Geely invests in world class Driving Simulator for CEVT

“For CEVT this investment is a crucial part of our toolbox to develop the mobility solutions for a different tomorrow. It shows the importance of CEVT as a company within the Geely Auto Group as well as steps up our capabilities in the automotive capital of the Nordics”, says Mats Fägerhag CEO at CEVT.

A driving simulator is a machine designed for replicating vehicle movements and behaviors. It allows the driver or occupant of the simulator to perform a test drive of a vehicle that has not yet been built. The computer simulates the vehicle and then sends the motions of that vehicle to the simulator. The simulator has a cockpit based on a real vehicle placed on top of a dynamic motion platform. The cockpit contains everything that a normal car has such as steering wheel and pedals as well as screens, buttons and mirrors and also a high-fidelity sound system to replicate in-vehicle sounds. Around the cockpit there is a big screen that shows a simulated version of the surrounding environment which can be based on a test track, real world streets or any environment useful to drive in.

“The purpose of the simulator is to present the simulated vehicle motions to the driver in such a way that it can be understood how the real vehicle performs", says Albin Gröndahl, CAE Engineer and Project Manager for the Driving Simulator at CEVT.

The simulator will be installed in the to-be-built second part of Geely’s campus at Lindholmen; Uni3 by Geely, which will be inaugurated during fall 2021. As for the simulator, we expect it to be up and running a bit earlier than that.

“Our ambition with the simulator is to replicate the real world in as many aspects as possible to provide our engineers with an alternative to costly and time-consuming proving ground tests. In many cases we see that we can do the same tests in the lab and still get a high level of representation of reality. This means that the simulator can be an option to any test that can be done on a prototype vehicle or a test vehicle in general. Examples of such studies can be vehicle dynamics, ride and handling but also research on autonomous cars as well as future transportation and mobility. Anything that can be modelled on a computer in an accurate manner can be tested”, says Mats Fägerhag.

The chosen driving simulator, a DiM250 (Driver-In-Motion 250) from VI-grade provides a method for bringing different disciplines together as it uses the simulations to give test drivers a feel based on data. This particular size and type of simulator is also very beneficial since it is large enough to give good performance and high levels of accelerations but still being small enough to fit inside our building and having good dynamics.

“Imagine that you have a new idea for some function that you want to test in the car. In the past you had to design the function, build a prototype of it and put it in a test car, go to the test track, try it and in the end perhaps go on with it or do modifications. These steps can often take months and cost a lot of money for each and every part of the process. With the simulator you can do a simple model of the function, take it downstairs to the simulator and try it out directly. You also get direct access to all the data and better control of the test. Think about all the innovation that can take place! We can probably test our vehicles half a year before we get the prototypes for them. A design change can take a week instead of until the next prototype series, which can be due in a year”, says Albin Gröndahl.