vehicle to ensure it will have the desired sound (internally and externally) and vibration. The more accurate and early in the design phase these properties can be evaluated, the more value the tool will have, since it is more expensive to make modifications when the car is about to leave the assembly line.
About the NVH Simulator
NVH Simulator creates an interactive driving experience of a vehicle’s interior noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), bringing your sound and vibration data into the real world, so it can be experienced by real people. Highly accurate vehicle sound is played through headphones or speakers, allowing the driver to experience the sound quality of a vehicle throughout all of the dynamic aspects of driving, like changing gears and accelerating, on a smooth road or even bouncing across a field. This software is commonly paired with a steering wheel and pedals so that drivers can interact with NVH in driving scenarios. This immersive context for sound evaluations helps people understand NVH data, understand the effects of design changes on sound and vibration, select appropriate sounds and compare alternative designs – whether they are engineers or non-experts. NVH Simulation increases confidence in the decision-making process, whether evaluating virtual or physical prototype updates.
Pirelli further reduces tire development time thanks to brand-new VI-grade STATIC simulator
Milan, February 25, 2020 – VI-grade today announced the inauguration of the brand-new STATIC driving simulator featuring active technologies to precisely replicate vehicle and tire characteristics at Pirelli’s renowned research and development division in Milan, Italy. The state-of-the art driving simulator provided by VI-grade will be mainly utilized for the tire development for FIA Formula One World Championship, motorsport and road-going tires, reducing development cycles.
Compared to traditional development methods, the STATIC simulator allows a virtual model of any car – either supplied by the manufacturer or produced internally – to be quickly programmed into the system, while joint design and development work can also be carried out on the manufacturer’s own driving simulator. This means that tire development lead times remain perfectly in step with those of the cars that they are destined for, with more new models coming out more frequently these days. Furthermore, the use of the new driving simulator to maximize the virtual development phase means that the number of actual physical prototypes made is reduced, underpinning Pirelli’s sustainability approach.
Featuring a wrap-round 210-degrees panoramic screen, 7.5 meters in diameter, the simulation technology can visually reproduce a wide-range of different driving conditions, roads and circuits. At the heart of the systems is a static car equipped with various active technologies to exactly reproduce the sensations that any driver would feel in a real car. Equipped with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, seat belts, and different shaker systems, the simulator can precisely replicate the movements of the suspension and the engine.
With all virtual development processes already developed by Pirelli and thanks to the cutting-edge driving simulation technology, there is now a 30% reduction in average development time for new tires, thanks to faster assessment of virtual prototypes produced for different car models.
“We are delighted to report the adoption of our STATIC driving simulator at Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli,” said Alessio Lombardi, Sales Director, South Europe and UK, VI-grade. “This confirms the ongoing trend that sees international Tier1 suppliers implement our driving simulator solutions, with the aim of better collaborating with automotive OEMs”.
About the STATIC Simulator
The STATIC Simulator by VI-grade is VI-grade’s professional solution for immersive and realistic driving experience. The STATIC Simulator is based on the same VI-DriveSim software package used on Compact Simulators and DiM Dynamic Simulators from VI-grade. It is also fully compatible with third-party software solutions. This enables customers to leverage previous investments and use the same toolchain both on the static simulator and on a dynamic one. HMI, Ride&Handling, NVH and ADAS are some of the disciplines that can be investigated using a static simulator by VI-grade. Complementary technologies such as VI-BioTelemetry, VI-ActiveSeat and VI-ActiveBelts, are also compatible with the STATIC simulator. Thanks to the real-time hardware infrastructure, the Static Simulator is also suitable for software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop applications.
Compared to traditional development methods, the STATIC simulator allows a virtual model of any car – either supplied by the manufacturer or produced internally – to be quickly programmed into the system, while joint design and development work can also be carried out on the manufacturer’s own driving simulator. This means that tire development lead times remain perfectly in step with those of the cars that they are destined for, with more new models coming out more frequently these days. Furthermore, the use of the new driving simulator to maximize the virtual development phase means that the number of actual physical prototypes made is reduced, underpinning Pirelli’s sustainability approach.
Featuring a wrap-round 210-degrees panoramic screen, 7.5 meters in diameter, the simulation technology can visually reproduce a wide-range of different driving conditions, roads and circuits. At the heart of the systems is a static car equipped with various active technologies to exactly reproduce the sensations that any driver would feel in a real car. Equipped with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, seat belts, and different shaker systems, the simulator can precisely replicate the movements of the suspension and the engine.
With all virtual development processes already developed by Pirelli and thanks to the cutting-edge driving simulation technology, there is now a 30% reduction in average development time for new tires, thanks to faster assessment of virtual prototypes produced for different car models.
“We are delighted to report the adoption of our STATIC driving simulator at Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli,” said Alessio Lombardi, Sales Director, South Europe and UK, VI-grade. “This confirms the ongoing trend that sees international Tier1 suppliers implement our driving simulator solutions, with the aim of better collaborating with automotive OEMs”.
About the STATIC Simulator
The STATIC Simulator by VI-grade is VI-grade’s professional solution for immersive and realistic driving experience. The STATIC Simulator is based on the same VI-DriveSim software package used on Compact Simulators and DiM Dynamic Simulators from VI-grade. It is also fully compatible with third-party software solutions. This enables customers to leverage previous investments and use the same toolchain both on the static simulator and on a dynamic one. HMI, Ride&Handling, NVH and ADAS are some of the disciplines that can be investigated using a static simulator by VI-grade. Complementary technologies such as VI-BioTelemetry, VI-ActiveSeat and VI-ActiveBelts, are also compatible with the STATIC simulator. Thanks to the real-time hardware infrastructure, the Static Simulator is also suitable for software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop applications.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company adopts VI-grade Driving Simulators to increase innovation and gain competitive advantage
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.
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.