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In addition to the analysis of human driving behavior or the development of new advanced driver assistance systems, the high simulation quality of today’s driving simulators enables investigations of selected topics pertaining to driving dynamics. With high reproducibility and fast generation of vehicle variants the subjective evaluation process leads to a better system understanding in the early development stages. The transfer of the original on-road test run to the virtual reality of the driving simulator includes the full flexibility of the vehicle model, the maneuver and the test track, which allows new possibilities of investigation. With the opportunity of a realistic whole-vehicle simulation provided by the Stuttgart Driving Simulator new analysis of the human’s thresholds of perception are carried out.

The combination of enhanced powertrains and adapted vehicle concepts can reduce the energy demand of vehicles significantly, especially when energy conversion efficiency rises and at the same time driving resistances decrease. In addition, new powertrain concepts are able to offer extra functionality due to a growing cross-linking with chassis and vehicle body. The design of highly linked vehicles and powertrain systems requires additional new development methods in order to answer interacting questions of driving dynamics and vehicle energy efficiency at an early stage of development. In the paper a database-based simulation platform is presented which was developed at the IVK of the University of Stuttgart in cooperation with the Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS). The simulation platform is used as an example to discuss mass reducing developments for various powertrain concepts.

Within the scope of a current research project at the Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS), the potential for an estimation of vehicle side slip angle and yaw rate arising from online measurement of tire forces is evaluated. Investigations focus on how the vehicle state can be determined, if in addition to wheel speeds and steering angle the tire forces currently acting on the vehicle are known. Different estimation procedures based on inverse tire models, direct integration of vehicle accelerations and closed-loop-observer are discussed. The performance is tested with data from vehicle dynamics simulation.

Overtaking vehicles are among the most difficult driving maneuvers. In particular, young or inexperienced drivers often misjudge the current traffic situation when planning to pass a vehicle ahead. In most cases however, false situation estimations lead to dangerous traffic scenarios. For instance, in Germany about 18000 accidents occur due to misjudged overtaking maneuvers per year. The planning process for overtaking a vehicle requires to gather, weight and estimate different information pieces, like vehicle speed of oncoming traffic, road track ahead, velocity of the vehicle to be passed, etc. Besides sensing information, such a planning process demands a considerable amount of experience, particularly when estimating certain information that cannot be measured or sensed by the driver.

This paper points out the possibilities and capabilities of modern simulation tools. Furthermore it sensitizes the topic of global view of total system beyond the discipline. Special emphasis is placed on the coupling of tools to form an efficient development and simulation environment. As exemplary implementations a dynamic total vehicle model with active suspensions and with consideration of exact elastic component behavior of the stabilizer bars is presented. The models are all created using modern, commercially available tools. To give another aspect to efficient development and simulation environments some hints to the progress of real time applications are made. Finally preliminary and exemplary simulation results are discussed.

In the automotive industry, there is a continued need to improve the development process and handle the increasing complexity of the overall vehicle system. One major step in this process is a comprehensive and complementary approach to both simulation and testing. Knowledge of the overall dynamic vehicle behavior is becoming increasingly important for the development of new control concepts such as integrated vehicle dynamics control aiming to improve handling quality and ride comfort. However, with current well-established test systems, only separated and isolated aspects of vehicle dynamics can be evaluated. To address these challenges and further merge the link between simulation and testing, the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Automotive Engineering (IVK), University of Stuttgart is introducing a new Handling Roadway (HRW) Test System in cooperation with The Research Institute of Automotive Engineering and Vehicle Engines Stuttgart (FKFS) and MTS Systems Corporation.