VI-grade provides to FCA Latam and PUC Minas the first dynamic driving simulator to be ever installed in Latin America

Marburg, Sept 15th, 2016 – VI-grade today announced the forthcoming installation for FCA Latam (with headquarters based in Brasil) of the revolutionary motion platform named DiM® (Driver in Motion) designed by VI-grade and engineered and manufactured by Saginomiya. The new driving simulator will be installed as a turn-key solution at the “Center of Excellence in Dynamics Simulation and Vehicle Active Safety” at PUC-Minas in Belo Horizonte (MG) and will be the first dynamic driving simulator to be ever installed in Latin America.

 

The simulator, scheduled to be delivered in the incoming months and to come into operation in early 2017, will be mainly used by FCA Latam for the development of new cars and components, with the purpose of improving the design phase by anticipating subjective analysis done on test tracks and roads. The simulator will be also used for academic research and to provide services to other companies and institutions: the Government may contract the Simulation Center for virtually testing new roads, thus assessing their safety before their realization, or universities could conduct psychological researches on the behavior and the reaction of drivers in particular traffic situations.

 

“We have been increasingly approached by companies looking for solutions that can generate innovation. This project is very important to us, since it covers multidiscipline: nowadays knowledge is multidisciplinary and the university, by definition, is an environment that leads to multidisciplinarity” says Sergio Hanriot, Dean of Research and Graduate, PUC Minas. “The partnership between PUC and FCA Latam began more than 20 years ago, with the institution of a specialized course in Automotive Engineering. Since 1999, this partnership lead to over 50 dissertations, and this number will for sure increase with the implementation of the Centre of Excellence.”

 

“We are extremely happy to report this commercial success at FCA Latam”, said Guido Bairati, Sales Director, VI-grade. “Together with Saginomiya and thanks to the support of our partner Multicorpos, FCA Latam officially adds today to the growing list of customers that chose to believe in the superior value of our technology.”

 

The 9 degrees-of-freedom DiM® platform has been designed in order to take full advantage of VI-MotionCueing as well as of all other software technology developed by VI-grade and its partners. The DiM® concept enables the extension of the motion envelope and the separation of low and high frequency contributions, which makes this type of motion platform unique and suitable for both vehicle dynamics and ride studies.

VI-DriveSim is an innovative Integrated Hybrid Driving Simulator characterized by a revolutionary software and hardware design and targets both racing and commercial vehicle applications. The computing core is a Linux-based real-time computer, which enables owners to add any ECU or software program communicating with the digital vehicle model as in reality. VI-grade’s flagship solution VI-CarRealTime powers the system with a real-time validated vehicle model - the same one used for off-line simulations. Graphics are based on a high-quality rendering visualization program. The Motion Cueing strategy relies on complex mechanical and physiological optimization logic and the DiM Moving Platform, developed by VI-grade and engineered and manufactured by Saginomiya, is based on an innovative 9-DOF mechanical design. For further information, click here.

Saginomiya is the leading provider of automatic controls and test systems in Japan as and is very highly reputed throughout the world for the quality of its products. Saginomiya started developing, manufacturing and selling test systems in 1964, expanding in several business fields such as civil engineering and construction, industrial machinery, railway services, power generation, aviation and automotive. Saginomiya’s “Dynamic Servo” has been developed as the ideal test systems utilizing state-of-the-art core technologies such as electric and hydraulic hybrids as well as a next-generation simulator. Saginomiya is highly committed to serve the needs of the most technically advanced customers in the global market. For further information, click here.

English version available here