Automotive Simulation

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Technology is moving faster than ever, and auto manufacturers incorporate many recent breakthroughs into the latest models. It is software that is the key to these advancements.

With the roll-out of connected and autonomous vehicles, software becomes the brain of the vehicle. Replacing humans, it will make the decisions ensuring passengers and goods arrive to their destinations and do so safely. Those decisions, made in fractions of a second, are centered around two questions: 1) How is the vehicle affecting other vehicles nearby? 2) How are nearby vehicles influencing what this vehicle needs to do?

Advantages of Automotive Simulation Software
  • Improved vehicle safety
  • Better engine performance
  • Reduced environmental impact
  • Shorter time to market
  • Comprehensive simulation and algorithms

The Users

System developers in the auto industry, which includes computer scientists, software developers and electrical engineers have been hard at work developing and integrating software that will lead the autonomous vehicle revolution. Since the auto industry is fraught with competition, they can never lose sight of the following: 

  • Providing the safest possible products for avoiding and withstanding collisions  
  • Reducing time to market 
  • Creating optimal performance 
  • Cutting expenses without sacrificing quality 
  • Making autonomous vehicles (AV) comfortable for passengers  

Software by PTV Group software, that provides them with algorithms and simulation, has become vital to building vehicle “brains” and delivering on these goals. 

Vehicle Decision Making 

As traffic flows, decisions must be constantly made by the driver on what to do next. However, with autonomous and connected vehicles (CAV) it is software that must make decisions on how to react to road conditions and to other vehicles. As complex scenarios occur on the road, the behavior of surrounding vehicles must be considered so the AV or CAV can react properly. Automotive software can quickly model the driving environment, allowing the vehicle to make realistic decisions that ensure a safe traffic flow. 

Powertrain Development

Imagine driving on a highway, then approaching a city. Naturally, your driving behavior will adjust, going from maintaining a constant speed, to moving at slower speeds with more breaking and stopping. This situation, and many others, can be simulated using a software.

The result is a far more efficient engine. This type of testing is essential for complex combustion/electrical hybrids: vehicle designers need to optimize the use of its two power sources. They can only accomplish this in the highly controlled environment provided by software.

Driving Emissions

Emission standards are becoming stricter around the world. So, when car manufacturers install new systems in a vehicle - such as the transmission, fuel intake or exhaust system - they must measure and report the emissions produced. If those emissions are too high, engineers need to find a work-around or redesign.  

But for emissions to be measured, a simulation must be done for various driving environments. Automotive software can get this job done. 

Instead of building a part, then physically testing it, car makers can create a virtual environment with a software. Then they test new designs in a variety of scenarios, to see how they affect driving emissions.  

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