Conception and Design of Mobile Driving Simulators

Driving simulators (DS) are an indispensable developmental tool in the automotive industry. Versatile areas of application all profit from the high degree of reproducibility and safety of DS. The upcoming demands for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) with respect to urban traffic situations result in increasing DS requirements in regard to motion envelope and system dynamics [1]. To fulfill those increased requirements, modern-day DS show up to 12 degrees of freedom (DOF) whilst comprising multiple drive mechanisms. These improvements come with the disadvantage of creating a complex system with increased moving mass of about 80 t. Thus, a link between moving mass and motion envelope is caused, limiting either motion envelope or system dynamics. Mobile dynamic DS solve the core problem of the increased moving mass. The proposed design of a Wheeled Mobile Driving Simulators (WMDS) shows three self-propelled and active steerable wheels that allow translational motion and yaw [2]. The main idea is based on the assumption that a wheeled system, whose propulsion is limited by friction forces, is suitable to simulate dynamics of vehicles that are also limited by tire friction forces. An additional system provides cabin tilt. Avoiding the conventional rail systems, which mainly cause the moving mass increase, results in a light weight concept [3]. The design and construction of the WMDS are carried out at the Institute of Automotive Engineering (Fahrzeugtechnik Darmstadt: FZD), Germany since 2010. This paper shows the evaluation of a suitable design – by the standards of modern product development – in general for mobile dynamic DS and specifically for WMDS. Furthermore, this paper shows the selection of the individual components and overall properties as well as limitations of the prototype.