Applus Idiada has announced an investment in an Integrated Vehicle Dynamics & Ride Comfort Simulation Platform that will upgrade its existing VI-grade DiM250 driving simulator at its Santa Oliva facility in Spain, extending its capabilities into high-frequency vibration comfort and NVH development. The evolved configuration will be available to OEMs in the second half of 2025.
At the core of this platform is VI-grade’s Hyperdock – a lightweight, modular cockpit with precisely calibrated shakers at key driver contact points. When paired with the DiM250 dynamic driving simulator, the setup provides real-time acceleration feedback based on high-fidelity vehicle models. This enables engineers to evaluate handling, comfort and NVH performance all at once, starting from the early stages of design.
“Until now, automotive engineers have faced a significant challenge: while virtual simulation has advanced handling and steering development, ride comfort and NVH – especially in the secondary ride comfort domain – remained difficult to optimize before physical prototype testing,” commented Guido Tosolin, senior manager vehicle dynamics at Applus Idiada. “This integrated platform solves this long-standing industry problem.”
The new system brings together multiple advanced technologies within a single simulation loop. It combines high-definition, real-time multi-body vehicle models with high-frequency transfer function models, and uses VI-grade’s VI-NVHSim Simulator software for comprehensive vehicle NVH model preparation and acoustic feedback. A Concurrent Real-Time machine supports the entire setup, enabling the simulation of complex, full-vehicle models with hundreds of degrees of freedom.
The solution is particularly valuable for optimizing long-lead and structurally critical components such as bushings, subframes and body systems, which are traditionally difficult to validate until late-stage testing.
Alessio Lombardi, VP of sales EMEA and North America at VI-grade, said, “The installation of this integrated simulation platform at Idiada represents a natural and strategic evolution of the DiM250 simulator they already operate. It’s also a significant step forward in bringing full-spectrum simulation capabilities to the forefront of vehicle development. This success reflects the strong momentum for human-centric simulation across the industry, and we’re proud to support Idiada in delivering cutting-edge engineering services to their global customer base.”
Read more on driving simulators in the September 2024 edition of ATTI.