New driving simulator taken into operation in Sindelfingen
Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Science, Research and Art, and Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Group Research and Head of Development, Mercedes-Benz Cars, ceremoniously opened the new Daimler AG driving simulator in Sindelfingen with a virtual excursion at October 5th, 2010.
With its 360° screen, fast electric power system and a twelve-metre long rail
for transverse movements, the facility is one of the most advanced dynamic simulators in the automobile industry. "The new driving simulator enables us to reproduce highly dynamic driving manoeuvres such as lane-changes even more realistically, and to research the behaviour of the driver and vehicle in road traffic even more intensively," Dr. Weber explains.
Hahlbrock manufactured the largest partial structure, the simulator dome made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CRP) with a diameter of 7.60 m and a height of 4.70 m. For this very ambitous project Hahlbrock was supported by the Stade-based Composite Technology Center (CTC), an Airbus subsidiary.
How the simulator works
The simulator cell is a hexapod mounted on six moveable supporting legs. Inside there is a complete Mercedes model in which the test driver is seated, as well as the 360° projection screen showing a realistic image of the traffic scene, with moving pedestrians, oncoming traffic and houses.
The vehicle controls are linked to the computerised control system of the driving simulator by data lines. When the test driver turns the steering wheel, accelerates or operates the brakes, these reactions are registered by the computer control system and have the same effects as in real traffic situations. The scenery on the screen changes constantly, and the moving cell simulates the vehicle's attitude on the road, for example front-end dive when braking or body roll during fast cornering. The computer calculates the driving behaviour of the car more than 1000 times per second, issuing the relevant commands to the electrics. It is able to move the cell transversely by up to twelve metres at a maximum speed of ten metres per second (36 km/h), so that e.g. double lane-changes can also be simulated.