Applus+ IDIADA Announces Adoption of Hyperdock-Based Simulation Platform for Integrated Vehicle Dynamics and Ride Comfort Development

Santa Oliva, Spain, April 10, 2025 – VI-grade, the global provider of human-centric simulation-driven vehicle development solutions, today announced that Applus+ IDIADA, a leading company specialized in providing design, engineering, testing and homologation services to the automotive industry worldwide, has decided to upgrade their existing DiM250 driving simulator from VI-grade installed at their Santa Oliva facility, extending its capabilities into high-frequency vibration comfort and NVH development.

At the heart of this next-generation platform is VI-grade’s Hyperdock - a lightweight, modular cockpit equipped with precisely calibrated shakers at driver contact points. Coupled with the DiM250 dynamic driving simulator, the configuration delivers accurate, real-time acceleration feedback derived from high-fidelity vehicle models, enabling engineers to assess handling, comfort, and NVH performance simultaneously, and from the earliest stages of design. This evolved configuration of their DiM250 driving simulator will be accessible to automotive manufacturers worldwide at IDIADA’s proving ground in the second half of 2025.

"Until now, automotive engineers have faced a significant challenge: while virtual simulation has advanced handling and steering development, ride comfort and NVH - especially in the secondary ride comfort domain - remained difficult to optimize before physical prototype testing," commented Guido Tosolin, Senior Manager Vehicle Dynamics at Applus+ IDIADA. "This integrated platform solves this long-standing industry problem."

The new system integrates multiple advanced technologies within a single simulation loop:

• High-definition real-time multi-body vehicle models paired with high-frequency transfer function models
• State-of-the-art VI-NVHSim Simulator Software from VI-grade for comprehensive vehicle NVH model preparation and acoustic feedback
• The latest generation AutoHawk 32 hard-real-time machine, powered by Concurrent Real-Time supporting complex, full-vehicle models with hundreds of degrees of freedom

This comprehensive virtual development environment offers automotive manufacturers three key benefits:

1. Creation of first-time-right prototypes, reducing costly iterations
2. Simultaneous optimization of handling and comfort characteristics
3. Accurate subjective evaluation, complete with vibration feedback, before physical prototypes are built

The solution is particularly valuable for optimizing long-lead and structurally critical components such as bushings, subframes, and body systems, which are traditionally difficult to validate until late-stage testing.

“The installation of this integrated simulation platform at IDIADA represents a natural and strategic evolution of the DiM250 simulator they already operate,” said Alessio Lombardi, Vice President Sales EMEA and North America at VI-grade. “It’s also a significant step forward in bringing full-spectrum simulation capabilities to the forefront of vehicle development. This success reflects the strong momentum for human-centric simulation across the industry, and we’re proud to support IDIADA in delivering cutting-edge engineering services to their global customer base.”

More details about this collaboration and technology will be unveiled during IDIADA’s participation as partner and speaker at VI-grade’s 2025 ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit.

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