Marburg, Oct 9th, 2014 – VI-grade, the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system-level simulation, today announced that Porsche Motorsport selected the newly developed motion platform named DiM (Driver in Motion). The new dynamic platform for the driving simulator has been installed at the Porsche Motorsport site in Weissach, Germany and will be used for testing and optimizing the setup of new racing cars. The first vehicle to be tested on this new platform is the new Porsche LMP1 sports prototype, which is competing in the sports car World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2014.

The 9 degrees-of-freedom DiM platform has been designed in order to take full advantage of VI-MotionCueing, a very innovative motion cueing strategy developed by VI-grade in collaboration with the University of Padua (Italy). The technology enables the extension of the motion envelope and the separation of low and high frequency contributions, which makes this type of motion platform suitable for both vehicle dynamics and ride studies.

About Porsche Motorsport

World famous car manufacturer Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races. Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted moderate success in the realm of sports car racing, most notably in the Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio, classic races which were later used in the naming of street cars. The Porsche 917 of 1969 turned them into a power house, winning in 1970 the first of 16 “24 Hours” of Le Mans, more than any other company. With the 911 Carrera RS and the Porsche 935 Turbo, Porsche dominated the 1970s, and sometimes even has beaten sports prototypes – a category in which Porsche entered the successful, Le Mans-winning 936, 956 and 962 models.

Porsche is currently the world's largest race car manufacturer. For example: Based on the Porsche 911, Type 997, the company has built and sold nearly 1.700 GT-Racecars (GT3 Cup, GT3 R, GT3 RSR). Porsche regards racing as an essential part of ongoing engineering development—it was traditionally very rare for factory-entered Porsche racing cars to appear at consecutive races in the same specification. Some aspect of the car almost invariably, was being developed, whether for the future race programs or as proof of concept for future road cars. Since the decision in mid-2011 to return with the LMP1 racer to top motorsport as a works effort, the Motorsport Centre at Weissach has grown significantly. A workshop and an administration building were built and accommodate more than 200 employees who are responsible for the design, assembly and deployment of the LMP1 car. Since the beginning of the 2014 WEC season, the racer is fielded by a Weissach-based works squad. For additional information, click here.

About Saginomiya

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 are highly committed to serve the needs of the most technically advanced customers in the global market. For further information, click here.
 

Marburg, Sept 12th, 2014 – VI-grade, 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 Korean division of Nexen Tire, leading tire manufacturer, selected VI-CarRealTime, the specialized real-time vehicle simulation environment from VI-grade, to optimize the design of their tires. In particular, the Nexen Tire research and development division will use VI-CarRealTime to predict the dynamic behavior of high performance tires as part of full-vehicle models under various driving conditions.

About VI-CarRealTime

VI-CarRealTime provides a vehicle simulation environment where the same simplified vehicle model can be used by vehicle dynamics and controls engineers to optimize vehicle and control system performance.  The product enables engineers to quickly and easily perform large Design of Experiments (DOE) and multi-objective optimization studies. VI-CarRealTime is the only real-time solution available in the market that can automatically and seamlessly export a real-time vehicle model directly from ADAMS/Car™. Similarly, VI-CarRealTime also enables to share component property files such as tires, springs, dampers, and bumpstops with ADAMS/Car™.  VI-CarRealTime provides validated models which can be used by controls and hydraulic engineers to optimize the controller design based on accurate vehicle performance. VI-CarRealTime can be integrated with Matlab Simulink for controls systems.

About Nexen Tire

Nexen Tire Corporation is a tire manufacturer, headquartered in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, and Seoul in South Korea. The company's name is reflected in the company slogan, "Next Century Tire." Established in 1942 under the name, Heung-A Tire Company, Nexen Tire Co. has served the industry ever since and it has been recognized in 1956 as the first Korean tire company. In 1985, Nexen dedicated a facility in Yangsan, Korea, to the production of radial tires. The company changed its name in 2000 from Woosung Tire to Nexen Tire Corporation: the name Nexen is a combination of two future-oriented words; next and century. That same year also saw Nexen Tire listed on the KOSPI 200 Index future market. In 2005, Nexen Tire was awarded a patent for the technology to manufacture rubber/stratified silicate nano-composite tires. By 2006, they had completed development on the new UHP and Winter LTR/SUV pattern. To accommodate increased global demand for the Nexen brand, they opened yet another tire manufacturing plant in Qingdao, China in 2007. Nexen's domestic market share increased from 8% to 20%, with annual sales exceeding $600 million dollars. Nexen employs over 2,000 employees. Nexen Tire currently exports to 120 countries. 

The company, that covers the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signalling, will use VI-Rail specifically for wear simulations. In particular the company is using the brand new VI-Rail Wear and Stress Toolkit available with the latest VI-Rail version and developed in collaboration with ArgeCare (Walter Kik), with the objective of designing low – or virtually zero – maintenance vehicles.

Click below for an extended video interview to Fon Azobi, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer – Bogies, Bombardier Transportation GmbH.

“The growing need for simulation is always going to be a big player in the rail industry and one of the aspects that’s been a major player in recent times is the wheel-rail interaction,” says Fon Azobi, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer– Bogies, Bombardier Transportation GmbH. “We have different simulation packages for different applications and we use VI-Rail specifically for wear simulations. The software is very easy to use and the simulation speeds are actually very high. Through detailed wear prediction simulation, we aim to increase the life time of our wheels, in order to obtain a lower total cost of ownership of our products, which is a unique advantage that we can offer to our customers”.

“We are extremely happy to report this important success in the railway industry,” says Guido Bairati, International Sales Director, VI-grade. “This demonstrates the efficiency of our development strategies, always looking for new features demanded by the market. We are looking forward to expanding the usage of our solutions for wear and stress predictions within Bombardier Transportation and other major railway companies!”

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.

About Bombardier Transportation

As the world’s only manufacturer of planes and trains, Bombardier has built an extensive and diverse portfolio of winning mobility solutions. Everywhere people travel by land and in the air, a Bombardier product is ready to transport them. From category-defining business jets and commercial aircraft designed for the challenges of today, to sleek high speed trains and public transit that’s smarter than ever. The company focuses on making mobility more efficient, sustainable and inviting than ever before (The Evolution of Mobility). Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada, traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indices. With 63 production and engineering sites in 26 countries and 19 service centers across the world, Bombardier Transportation is the global leader in the rail industry. It covers the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains to sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signaling and with am installed base of rolling stock exceeds 100,000 rail cars and locomotives worldwide.

Marburg, March 24th, 2014 – VI-grade, the leading provider of best-in-class software products and services for advanced applications in the field of system level simulation, today announced that the Brazilian academic institute “Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos” from Universidade de São Paulo” is installing the breakthrough driving simulator technology VI-DriveSim Static to investigate new methods to improve road and vehicle safety.

The project is realized in collaboration with PSA do Brasil, a strategic VI-grade customer in the Brazilian territory; the Brazilian vehicle manufacturer will provide a realistic cockpit suitable for the static simulator, a selection of VI-CarRealTime vehicle models as well as experienced technical support.

“We are impressed with the technology offered by VI-DriveSim and decided to adopt it for our activities,” said Ana Paula C. Larocca, Doctor Professor from the Department of Transportation Engineering of the Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos from the Universidade de São Paulo. “We will use the VI-DriveSim solution to perform a series of road safety studies, investigating the behaviour of the driver on a selected 10-miles portion of the highway in Sao Paulo area that statistically shows a higher-than-average accident rate. In detail, thanks to an eye-tracking device, we will use VI-DriveSim to virtually investigate the influence on the driver’s reactions to different layouts of road signs.”

“We are extremely happy to report another successful installation of VI-DriveSim in South America”, said Guido Bairati, Sales Director, VI-grade. “We are looking forward to the outcomes of this exciting application of our VI-DriveSim solution conducted by Universidade de São Paulo and PSA do Brasil. This project is also very important for us since we are going to integrate our static simulator technology with products from high quality partners for traffic simulation and eye tracking systems.”

About VI-DriveSim

VI-DriveSim is a revolutionary turnkey solution, which provides automotive engineers 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 provides the ability of "feeling" the results of your simulations in a very immersive environment starting from early phases of the development process. Based on a compact driving simulator architecture with respect to conventional simulators and powered by VI-grade's flagship product VI-CarRealTime, VI-DriveSim enables a seamless combination of any source of real-time signals and allows an instantaneous two-ways synchronization with ADAMS Car, the de-facto worldwide standard solutions for automotive engineering. VI-DriveSim is available in two different configurations: static and dynamic, and is fully scalable, meaning that it is possible to upgrade from static to dynamic simulator recycling virtually all components that have been already purchased. For further information, click here.

About Multicorpos