ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023 - 6

Cover Story
Sophisticated multi-axis DiM250
driving simulator at VI-grade's
Detroit-area simulation center.
simulation, according to Technavio. Higher costs of
fully validated human-factors driver-in-the-loop (DiL)
simulators also are expected to rise.
Those potential hurdles, however, aren't putting
off OEMs' strategic integration of sim into their
vehicle development organizations. Soon after
Ford commissioned its new DiM250 in Dearborn,
the automaker launched a new VI-grade Compact
Simulator, outfitted with a Virtual Test Tracks package,
at its Research and Engineering Center in Nanjing
China. The companies are now working on integrating
3D virtual data into the driving simulator that will
simulate Ford's test tracks in Nanjing.
Along with its traditional role in vehicle dynamics
work, simulation has found a natural home in ADAS
and autonomous vehicle development. Progress
Technologies Group, a Japanese engineering services
company, recently launched a new VI-grade DiM
driving simulator at its new engineering facility,
company CEO Nakayama Gakuto announced in a
release. He expects the tool to be used to perform both
human-factors development and " functional verification
of automated driving systems and advanced safety
control systems " when integrated into the company's
model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and modelbased
definition (MBD) technologies.
Changing the development game
" Everyone will tell you how simulation saves cost and
development time, and that's true, " observed Lucas
6 April 2023
Bruck, a principal research engineer at McMaster
University in Ontario, Canada. " But in my view, the
most valuable thing about driving simulators is the
design flexibility they give you by adding drivability
and performance into the mix. They allow you to tackle
those things beforehand - a game-changer for things
like ADAS, particularly when combined with hardware-in-the-loop, "
Bruck told SAE Media.
Driving simulators are " changing the game " in
ADAS and AV development by introducing the environmental
factors such as weather and an infinite
number of real-world driving conditions into the
models in a collaborative work environment -
without the real-world impediments those conditions
pose to engineers.
" Validating ADAS and automated systems, as engineers
incorporate more and more AI, is a big application
for driving simulators, " according to Sam Abuelsamid,
principal research analyst leading Guidehouse Insights'
E-Mobility solutions group and former development
engineer for ABS, traction control and stability control
systems. " In those days we had a suite of test scenarios
which was comparatively limited because we knew that
ultimately, it came down to the human driver, whom
we were trying to assist. But today's fully-automated
systems have to be able to deal with every potential
scenario in the real world. "
VI-grade's simulation solutions for ADAS seamlessly
connect control system design, traffic simulation,
weather conditions, sensor fusion and the driving
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
VI-grade
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023

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