Refine
Document Type
Language
- English (2)
Has Fulltext
- no (2)
Publication reviewed
- begutachtet (2)
Keywords
- Driving Simulator (1)
- Model (1)
- Simulation (1)
- Simulator (1)
- Steering (1)
- Vehicle Development (1)
- Vehicle Dynamics (1)
- Virtualization (1)
The disruptive change of the future vehicle fleet, new technologies and short development times challenge the entire automotive industry. Every test drive and every test kilometer is cost-intensive and, on top of that, in some cases hardly feasible for safety reasons. The goal is crystal clear: to shift development more and more to simulation and reduce the number of prototypes. However, the real driving experience in a road test still offers essential insights for engineers and management. Driving simulators have the potential to bridge these gaps. They can create the possibility for engineers and test subjects to experience the subjective driving impressions of new functions, systems and driving attributes already in the virtual phase. In order to achieve a comparable driving experience on a driving simulator and thus a comparable evaluation result with the driving test, the methods as well the driving simulator environment must be aligned with the targeted applications and use cases. Kempten University of Applied Sciences has set up a novel dynamic driving simulator from AB Dynamics (ABD). Together with research and technology partners, technologies and methods are being further developed on this basis in order to achieve the above-mentioned goal. The paper presents potential, methods as well as use cases relevant for chassis development. The paper also gives a first-hand account of the experience.
Recently the trend of driving simulators with driver in the loop (DiL) integration in the development process has become more and more visible. BMW opened a completely new simulation center, Daimler and Toyota have already had theirs in operation for some years. The reasons are well known and are presented in conferences and written down in papers: Reducing development time, reducing prototypes, reducing costs and increasing overall performance and efficiency. The same benefits are promised in papers about pure simulation, but what is the actual benefit from a dynamic driving simulator? The investment and operating costs are very high and yet it is crucial to bring the driver in to the loop. Obviously, the maturity level or knowledge about pure simulation and understanding for human drivers are still insufficient for a major breakthrough of simulation in many fields of application. A driving simulator connects the real and virtual world, by which humans experience functions and characteristics subjectively. Crucial decisions are made on reliable subjective feedback and humans especially become part of the left arm of the V-model development process. The current approach is using the same models and simulation environments combined with a driving simulator transferring simple signals from visible into feelable. The disadvantage of closing open control loops with a driver is that the objective data and maneuver quality largely depends on the driver. Assuming the driver is well qualified, the interface must reflect the real driving experience. Otherwise, every system/component under test will be assessed with an offset, filter or error. Besides the visualization, the steering feel is the most important channel for the driver to properly control any lateral movement. The common approach is using a force feedback system. A look on a steering system illustrates the complexity to ensure good steering feel.