Paul Bray explains the key differences between visualisation and simulation and how AV technology is allowing an industry sector to design and test solutions to the highest standards.

The introduction of autonomous vehicles will bring a lot of uncertainty for drivers, workshop engineers and automotive manufacturers alike - and time is soon running out, as car makers are promising full hands-off SAE Level-4 autonomy as soon as 2021. 

With the costs to develop any new vehicle easily reaching a billion dollars, car makers are keen to uncover savings in R&D budgets. With increasing emissions and safety regulations, the diversity of legislation across the globe, and autonomous cars just around the corner in car development terms, the cost problem isn’t going away anytime soon.

In response to the costs of testing, OEMs and tier ones are increasing their use of simulation tools to undertake an ever increasing amount of the validation. Simulation, at first glance, offers obvious benefits; producing fewer development cars – typically costing $1m for a first prototype – and shaving this from a programme by introducing virtual sign-offs naturally appeals to programme managers.

Over the past two decades increasingly powerful simulators have revolutionised car design and development. Now, tools built to hone circuit performance are being utilised to spearhead the design of the automated road cars of the future. 

With demand from race and road car development teams on the increase, Ford Performance has invested in a second driving simulator at its technical center in Concord, North Carolina, USA.

The Ansible Motion full-motion driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator at the Ford Performance Technical Center, North Carolina, USA remains one of relatively few worldwide to be publicly acknowledged by an OEM. Since its origianl installation in 2014, Ford has made no secret of its benefit not only to its NASCAR and sports car race programs, but as a trailblazing technology that is being transferred to future production-car development. 

The benefits of composite materials are now widely appreciated in the automotive industry. From city cars to Indy 500 race cars, the unique blend of low weight and high stiffness offered by carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and other composites has led to a surge in their use over recent years. But one company is taking this a step further, looking at how the innovative use of materials can enable virtual sign-offs in the digital domain as well.

With vehicle development lead times now shorter than ever before, car manufacturers are relying on human-in-the-loop driving simulators to meet deadlines while also ensuring the validation of a growing number of driver assistance technologies. Phil Morse, technical liaison at Ansible Motion, offers insight into what we can expect from simulation in 2018.

With their ever-increasing presence, driving simulators appear to be the latest tool that vehicle constructors rely upon, but they have actually played a part in vehicle development for a long time. Take a look at Mercedes’ enormous simulator with an S-Class perched on top. In fact, simulators using Stewart Platforms (a.k.a. hexapods) were trialed for tire development in the late 1940s.

Ever wondered how regenerative braking in hybrid and electric cars is calibrated by engineers? Or how the changeover from AI to human drivers will be validated in the future? These and many other vehicle development conundrums are being solved by technology developed by a company based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK.  Ansible Motion already counts major North American and Japanese OEMs among a client base that also includes the added glamour of a raft of Formula One teams.

Rapidly evolving simulation technology is transforming motorsport at an unprecedented rate. PMW talks to the industry's heavyweights about how the tech is helping. 

A better understanding of the present and the future is often gained by looking back, but for simulator technology the recent past can seem like an awfully long time ago. As with other aspects of motorsport that have changed beyond all recognition thanks to the wholesale utilization of up-to-the-minute computing power, current simulators are delivering levels of sophistication and accuracy, and the subsequent advantage that simply were not possible a decade ago. More importantly, the boundaries of what is possible are yet to be fully realized, meaning that the role of the simulator in motosport can only grow. 

Autonomous cars are coming, bringing with them a new definition of the daily commute. As the responsibility of driving passes to artificial intelligence (AI) systems, everybody becomes a passenger with time on their hands. The question then will be about how to spend that time – sleeping, catching up on work, watching a film or reading. Proponents suggest the possibilities are limitless – but are they really?