Marburg, Nov 16th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, announced that BMW Motorrad Motorsport adopted VI-BikeRealTime to design and optimize its motorbikes for the Superbike World Championship. In detail, the VI-grade dedicated solution for realtime motorbike simulation is used since 2010 for hardware-in-the-loop simulations aimed to optimize laptime for the Superbike World Championship.

The BMW team stood at the World Superbike starting-line for the first time in 2009, with the S 1000 RR racing machine. In Stephanskirchen near Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria, Germany, BMW and Alpha Racing jointly set up a motorsports center of excellence to further develop the race bike. BMW development engineers are responsible for ensuring that the S 1000 RR competes well in the World Superbike class. All the related engineering activities are directly performed at BMW Motorrad: this enables the team to respond quickly and flexibly to new requirements imposed by the test tracks and race tracks.
   
“Electronics development is one of BMW’s core competencies in the field of motorsports: we believe that electrics and electronics make a bike not only fast, but also reliable”, said Ralf Schmidt, Project manager for electric/electronic, BMW Motorrad Motorsport. “To improve speed and safety of our bikes, our race team chose to use a Full-Size Simulator as a hardware-in-the-loop system to test the ECUs, including running automated tests to test the ECU hardware and closed loop tests with VI-grade tools such as VI-BikeRealTime to ensure the function of the high level software parts like traction control, engine braking, launch control and track detection.”

 

“We are extremely happy that BMW Motorrad Motorsport selected VI-BikeRealTime as a strategic tool for its engineering activities”, said Juergen Fett, Managing Director of VI-grade. “This confirms that our VI-BikeRealTime solution is the ideal platform to perform hardware-in-the-loop activities on a motorcycle model.”

Mr. Ralf Schmidt from BMW Motorrad Motorsport recently held a keynote speech dedicated to electric and electronic development in the high level motorcycle motorsport sector at the 4th VI-grade Users Conference in Udine, Italy (presentation available at this link).

About VI-BikeRealTime

VI-BikeRealTime is a modeling, post processing and real-time analysis environment for motorcycle models which allows designers, analysts and track engineers to take into account effects from the motorcycle itself as well as from the road profile and the rider. VI-BikeRealTime is also the ideal platform to perform software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop activities on a motorcycle model. This is made possible thanks to the interface with MATLAB Simulink and with most widely used HIL platforms. In this way engineers can first develop reliable control systems in a safe environment and then test them checking how real ECUs interact with the virtual model. ECUs durability under realistic working conditions can be tested as well. VI-BikeRealTime is interfaced with VI-Motorcycle, the ADAMS-based multibody solution for detailed motorcycle models, and therefore real-time models can be automatically derived from detailed multibody models. This approach, already proven to be successful in the automotive industry, allows users to decrease modelling time, to increase confidence in results and to maintain only one database. VI-BikeRealTime has been proven to deliver reliable results in several different projects with leading motorcycle manufacturers. Despite of the fact that the model is simplified, results match very well experimental measurements. For further information click here.

Marburg, September 19th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that UoP Racing, the formula student racing team of University of Patras, has selected VI-MotorSport, VI-grade’s complete suite for system-level racing simulations, to optimize the setup of their racing cars.

 

 

“UoP Racing has long been working on the improvement of performance prediction of racing cars by the means of CAE in designing, which would result in much higher efficiency in designing and lower risk of R&D. However, due to the capital and test site limitations, students’ trials on test-driving and adjusting were quite inconvenient and largely restrained” says Mr. Dimitrios Chantzis, team member of the UoP Racing Team. “Fortunately, VI-grade, one of the top-ranking suppliers for simulation software of Vehicle Dynamics, whose products cover several fields such as vehicle, aviation, car-racing sports and railway, is capable of assisting us to combine conception design and practical test-driving, thus enabling our team to seek for the optimum performance of our racing cars.”

“We are very excited about the collaboration with UoP Racing” says Guido Bairati, Sales Director of VI-grade. “We are looking forward to supporting the success of this team that joins today the community of our customers belonging to the racing industry.”

 

 

 

About VI-Motorsport

VI-Motorsport is a software environment for vehicle modelling and dynamic analysis, which helps race cars designers and track engineers to predict vehicle performance when set-up parameters are modified, before the car is built and also in support of race events. VI-Motorsport is based on a faster-than-real-time simulation solver which can predict the virtual car behaviour and has been extensively validated against test data in various race car series. The VI-Motorsport environment is complemented by the ability to create road data (both drivelines and tire contact profiles) starting either from GPS, laser or telemetry data measurements, or from a fully analytical description. VI-MotorSport will also write out data that is fully compatible with ATLAS from McLaren Electronic Systems, making it simple to integrate with existing tools. Finally VI-grade’s advanced driver model allows users to drive the vehicle model around the specified track. For all those companies involved in the process of finding best vehicle set-up and performance whilst at the same time limiting economic resources, VI- Motorsport is an unprecedented support and a revolutionary aid to the engineering team. VI-Motorsport includes the following software modules: VI-CarRealTime, VI-Road, VI-Tires, VI-Driver, VI-Animator and VI-SuspensionGen.

About University of Patras

The University of Patras was founded in the city of Patras in 1964 and it began functioning in the academic year 1966/67. Its creation contributed vastly to the decentralization of academic education in Greece. The University of Patras is the third largest University in Greece concerning the size of students potential, the faculty members, administrative personnel, number of departments, and accredited students titles. It includes 22 Departments, with a large number of sectors and consequently a great range of disciplines, which operate 112 laboratories and 14 clinics fully equipped, 21,200 undergraduate and 3,260 postgraduate students. It enumerates 754 of faculty members, 238 of teaching staff, and 481 administrative personnel. Besides its distinguished path in education, the University of Patras has made excellence in the fields of basic and applied research. The University of Patras has acquired international prominence for pioneering and wide ranging research in areas such as Environment, Health, Biotechnology, Mechanics, Electronics, Informatics and basic science. A number of its Departments, Laboratories and Clinics have been designated as Centers of Excellence, on the basis of international assessment. The University of Patras has a reputation for quality and innovative research and presents an effective participation in a plethora of research projects, scientific organizations, and research groups. Together with its educational and research work, the rich cultural activity of the University of Patras, attracts many candidate students every year as their first and foremost choice for their High degree studies. For further information about University of Patras click here.

About VI-grade

VI-grade GmbH is the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation. VI-grade, established in 2005, delivers innovative solutions to streamline the development process from concept to sign-off in the transportation industry, mainly automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, motorsports and railways. With office locations in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA, and a worldwide channel network of 20 trusted partners, VI-grade is a young and growing company with a highly skilled technical team.

Marburg, August 9th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that Deakin University, one of the new generation of Australian universities, selected the VI-grade suite of solutions dedicated to 2-wheel vehicles and based on VI-Motorcycle.

The engineering team at Deakin University will use VI-Motorcycle to assess and optimize the dynamic performance of a revolutionary cross-over fun vehicle characterized by ultra low fuel consumption and emissions, that combines fun to drive, low cost, and small size of a scooter together with the safety, comfort and easiness to operate of a car.

 

 

“Higher safety risks together with special skill requirements for the driver and much lower comfort compared to normal cars are the main reasons why motorbikes represent only a fraction of all vehicle sales in developed countries” says Frank Will, Senior Lecturer, Deakin University. “Such a product will address customer priorities such as safety, affordability, fun and efficiency (SAFE) and we will use VI Motorcycle to analyze the highest priority issue, which is safety. Thanks to VI-Motorcycle, for example, we could finetune the  dynamic behavior of the SafeRide™ fully automatic tilting control system, that enables to build the vehicle with a full enclosure, since the driver does not need to put the feet on the ground to balance the vehicle when he stops.”

Warwick Marx, Managing Director of Compumod, says: “This success proves once again that, through our products and services, we enable our clients to eliminate slow and costly physical testing by creating and testing "virtual prototypes" that can be quickly evaluated for performance to achieve lasting competitive advantage.”

“We are happy to report the first commercial success through Compumod,” says Guido Bairati, Sales Director, VI-Grade. “This demonstrates the efficiency of our commercial strategies, that relies on a capillary network of experienced and respected resellers. We are looking forward to a continuous a fruitful collaboration in Australia and New Zealand!”

Video and images of this project can be viewed at: http://www.deakin.edu.au/news/2011/080811futurecar.php

About VI-Motorcycle

With VI-Motorcycle, the specialized simulation environment for motorcycle design and testing, an engineering team can quickly build and simulate a complete parameterized model of a motorcycle in order to select fundamental design options and to explore new functional concepts prior to building physical prototypes. VI-Motorcycle is based on the MSC.ADAMS™ solver and is fully supported by VI-grade developers. It provides common methods throughout corporations and suppliers for modeling and design practices. Due to its scalability and extendibility, it can be customized easily in order to fit into the development process.
For additional information, please click here.

About Deakin University

Deakin University was established in the 1970s as one of the new generation of Australian universities. Named after Alfred Deakin, Australia's second Prime Minister, Deakin combines a university's traditional focus on excellent teaching and research with a desire to seek new ways of developing and delivering courses. Deakin has won several awards for its teaching and learning excellence - testament to its excellent facilities, flexible learning options and courses which are informed by industry professionals. For additional information about some of Deakin's distinctive features, please visit: http://www.deakin.edu.au.

About Compumod

First established in 1982, Compumod quickly became the name to trust for the supply and support of advanced computer aided engineering simulation tools throughout SE Asia. Now relaunched in 2010 Compumod is back, doing what it does best supporting the world’s leading Engineering Analysis tools across Australia and New Zealand. Compumod’s mission is to deliver state of the art Computer Simulation tools and services to Australian and New Zealand businesses to help them achieve a competitive advantage and sustainable return on investment.  For more information, please visit http://www.compumod.com.au.

About VI-grade

VI-grade GmbH is the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation. VI-grade, established in 2005, delivers innovative solutions to streamline the development process from concept to sign-off in the transportation industry, mainly automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, motorsports and railways. With office locations in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA and a worldwide channel network of 20 trusted partners, VI-grade is a young and growing company with a highly skilled technical team.

Marburg, March 29th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that BIT-Racing, ac Formula SAE team set up by undergraduate students in Beijing Institute of Technology, has selected VI-MotorSport, VI-grade’s complete suite for system-level racing simulations, to optimize the setup of their racing cars.

Founded in September 2009 for the first FSAE competition of China held in 2010, BIT-Racing is a Formula SAE team set up by undergraduate students in Beijing Institute of Technology. The strategic partnership with VI-grade will provide the team with of the possibility of realizing their goal of performance prediction before manufacturing, obtaining the desired achievements in the future competition.

“Being the champion of the first FSAE in China, BIT-Racing has long been working on the improvement of performance prediction of racing cars by the means of CAE in designing, which would result in much higher efficiency in designing and lower risk of R&D. However, due to the capital and test site limitations, students’ trials on test-driving and adjusting were quite inconvenient and largely restrained” says Mr. XU Bin, faculty advisor of BIT-Racing Team. “Fortunately, VI-grade, one of the top-ranking suppliers for simulation software of Vehicle Dynamics, whose products cover several fields such as vehicle, aviation, car-racing sports and railway, is capable of assisting us to combine conception design and practical test-driving, thus enabling our team to seek for the optimum performance of our racing cars.”

“We are very excited about the collaboration with BIT-Racing” says Guido Bairati, Sales Director of VI-grade. “We are looking forward to supporting the success of this team that joins today the community of our customers belonging to the racing industry.”

About VI-Motorsport

VI-Motorsport is a software environment for vehicle modelling and dynamic analysis, which helps race cars designers and track engineers to predict vehicle performance when set-up parameters are modified, before the car is built and also in support of race events. VI-Motorsport is based on a faster-than-real-time simulation solver which can predict the virtual car behaviour and has been extensively validated against test data in various race car series. The VI-Motorsport environment is complemented by the ability to create road data (both drivelines and tire contact profiles) starting either from GPS, laser or telemetry data measurements, or from a fully analytical description. VI-MotorSport will also write out data that is fully compatible with ATLAS from McLaren Electronic Systems, making it simple to integrate with existing tools. Finally VI-grade’s advanced driver model allows users to drive the vehicle model around the specified track. For all those companies involved in the process of finding best vehicle set-up and performance whilst at the same time limiting economic resources, VI- Motorsport is an unprecedented support and a revolutionary aid to the engineering team. VI-Motorsport includes the following software modules: VI-CarRealTime, VI-Road, VI-Tires, VI-Driver, VI-Animator and VI-SuspensionGen.

About BIT Racing

BIT Racing (FSAE) was founded in September 2009 for the first FSAE competition of China held in 2010. In the past year more than twenty students from different major research institutes joined in the team for the common passion and dream. BIT Racing obtained great support from Beijing Institute of Technology and School of Mechanical Engineering as well as sponsorships from DSX and BMW. In the first Formula Student Racing Car Competition held in Shanghai by SAE of China, the team won the championship and honors of other eight individual events. In the coming year the team plans to join in the FSAE competition held in Japan 2011. FSAE is a great platform for college students who really have a truth passion in technology to release their energy, to practice their ideas. With the aid of National Electric Vehicle Laboratory, the team also began to design the first electric formula racing car of China. Although FSAE of China is just one year old, it grows vigorously. Increasingly number of students joined in this area, the competition offered opportunity to these student to learn the knowledge of design, manufacturing and administration and made them become the backbone of future automobile industry. For further information about BIT-FSAE please visit: http://www.bitfsae.com/index_en.html 

About VI-grade

VI-grade GmbH is the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation. VI-grade, established in 2005, delivers innovative solutions to streamline the development process from concept to sign-off in the transportation industry, mainly automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, motorsports and railways. With office locations in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA, and a worldwide channel network of 19 trusted partners, VI-grade is a young and growing company with a highly skilled technical team.

Marburg, March 17th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that Randon, one of the largest private companies in Brasil and de-facto market leader in the field of transportation, selected the VI-grade suite of railway solutions, based on VI-Rail.

The company, that owns the most complete line of equipment for the transport of cargo by land, with its towed vehicles (trailers and semi-trailers), rail cars and specialty vehicles and operates in the segment of automotive components and systems, will use VI-Rail to design, validate and optimize the virtual behavior of complete railway vehicles for the Brazilian railway network.

“We are excited about the technology offered by VI-grade for the railway industry,” says Celso Santa Catarina, Technical Director, Randon. “We have become one of the major suppliers to the rail transportation market in Brazil and, as part of our overall company strategy we intend to develop a methodology which involves virtual prototypes and tests as part of our product development process. In this sense, we have recognized the competitiveness of the VI-Rail solution, that will be instrumental to accomplish our goal of becoming the reference for the research, development and manufacture of new vehicles in the field of domestic railway transportation.”

“Rail transportation represents a growing market in our country and we are honoured that an important reference such as Randon has selected Multicorpos as strategic partner for the implementation of a complete virtual prototyping process,” says Alvaro Costa Neto, Managing Director, Multicorpos Engenharia. “We have a long tradition in multibody dynamics and, through our skilled engineering department, a profound understanding of railway dynamics which we are using to develop a specific VI-Rail toolkit based on the Chapter XI regulations that allows the customer to easily verify the AAR acceptance criteria on a battery of vehicle models based on parametric freight bogie templates. We are looking forward to supporting the local railway industry with our skills and competences in simulation software and services.”

“We are happy to report our first commercial success through Multicorpos in the railway industry,” says Guido Bairati, Sales Director, VI-Grade. “This demonstrates the efficiency of our commercial strategies in the Americas region, that relies on a network of experienced and respected resellers. We are looking forward to a continuous a fruitful collaboration in Brasil!”

About VI-Rail

VI-Rail is the specialized railway simulation software from VI-Grade. VI-Rail enables to quickly build a complete, parameterized model of a new railway vehicle, easily define its suspension, wheelset, wheel-rail contact, and other vital characteristics. Running through a battery of simulations it is possible to determine the vehicle’s stability, derailment safety clearance, track load, passenger comfort, and more. The performance of a railway vehicle design can be optimized virtually in the computer, before cutting a single piece of metal or running a single physical test. VI-Rail users can instantly see the effects of design changes on railcar performance in high-speed animation, easily detecting component interferences, excessive wear, instability, and performance limitations. Users can also plot key parameters in graphs to compare results from different designs. For additional information, please click here.

About Randon

Randon was founded 1949 in Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil and is today a global reference that maintains strategic partnerships with world-class companies and exports to all continents. Randon is among the largest Brazilian private companies, being the leading company in most of its business segments, and is part of Level 1 of Corporate Governance of Bovespa (Stock Exchange of São Paulo). Vision and knowledge led the company to produce one of the broadest product portfolios for commercial vehicles in the world, meeting the needs of the road, rail and off-road sectors. The company pioneered the segment of trailers and semi-trailers in Brazil, grew focused on its business, took advantage of market opportunities to diversify and innovate, always offering high-technology products and investing a relevant part of its revenue in the development and qualification of people, technological upgrading of machinery and processes, R&D, information technology and the constant expansion of its production capacity to meet market demands. In 2009, Randon Companies completed 60 years of activity and also consolidated their strong presence as disseminators of sustainability actions by means of clear policies towards the environment, human resources and social responsibility. The conglomerate of Randon Companies, composed of leading companies in Latin America, has the most complete line of equipment for the transport of cargo by land, with its towed vehicles (trailers and semi-trailers), rail cars and specialty vehicles and operates in the segment of automotive components and systems. Randon maintains an international network of sales and services, serving more than 100 countries. For additional information, please click here.

About Multicorpos

Multicorpos is an exclusive software reseller for CAE analyses in Latin America for the most prestigious companies in these fields, such as CD Adapco for CFD analysis, MSC Software for structural and dynamic analyses, Dassault for manufacturing and digital simulations, VI-grade for specialized system-level simulation solutions. Multicorpos also includes a dedicated service team able to perform advanced dynamic analyses using the computational tool for Multibody Systems by means of MSC.ADAMS. The team also owns expertise in structural analyses using the technique of finite elements simulation as well as in the analysis of fluid systems using computational techniques (CFD). Located in the high tech district of São Carlos, Multicorpos provides counseling support in the business area and relies on qualified human resources through a close relationship with two of the most important universities (UFSCar and USP). For additional information, please click here.

Marburg, February 15th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that RML Motorsport, the UK-based leading multi-discipline motorsport organization has selected VI-MotorSport, VI-grade’s complete suite for system-level racing simulations, to optimize the setup of their racing cars.

RML Motorsport has selected VI-MotorSport - a complete solution that includes advanced simulation tools such as VI-grade’s flagship product VI-CarRealTime, VI-SuspensionGen, VI-Driver and VI-Animator - to better understand the handling performance of the Chevrolet Cruze on a race track and further improve its race setup to maximize the team’s chance of retaining both the drivers and manufacturers titles in 2011.

 

“The WTCC competition will visit some new tracks in 2011, so having access to VI-MotorSport, the leading dynamic lap time simulation tool, will help us establish a good understanding of our car on these tracks beforehand” says Ron Hartvelt, WTCC Project Manager at RML Motorsport. “VI-MotorSport is the tool we needed to modify the setup of our car, validating our design with the efficiency of a real-time solution. This is especially important, since for the 2011 competition we will be using a new 1.6l turbocharged engine, which will have significantly different characteristics to the 2.0l naturally aspirated engine we used before.”

“We are very excited about the collaboration with RML Motorsport” says Diego Minen, Technical Director of VI-grade. “We are looking forward to supporting the success of this important racing team that joins today the community of our customers belonging to the racing industry.”

The VI-MotorSport simulation environment will be used by the RML Motorsport engineering department as a complete virtual product development solution. In particular, VI-Driver will be used to maximize the performance of the racing cars on different circuits, whereas the VI-Animator GUI will support the monitoring phase of all racing channels during the on-track tests.

About VI-Motorsport

VI-Motorsport is a software environment for vehicle modelling and dynamic analysis, which helps race cars designers and track engineers to predict vehicle performance when set-up parameters are modified, before the car is built and also in support of race events. VI-Motorsport is based on a faster-than-real-time simulation solver which can predict the virtual car behaviour and has been extensively validated against test data in various race car series. The VI-Motorsport environment is complemented by the ability to create road data (both drivelines and tire contact profiles) starting either from GPS, laser or telemetry data measurements, or from a fully analytical description. VI-MotorSport will also write out data that is fully compatible with ATLAS from McLaren Electronic Systems, making it simple to integrate with existing tools. Finally VI-grade’s advanced driver model allows users to drive the vehicle model around the specified track. For all those companies involved in the process of finding best vehicle set-up and performance whilst at the same time limiting economic resources, VI- Motorsport is an unprecedented support and a revolutionary aid to the engineering team. VI-Motorsport includes following software modules: VI-CarRealTime, VI-Road, VI-Tires, VI-Driver, VI-Animator and VI-SuspensionGen.

About RML Motorsport

A rich history of success and a proud racing heritage define RML Motorsport, the core of the RML Group. Formed in 1984 by Ray Mallock, the company knows how to win, with every race or rally car designed or operated by RML winning in its chosen championship. This includes touring cars, GT sports cars, rally cars, and US-style oval racers. RML has designed, built and managed successful programs for manufacturers, sponsors, and privateers, and the company’s successes highlight unparalleled experience and knowledge that can help manufacturers and individual competitors get the most of their motorsport package. This includes a full design, preparation and event support program in any race or rally category, to advising teams or individual entrants on set-up and preparation. For further information about RML Motorsport please visit: http://www.rmlmallock.co.uk

About VI-grade

VI-grade GmbH is the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation. VI-grade, established in 2005, delivers innovative solutions to streamline the development process from concept to sign-off in the transportation industry, mainly automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, motorsports and railways. With office locations in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA, and a worldwide channel network of 19 trusted partners, VI-grade is a young and growing company with a highly skilled technical team. The VI-grade Logo and all VI-grade product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of VI-grade GmbH.

Marburg, January 20th, 2011 – VI-grade GmbH, the leading provider of best-in-class products and services to bridge the gap between real world testing and technical simulation, today announced that the Squadra Corse from Politecnico di Torino, Italy will use the VI-Drivesim static simulator to train their racing driver in preparation of the forthcoming 2011 edition of the Formula SAE.

 

 

Squadra Corse Politecnico di Torino was granted free access to VI-Drivesim due to their victory at the 2010 edition of the Virtual Formula, a competition (organized by VI-grade and partners) built upon the rules and regulations of the popular Formula SAE and Formula Student.

“We are extremely grateful to VI-grade and partners for granting us access to the VI-Drivesim technology”, declared Prof. Andrea Tonoli, faculty advisor of Squadra Corse Politecnico di Torino. “This breakthrough driving simulator technology will enable our driver to gain confidence on the Formula SAE circuit, providing us with a competitive edge that will be of crucial importance for our success at the 2011 edition of this racing competition”.

“We are very happy about the installation of VI-Drivesim at the Politecnico di Torino,” said Birgit Grossmann, Managing director European Operations, Concurrent. “This reinforces our strategic partnership with VI-grade and further positions our solution as hardware backbone of a revolutionary driving simulator suitable for motorsport and commercial automotive applications.”

“Our congratulations go to the winning team that received our VI-Drivesim driving simulator powered by the VI-grade real-time vehicle model and the Concurrent Linux-based hardware”, said Guido Bairati, Sales Director of VI-grade. “We are looking forward to contributing with our technology to the success of the Squadra Corse racing team."

A selection of HQ pictures related to this press release can be found at this link.

About VI-DriveSim

VI-DriveSim is a new product line from VI-grade which provides automotive OEMs, racing teams and racing driving schools with a complete set of innovative, integrated driving simulators for a new generation approach to system-level simulation, allowing companies to bridge the gap between virtual prototyping and testing. VI-DriveSim is available in two different configurations: static and dynamic. In its static configuration, users have the possibility to interactively drive a virtual vehicle while sitting in a fixed realistic cockpit, watching the driving scene on a wide screen with unprecedented high quality graphics. In addition to all that, in its dynamic configuration the system provides motion feedback to the driver seat  thanks to an innovative Motion Cueing algorithm and a six-degrees-of-freedom moving platform with reduced overall dimensions. The computing core is a Linux based RT computer, provided by Concurrent Computer, with which is possible to run HIL or SIL simulation while driving. VI-CarRealTime is powering the system with a realtime validated vehicle model, the same one used for off-line simulations. Graphics is based on an advanced DirectX based high quality rendering visualization program, provided by SimCoVR. The Motion Cueing strategy, developed by VI-grade, is based on Model Predictive Controller, in which mechanical and physiological characteristics are taken into account for optimal feedback. The Moving Platform, designed by Ansible Motion, features light weight, reduced power consumption and very efficient kinematics compared to conventional hexapod-based systems.

About Concurrent

Concurrent is a worldwide leader in providing digital on-demand systems to the broadband industry and real-time computer systems for industry and government. The company's two business areas, On-Demand and Real-Time, leverage the best of Concurrent's technology and mission-critical experience to deliver solutions to a diverse global customer base. Concurrent is one of the industry's foremost providers of high-performance real-time computer systems, solutions and software for commercial and government markets. Integrated Solutions is a historically well-established business that focuses on strategic business areas that include hardware-in-the-loop and man-in-the-loop simulation; data acquisition; and industrial process control. For more information: http://www.ccur.com.

About VI-grade

VI-grade GmbH is the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation. VI-grade, established in 2005, delivers innovative solutions to streamline the development process from concept to sign-off in the transportation industry, mainly automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, motorsports and railways. With office locations in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA, VI-grade is a young and growing company with a highly skilled technical team.

The VI-grade Logo and all VI-grade product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of VI-grade GmbH.