How to extract advantage from driving simulator technology in developing brand specific vehicle dynamics

Abstract

The two major challenges in chassis development - both aiming at im-proved efficiency - the automotive industry is facing are:

• reducing development cost – e.g. less prototype vehicles, less physical testing

• increasing value for customers – e.g. more variants, higher complexity

In this challenge, virtual methods are efficiently serving the development process with data and key performance indicators in order to understand effects on an objective level. Nevertheless, shaping the overall vehicle dynamics characteristics to a brand-specific DNA and providing this DNA throughout the whole vehicle lineup often requires the need to enhance the understanding of objective knowledge by subjective measures.

Given multiple examples of new installations in the recent years, the rise of driving simulator technology in the industry is more than obvious. However, driving simulators itself are tools – and like other simulation tools – featured with several limits and boundary conditions in their application. As in physical testing, test procedures need to be designed in a way that specific performances of the vehicle can be evaluated. The same holds for the usage of driving simulators, but unlike in physical testing several additional points need to be considered. Therefore, the paper describes as a first step a driving simulator-oriented test and maneuver design for efficient vehicle evaluation and lists advantages which are only present in virtual environments.

Whereas many publications are developing methods which focus on studies with many participants (“normal driver”), Hyundai has developed a methodology aiming at the standard vehicle dynamics process which is executed with the help of professional subjective test drivers. The paper describes how the virtual tests are prepared and how test drivers are smoothly integrated in the process.

The application of this process is shown on the example of vehicle variant development, which is in the real world only possible for some selected variants of a given vehicle. Based on the shown process, a driving simulator environment enables the subjective evaluation and consistency check for different weight, trim line or tire configurations for a wider range of variants, which finally improve the quality of the brand specific vehicle dynamics DNA.