Enhanced Ride Comfort Evaluation on the Driving Simulator with Real-Time Multibody Models

With the aim of moving a significant part of ride comfort development from physical to virtual, IDIADA and Toyota Motor Europe (TME) have been working on an advanced driving simulator set-up, where a full multibody vehicle model and a physical tire model run in real-time on a driving simulator. Firstly, a vehicle model was created in Simpack and made capable of running real-time (RT). Model creation was followed by model validation using proving ground measurements. Secondly, the Simpack RT model was integrated by IDIADA on their VI-grade DiM250 driving simulator. This required validation of the motion platform: signals taken at IDIADA's proving ground were replayed to assess the simulator response accelerations and frequency ranges relevant for ride comfort. Lastly, an on-site activity took place in which professional evaluators drove a physical vehicle on IDIADA's proving ground, back-to-back with driving the corresponding vehicle and track on the simulator. Subjective feedback from evaluators was taken in both the physical and virtual environments to establish their similarities, and a cross-check against objective signals was performed. The collaboration between IDIADA and TME is ongoing to refine platform response and overall methodology.