Testing, consulting, information, and compliance services firm Smithers has, together with tyre and vehicle development technology specialist Stackpole Engineering Services, debuted the Virtual Tire Lab. Announcing the launch, Smithers describes Virtual Tire Lab as a “unique, comprehensive toolset for analysing raw data and comparing, contrasting, and adjusting virtual tyre models for use in design analysis, simulation, and model certification.”
April 1 has been and gone this year, so there’s no danger in admitting that I’ve seen imaginary tyres being tested on cars that don’t even exist. No fooling. I’ve even driven with these non-tyres, at the Goodyear Simulation Center in Luxembourg. The illusion felt very real.
Pirelli has added a new driving simulator at its Virtual Development Centre (VDC) in Breuberg, Hesse. The latest generation of driving simulators have become an important tool for tyre manufacturers, reducing the number of physical prototype cycles required for the development of new products. Pirelli says the VDC and static driving simulator underline its innovation leadership, combining high-tech simulation, artificial intelligence, and expert engineering. Pirelli identified the VDC, which enables the premium tyre manufacturer to develop and test its products virtually, as a signifier of its commitment to investing in local production in Germany, contextualised by other premium manufacturer’s recent announcements of the planned closure of tyre production facilities in the country. Pirelli’s Breuberg plant employs around 2,500 people, including 250 development engineers.
After months of fine-tuning and integrating into development processes, Continental has begun operations with its new driving simulator for tyres and aims to use it in particular to assist original equipment tyre development. Tyrepress recently visited the simulator to find out more.
Players of the rFactor 2 motorsport simulation will benefit from a partnership between Studio 397 and Goodyear. The tyre maker is helping the Studio 397 physics team understand the very deep and complex construction and reactions of racing tyres. The Netherlands-based video game developer says it has benefitted from “an exceptional collaboration and sharing of data and insight of late.”
Continental has become the first tyre manufacturer to order Ansible Motion’s all-new advanced Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulator, the Delta S3. Simulation technology, which is now capable of modelling tyre performance to an extreme degree of accuracy, is increasingly employed by car manufacturers and original equipment suppliers, such as tyre manufacturers. Conti’s decision to bring in the latest DIL simulation technology is informed by the need to mirror its OEM customers’ development processes, but the system’s most important effect will be the efficiency benefits it delivers, as Dr. Boris Mergell, head of research and development of the Tires business area at Continental, explains. “Developing and testing premium tyres is a highly complex, time-intensive process. By using the new dynamic driving simulator, we will make this development process even more efficient in the future.”
Pirelli has inaugurated a new driving simulator at its research and development division in Milan. The manufacturer says it is using its experience with simulation in Formula 1 to accelerate road tyre development cycles and tyre testing, reducing lead times and reinforcing partnerships with leading car makers with increased agility. Pirelli is the latest premium brand tyre maker to implement new simulation technology into its R&D department, following announcements by Michelin and Goodyear. The Italian brand adds that the new simulator is the latest instalment of its digitalisation strategy.
For the generations raised in the late 20th century, the idea of travel simulators raises images of a capsule for eight people moved around with hydraulics to match a film, or perhaps contestants tasked with landing a plane on The Krypton Factor. Since those heady days, exponential increases in computer processing power and the ability to model a rapidly increasing range of sensory outputs from a highly complex web of inputs. Compared to the relatively broad strokes of retro aeronautical simulation, the convincingly realistic representation of the driving environment has become a legitimate source of automotive research and development. The latest simulation technology is increasingly making its way into tyre development as a means of increasing the efficiency of product development. With Michelin’s announcement that it would install a new Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulator at its North America Research & Development centre in Greenville, South Carolina, USA, Tyres & Accessories got in touch with its manufacturer Ansible Motion and its international manager for the company’s commercial group, Phil Morse to talk about the increasing prevalence of human-in-the-loop simulation within tyre and vehicle development, and the opportunities it offers.
Goodyear has purchased new VI-grade driving simulators, including a dynamic model, to enhance its product development. The tyre manufacturer has selected a Compact Simulator recently delivered to the company’s innovation centre in Luxembourg and a Dynamic Driving Simulator DiM250 (Driver-in-Motion) to be installed in Akron, Ohio, in the coming months.
UK-based driving simulator manufacturer Ansible Motion will double its office space at the Hethel Engineering Centre for the design, validation and manufacturing of its proven simulator and testing technologies, as it expands on the back of increased demand. The company has secured a grant towards its facilities expansion through the New Anglia Small Grant Scheme, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The new offices are due to open in June 2019.
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