MapleSim used in the creation of breakthrough vehicle driving simulator technology

VI-DriveSim Dynamic offers a revolutionary simulation platform to test full vehicle configurations

As automotive manufacturers compete on features of efficiency and safety, they are also battling to provide the best driving experience for their customers. As a result, vehicle engineering is becoming more complex, involving multiple disciplines. There is a growing desire to provide test drivers and evaluators with simulated driving experiences, so that their feedback can be incorporated early in the design process. Based on this, automakers are introducing a new element in the complex assessment process between virtual prototyping and vehicle on-road testing.

With support from Maplesoft, VI-grade, an engineering simulation software provider, has produced the award-winning, breakthrough driving simulator technology, VI-DriveSim Dynamic. This high-end driving simulator allows automotive OEMs and racing teams to test full vehicle configurations, from the engine through the transmission to the suspension and tires, using a human driver and a virtual vehicle.

Very often, test drivers and track engineers cannot sufficiently influence the vehicle design, because their feedback comes far too late in the prototyping process. VI-DriveSim Dynamic enables the implementation of a new validation stage in the design cycle by letting real drivers drive the virtual car. Driver feedback can then be taken into account and improvements made before any expensive physical prototypes are built. The simulator needs to be so accurate that the most sensitive professional driver can feel the smallest change in vehicle performance.

The VI-DriveSim Dynamic simulator works by running a virtual mathematical model of the vehicle and track, and linking it to a 6 degree of freedom motion platform designed expressly for automotive requirements by Ansible Motion. The inputs to the virtual model are supplied by actions of the human driver in the simulator as he shifts, steers, brakes, and accelerates. In turn, the platform controller provides real-time input to the platform actuators, according to what happens to the vehicle model as it responds to the inputs. The physical simulator platform thus provides inertial feedback to the driver, allowing him/her to interact in a natural way with the virtual vehicle model.

An inverse kinematics/dynamics model of the motion platform is required so the software knows what changes to the platform will produce the correct forces on the driver to simulate the vehicle in motion. The challenge here is to acquire these inverse relationships, which will provide the most accurate response of the system. To accomplish this, Ansible Motion used Maplesoft’s system-level modeling and simulation tool, MapleSim, to build the platform model, and to analytically solve for the inverse kinematic equations. Having access to these equations is crucial and this could not have been achieved without a symbolic/analytical computational engine such as Maple, the mathematical engine behind MapleSim. In effect, MapleSim gives the controller an exact analytical solution for the inverse kinematics, giving the best possible simulation.

“Driving simulator technology is emerging as an integral part of the vehicle development process for motorsports teams and production vehicle manufacturers,” said Kia Cammaerts, Technical Director, Ansible Motion. “MapleSim was a big part of our ability to develop this technology. Our team would not have been able to efficiently develop our systems for VI-Grade or our other clients without a tool such as MapleSim, which we used to develop the inverse kinematic solutions for the actuators, saving us months of painstaking, error-prone effort.”

VI-Grade’s flagship solution, VI-CarRealTime, powers the system with a real-time validated vehicle model. The recently-announced partnership between Maplesoft and VI-grade makes real-time modeling applications more cost and time-effective by integrating MapleSim models with the VI-CarRealTime framework.

“The combination of MapleSim and VI-CarRealTime allows for the fast, accurate modeling of automotive subsystems, such as powertrains, suspensions and steering mechanisms,” said Paul Goossens, Vice President of Applications Engineering at Maplesoft. “Automotive engineers can easily do innovative work, exploring their designs in new and deeper ways, detecting problems earlier in the design cycle, and developing high-quality, practical solutions to their design challenges.”

VI-DriveSim Dynamic, has been awarded “Development Tool of the Year 2012” by Vehicle Dynamics International Magazine. The prestigious award was given to VI-DriveSim Dynamic out of a short list of finalists through a voting process by an international and independent judging panel composed of 15 automotive professionals.

About Ansible Motion
Ansible Motion designs and manufactures professional quality motion solutions for high end motorsport and road car engineering driving simulators.

They offer novel and patented 6 degree of freedom motion platforms, handwheel feedback devices, as well as motion cueing and control solutions designed expressly for real-time automotive simulation applications.

They are able to offer complete driving simulator installations with technical partners offering state of the art real time dynamic models, image generation, and hardware-in-the-loop simulation environments on both PC and Linux platforms.

About VI-grade
For all companies that want to bridge the gap between real-world testing and technical simulation in complex engineering applications, VI-grade develops engineering simulation software and provides engineering services worldwide. VI-CarRealTime provides a vehicle simulation environment where the same simplified vehicle model can be used by vehicle dynamics and controls engineers to optimize vehicle and control system performance. The product enables engineers to quickly and easily perform large Design of Experiments (DOE) and multi-objective optimization studies.

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