VI-grade and Multimatic have announced plans to establish an advanced vehicle development and driving simulation center in the greater Detroit area of the USA.
Designed to meet customer demand for rapid, cost-effective development of next-gen vehicle systems with features such as driver assistance and autonomous operation, SimCenter will offer both software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) integration into an overall driver-in-the-loop (DIL) virtual world. It will house the first VI-grade DiM 250 (Driver-in-Motion) series motion platform in North America.
VI-grade’s DiM 250 motion platform is based on a patented mechanism that incorporates nine motion actuators, delivering an enlarged workspace with high operating stiffness. The platform can thus accurately reproduce both low and high frequency excitations, making it suitable for evaluating vehicle ride and handling dynamics in the virtual world as never before.
Michael Guttilla, executive vice president of engineering, Multimatic, said, “SimCenter is the next evolutionary step in the development of the company and its products. The technology that VI-grade has been able to develop with its Driver-in-Motion system is extraordinary and Multimatic couldn’t be more excited to bring DiM to the United States.”
Multimatic will operate the new facility, which will also house a VI-grade Compact Static Simulator, as an extension of its current driving simulators in Canada and the UK. SimCenter is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2019.
